Crackling in your ear? A disorder known as tinnitus can bring about many different sounds in your ears including buzzing, ringing, whooshing, and crackling. Here is some relevant information.
Where is that crackling, ringing, or buzzing noise coming from? If you have hearing aids, it can mean that they need to be adjusted or aren’t properly fitted. For everyone else, tinnitus may be the answer.
Although we usually think of our ears in terms of what we see on the outside, there’s more than meets the eye – or in this instance, the ear. Here are some of the more common noises you may hear inside your ears, and what they may indicate is happening.
I’m Hearing a Snap, Crackle, And Pop in my Ears But What’s The Cause?
It’s not Rice Krispies that’s for sure. It isn’t uncommon to hear a crackling or popping sound when the pressure in your ear changes. This can be because you had an altitude change, went underwater, or just yawned. These noises are caused by a small part of your ear called the eustachian tube. The crackling is caused by mucus-lined passageways opening up, permitting air and fluid to circulate and neutralize the pressure in your ears.
It’s a natural process, but in some cases, like if you have congestion from allergies, a cold, or an ear infection, your eustachian tubes can literally get clogged up from an excess of mucus in your system (don’t forget, that there’s a connection between your ears, throat, and nose). Medical assistance, like surgery, is occasionally necessary in extreme cases where nothing else has helped clear the blockage.
I’m Hearing Vibration in my Ears – What Does That Mean?
Vibrations in the ear are often a telltale sign of tinnitus. Technically speaking, tinnitus is the scientific term for when someone hears abnormal sounds, like vibrations, in their ears that do not come from any external sources. Most people will refer to it as a ringing in the ears and it manifests across the spectrum, from barely there to debilitating.
Is There Anything I Can do?
If you use hearing aids, again, checking those is the first step. There may be numerous reasons that you would hear these sounds: your batteries are running low, the hearing aids aren’t properly seated in your ears, the volume is too high, or your hair is rubbing up against it. If you don’t use hearing aids, accumulated earwax might be the issue.
It seems logical that too much wax could make it hard to hear and cause itchiness or even inner ear infections, but how can earwax cause a sound? The buzzing or ringing can be caused by earwax touching your eardrum and hindering its function. Luckily, managing earwax is frequently pretty straightforward.
Reach out to us if you have strange sounds in your ears. If your hearing aids aren’t functioning properly we can help with that.
