Are you hearing crackling in your ear? A disorder called tinnitus can produce many different sounds in your ears including buzzing, ringing, whooshing, and crackling. Here is some essential facts.
Do you ever hear crackling, buzzing, or thumping sounds that seem to come out of nowhere? When it comes to someone who uses hearing aids, it may mean they need to be adjusted and fitted. For everyone else, tinnitus may be the answer.
Although we mostly think of our ears with regards to what we see on the outside, there’s more than meets the eye – or in this instance, the ear. Here’s what it may mean when some of these more common sounds are playing in your ears.
I’m Hearing a Snap, Crackle, And Pop in my Ears But What’s The Cause?
We can tell you one thing – it’s not Rice Krispies. It isn’t uncommon to hear a popping or crackling sound when there’s a change in pressure in your ear. This can be because you had a change in altitude, went underwater, or just yawned. A tiny part of your ear named the eustachian tube is the source of these noises. When these mucus lined passages open up to equalize the air pressure, fluid, and air move causing these noises to occur.
Sometimes, such as when you’re dealing with allergies, a cold, or an ear infection, an overabundance of mucus in your system can gum up the eustachian tubes and impede what is normally an automatic process (don’t forget, that there’s a connection between your ears, throat, and nose). Medical help, like surgery, is sometimes called for in extreme cases where nothing else has helped clear the blockage.
What Does it Mean When I Hear Vibrations in My Ear?
Sometimes tinnitus manifests as a vibration in the ears. Tinnitus is the medical term for a disorder that causes people to hear sounds that have no outside cause, such as vibrations, inside of the ear. Most people will refer to it as a ringing in the ears and it manifests across the spectrum, from hardly there to debilitating.
Is There Anything That Can be Done?
If you have hearing aids, once again, checking those is the first task. There might be several reasons that you would hear these sounds: the hearing aids aren’t sitting properly within your ears, the volume is too high, your hair is rubbing against them, or your batteries need to be charged. But if you don’t use hearing aids and you’re hearing this kind of noise, it may also be due to accumulated earwax.
It makes sense that too much wax could make it hard to hear and cause irritation or even inner ear infections, but how can earwax create a sound? If it is touching your eardrum, it can actually inhibit the eardrum’s ability to function, which is what causes the buzzing or ringing. Luckily, dealing with earwax is usually pretty straightforward.
Reach out to us if you have odd sounds in your ears. We can check your hearing aid to make sure it’s functioning properly.