Crackling in your ear? A disorder called tinnitus can bring about many different sounds in your ears including buzzing, ringing, whooshing, and crackling. Here is what you should know.
Where is that crackling, buzzing, or ringing noise coming from? If you use hearing aids, it can mean that they require adjustment or aren’t fitted correctly. For everybody else, tinnitus might be the answer.
Although we usually 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 are a few of the more common noises you might hear inside your ears, and what they may reveal is happening.
What’s Causing The Snap, Crackle, And Pop in My Ear?
It’s not Rice Krispies that’s for certain. When the pressure in your ears changes – whether from a change in altitude, going underwater, or simply yawning – you may hear crackling or popping noises. A small part of your ear called the eustachian tube is the source of these noises. The crackling is caused by mucus-lined passageways opening up, allowing air and fluid to move and equalize the pressure in your ears.
It’s a natural process, but sometimes, like if you’re dealing with 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 help, like surgery, is sometimes necessary in severe cases where nothing else has helped clear the blockage.
What Does it Mean When I Hear Vibrations in My Ear?
Sometimes tinnitus is experienced as a vibration in the ears. Tinnitus is the technical name for a disorder that causes people to hear noises that have no outside cause, such as vibrations, inside of the ear. It’s generally characterized as a ringing in the ears and can, in some cases, be minimal, and in others, debilitating.
What Should I do About Sounds in my Ear
Once again, if you use hearing aids, you should first check those. There might be several reasons that you would hear these noises: the hearing aids aren’t sitting correctly inside of your ears, the volume is too loud, your hair is rubbing against them, or your batteries need to be charged. But if you don’t have hearing aids and you’re hearing this type of sound, it may also be due to excess earwax.
It makes sense that too much wax could make it hard to hear and cause itchiness or even inner ear infections, but how can earwax make a sound? If it is touching your eardrum, it can actually inhibit the eardrum’s ability to function, which is what causes the ringing or buzzing. The good thing is, earwax issues are easily fixed.
If you’re hearing odd noises, call us. If your hearing aids aren’t working properly we can help with that.