Continuous Ear Spasm — Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD) or Middle Ear Myoclonus (MEM)?

[saggy_92]

Hello,

I've been having a continuous spasm in my left ear for more than a month. There are two possible suspects according to the doctor. This could be either ETD issue or a middle ear myoclonus. I had an ETD issue earlier but I don't have it anymore. However, the doctor still thinks that I might have a very mild ETD.

I can make the vibration sound disappear disappear if I follow any of the below techniques:

• Closing the ear hard stops the vibration sound: I have to make sure that there is no air inside the ear canal.
• If I travel the whole day then it sometimes disappears for 2-3 days.

Does anyone else have experience with this? Did it resolve for you?

 

[Ben Winders]

Can you elaborate on what spasms exactly you experiencing? There are a vast array of possibilities.

I had both spasms behind the ear 'jiggling' my ear randomly and I have also had low drone noise/constant vibrating in my worst tinnitus ear. That low droning noise also sometimes went away after traveling in the car for a couple hours. I attributed that temporary fix to residual inhibition as the car noise would be more or less the same as the low drone noise.

After 8 months of tinnitus, I no longer have had the behind-the-ear-spasms (pretty sure they can still flare up at any time) and the low drone tinnitus is no longer in my conscious... it however sometimes shows up when I'm in between waking up and being awake state... I'm pretty sure it can still flare up at any time in my conscious life as well.

 

[Orions Pain]

I don't know if mine is something similar, but I've had on and off ear spasms since last year. It feels like a fluttering for me, like a butterfly is in my ear, or like if a "mic check" sound, the thump thump was a physical sensation.

I believe mine is tied to an acoustic trauma but mine mainly appears after I brush my teeth, or after hiccups or burps. I still have it in both ears, but never really both at once. I've had mild barotraumas a few times, so I'm not sure if that is related.

Do you know what caused/led to your ETD?

 

[saggy_92]

@Ben Winders: It feels like a vibration sound. You don't have the sensation anymore? Can you share what worked for you?

 

[DutchBas]

Try taking Magnesium citrate. In the summer of 2020 I got spasms for hours a day (same as you described). After taking Magnesium, it improved. The spasms especially happened when I was resting (after exercise).

Good luck with it.

Greetings,
Bas

 

[Lilah]

A few days ago, I wore foam plugs and I could feel/hear the spasming on the plugs. I still don't know what causes it, but a few times I have observed it starts with noise exposure and a few other times it started when I was doing jaw exercises.

 

[Ben Winders]

@Ben Winders: It feels like a vibration sound. You don't have the sensation anymore? Can you share what worked for you?

I'll try to be as complete as possible to help you out as much as I can.

Imagine having a subwoofer and putting it way too loud... the subwoofer will go BBRRRRRRRRRRR and vibrate.
That's exactly what my ear was feeling like in the first 5 weeks.

That's also how this all started. I woke up in the morning with the BRRRRRRRRRR.
Now, 9 months later when I sit in complete silence, I feel like the pressure/vibration is still there but it does not go full BRRRRRRR anymore.

I know I m walking a thin line... too much silence and focus will surely bring it back in full force. I already had it come back once, 4 months ago and, like I said, I sometimes have/hear it 1 second before I fully wake up. Very strange... it's as if the BRRR is stuck in my brain/subconscious and every now and then it pops up when I'm conscious.

After the first 5 weeks... trying everything in the upstairs bedrooms - trying to sleep with music, and putting a low drone noise on my subwoofer Hi-Fi installation I tried moving down and I put my mattress down on the kitchen floor (I was just trying anything and everything).

Low and behold, the drone vibrating noise went away (I was still sleeping with a quiet low drone noise background on my Google Home). One night my internet broke down and the drone noise stopped, I woke up in the middle of the night and heard the drone noise again in my ear...

Weird.

Also: I haven't slept on my bad (right) drone ear since this started... yes, I have not slept on my right shoulder/ear for 9 months. If I do (close off the ear from external noise), I can be almost certain that the drone noise / vibrating feeling will come back.

Since then I also got electric buzz in both ears... but again, right ear still has it worse and still feels vibrate-y / drone-y and also is the ear that has a "pure tone" tinnitus sound.

I see that when you close your ear, the vibrating stops... for me it's probably exactly the opposite. If I close it, the beast comes out.
That said - I try to close my ears fully as little as possible (or not be in complete silent environments) as that will make my brain look for / focus on the tinnitus... that's not what we want.

Ask away if you need anything else.

 

[Gareth Davies]

I've had ETD (tinnitus, crackling, popping, etc) for 6 1/2 months and have in the past 2 developed a constant vibration / spasm inside the right side of my face / head.

It's there 24/7 alongside the tinnitus now. Nothing sets it off - it's a constant factor.

I simultaneously have this 24/7 tissue(?) movement (like an octopus or slug constantly wiggling around) in the same general area as the vibrations.

Orion describes a butterfly fluttering as akin to a "mic check"; I don't think that's what mine sounds or feels like. No thumping present either.

A lot of the time it feels like a partially inflated balloon containing water, jelly, dough and bits of shale slowly rolling over each other.

This developed perhaps a week or two before the vibrations began - now both symptoms are present.

[I'm guessing the two symptoms - movement and vibration - are related and are due to mechanical issues in the E tube (I.e. it's blocked or swollen up but trying to move anyway.]

I can't stop either symptoms and they haven't really changed since they began.

My tinnitus is a constant static FYI.