Does Anybody Get a New Tone When Their Ear Pops?

[Jcb]

Afternoon or morning or evening everybody.

I was just wondering if anybody gets a new tone and spike if their ears pops randomly?
I've noticed that when mine pops (which it can a lot totally randomly) I get a new tone or spike for a few hours.
one occasion when it popped I got this morse code type of sound and that's stayed with me for over a month now.
I should also say it hurts when it pops, like a sudden sharp pain then everything seems to go up in volume and I go dizzy for a few seconds.
Any ideas why?

 

[Samir]

You sure that's your ear popping? It's not a muscle contraction in your middle ear?

I cannot totally relate to that in regards to pain, vertigo or volume, but I have an equally disturbing condition. When I lay down at night to sleep, whenever I swallow I hear a sharp click in my left ear. I can predict when the click will come on with scary accuracy. Each time, it's almost exactly 5 seconds after I swallow. It is disturbingly fascinating.

I do get the clicks during daytime and normal activity as well, but then it's not provoked by swallowing and comes on spontaneously or at random in other words. That's why I suspect you might have something similar going on. Ears (Eustachian tubes) don't pop at random as far as I know. I think some form of myoclonus can have that effect, but I may be wrong. There is palatal myoclonus, and then there is another type that affects the Eustachian tube... I think.

One ear or both ears affected? Seen a doctor about this? Done any tests?

 

[Jcb]

You sure that's your ear popping? It's not a muscle contraction in your middle ear?

I cannot totally relate to that in regards to pain, vertigo or volume, but I have an equally disturbing condition. When I lay down at night to sleep, whenever I swallow I hear a sharp click in my left ear. I can predict when the click will come on with scary accuracy. Each time, it's almost exactly 5 seconds after I swallow. It is disturbingly fascinating.

I do get the clicks during daytime and normal activity as well, but then it's not provoked by swallowing and comes on spontaneously or at random in other words. That's why I suspect you might have something similar going on. Ears (Eustachian tubes) don't pop at random as far as I know. I think some form of myoclonus can have that effect, but I may be wrong. There is palatal myoclonus, and then there is another type that affects the Eustachian tube... I think.

One ear or both ears affected? Seen a doctor about this? Done any tests?

Could be the middle ear, I'm not sure?
It seems to happen in my right ear a lot, oddly enough that's the ear where the T is the lowest. I've tried to see if there was a patten but there isn't, it just seems to happen out of nowhere.
I've seen 6 doctors in total and to be honest they have all been pretty useless, they didn't know much about T unfortunately and my ENT appointment has been pushed back two times now.
The only thing the last doctor said is one of my ear drums looked a bit perforated, and a bit waxy (even though the doctor I saw a week earlier said my ears were fine)
I've seen two audiologists and my hearing is fine.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Samir]

Ears popping is also related to the middle ear, because that's where we find the Eustachian tube that equalizes the pressure, effectively causing the pop sound. But I suspect in this case it may be related to one of the muscles in the middle ear, not the Eustachian tube.

Interesting how it only happens in the ear opposite to your bad ear. But I can't say I'm surprised. My clicks started out in the left ear, which is my bad ear. After a few months, the right ear got recruited and it too began to click, although not as prominently as the left ear or as frequently. This is equally puzzling.

I don't know about you, but at least in my case this all comes down to overactive nervous system as a result of damage to the ear.

Just a few minutes earlier, I was replying on this thread:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-university-of-michigan-tinnitus-discovery-—-signal-timing.2805/page-28#post-341418

This paragraph in the linked article especially resonated with me.

"Outer hair cells are the canaries in the coal mine for the inner ear, in that they're the first cells to die due to loud noise, age or other factors," says Fuchs. "Since they can't regenerate, their death leads to permanent hearing loss." So one possible role for type II afferents, he adds, would be to warn the brain of impending damage to outer hair cells.

Thus, my brain is triggering the acoustic reflex even when no loud noise is present. My tinnitus and hyperacusis is most definitely caused by a very loud noise.

My advice to you would be to see an ENT doctor, do all the tests necessary. You can discuss this in more detail with the doctor.

Regarding ear drum rupture, those should heal in less than three months. That is if you have a rapture at all. It wasn't clear to the doctors if you have a rupture or not. That doesn't seem very professional to me, a doctor should be able to tell. Maybe you only saw a GP, but that still counts as doctor. You may get an antibiotic to keep the ear clear of infections when you see the ENT, but you usually don't need to do anything, it heals on its own.

 

[Jcb]

Ears popping is also related to the middle ear, because that's where we find the Eustachian tube that equalizes the pressure, effectively causing the pop sound. But I suspect in this case it may be related to one of the muscles in the middle ear, not the Eustachian tube.

Interesting how it only happens in the ear opposite to your bad ear. But I can't say I'm surprised. My clicks started out in the left ear, which is my bad ear. After a few months, the right ear got recruited and it too began to click, although not as prominently as the left ear or as frequently. This is equally puzzling.

I don't know about you, but at least in my case this all comes down to overactive nervous system as a result of damage to the ear.

Just a few minutes earlier, I was replying on this thread:
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/new-university-of-michigan-tinnitus-discovery-—-signal-timing.2805/page-28#post-341418

This paragraph in the linked article especially resonated with me.


Thus, my brain is triggering the acoustic reflex even when no loud noise is present. My tinnitus and hyperacusis is most definitely caused by a very loud noise.

My advice to you would be to see an ENT doctor, do all the tests necessary. You can discuss this in more detail with the doctor.

Regarding ear drum rupture, those should heal in less than three months. That is if you have a rapture at all. It wasn't clear to the doctors if you have a rupture or not. That doesn't seem very professional to me, a doctor should be able to tell. Maybe you only saw a GP, but that still counts as doctor. You may get an antibiotic to keep the ear clear of infections when you see the ENT, but you usually don't need to do anything, it heals on its own.

Thanks for the information, interesting read. Yeah the doctors haven't been really that helpful, even paid private for one appointment which is a shame as they weren't that knowledgeable and told me all the info I already knew (basic information) I'll wait for my ENT appointment and maybe try another audiologist.