Something in My Ear Moving?

[Taylorslay]

It's not my eustachian tubes. But it's like something hard moved in my ear. I heard it. Like it rubbed up against something. I can't tell what it was. I'm not having pain or hearing loss. I'm just confused on what it could be. Any ideas?

 

[Dorothy5271]

I've had something similar , it happened a couple nights ago and it scared the crap out of me, I don't have a clue what it could be /:

 

[Bill Bauer]

Could it be some kind of a parasite? (I am a fan of the show "Monsters Inside Me" and your symptoms remind me of that show.) You wrote that your T was caused by years of headphone use. Does this mean that there was no one event that set it off, and you just assumed that your T was caused by your headphones?

You live in a warm climate where parasites are more likely compared to colder climate.

Perhaps this is a good news. If the parasite could be removed, maybe your T will end soon thereafter.

You need to see a doctor.

 

[Taylorslay]

I've had something similar , it happened a couple nights ago and it scared the crap out of me, I don't have a clue what it could be /:

I'm getting a warm sensation in.my ear now. Did you feel anything afterwards?

 

[fishbone]

Unless something physically got in there, it might be a spasm. If it keeps happening, maybe see a doctor.

 

[Taylorslay]

Could it be some kind of a parasite? (I am a fan of the show "Monsters Inside Me" and your symptoms remind me of that show.) You wrote that your T was caused by years of headphone use. Does this mean that there was no one event that set it off, and you just assumed that your T was caused by your headphones?

You live in a warm climate where parasites are more likely compared to colder climate.

Perhaps this is a good news. If the parasite could be removed, maybe your T will end soon thereafter.

You need to see a doctor.

Lol maybe it's an infection idk.

 

[Taylorslay]

Unless something physically got in there, it might be a spasm. If it keeps happening, maybe see a doctor.

Idk it was weird like imagine a bone brushing against a bone but the vibrations to my cochlea are working perfectly fine since I hear normal. Weird?

 

[Bill Bauer]

It could be Tonic tensor tympani syndrome (TTTS). I had that too. I would hear a "whoosh" sound whenever I would finish talking. Did you feel the movement right after you heard some other sound?

 

[Taylorslay]

It could be Tonic tensor tympani syndrome (TTTS). I had that too. I would hear a "whoosh" sound whenever I would finish talking. Did you feel the movement right after you heard some other sound?

I heard it it isn't TTTS. I've experienced that. It was like something hard brushing each other like a joint of a bone. I'll just wait and see till the morning.

 

[Bill Bauer]

It was like something hard brushing each other like a joint of a bone.

Were you moving your jaw as this was happening?

 

[Taylorslay]

Were you moving your jaw as this was happening?

I dont remember honestly. I hope it's my jaw. But I'm feeling warmth in my ear.

 

[PaulBe]

The warmth could be a bit of inflammation. That will generate heat.

 

[vermillion]

It could be Tonic tensor tympani syndrome (TTTS). I had that too. I would hear a "whoosh" sound whenever I would finish talking. Did you feel the movement right after you heard some other sound?

Hello Bill,
Finally somebody describes with words what i want to say to my doctor. Unfortunately this "whoosh" sound haven't subsided. It's actually getting worse. Not only after talking, but with almost every sound. Except if i am outside where i cannot "feel" it. Is that TTTS. How the heck is "whoosh" in greek to tell my doc tomorrow? (Just thinking loudly) So much time spending here, i know better the terminology over tinnitus in english rather in greek.

 

[fishbone]

How are you feeling today? Keep us updated.

 

[Samir]

Hi Taylor! How are you doing?

So your main symptoms are,

1. Physical sensation of involuntary movement inside the ear.
2. Feels like it's something hard, like a bone against another bone.
3. Warm sensation in the ear.

Do you still have these symptoms? When did this start? How long does it last? Does it come and go? The sound you hear when this happens, is it a click sound, like that of a computer mouse button? Is it loud or it quite? Is it active when you rest or when you walk outdoors?

What can you tell me about the onset of your tinnitus, was it caused by a loud, sudden noise, like the noise of a gun shot? I see you have stated that your tinnitus was caused by acoustic trauma.

What you are describing seems to be what I wrote about yesterday. If you can exclude ETD and TMD, and the sound you hear is a sharp click, then my diagnosis would be Stapedial muscle myoclonus, or SMM for short. I made up this name, but it's accurately descriptive of what I suspect to be the cause. You are right in your own assessment in that it's "like a joint of a bone" (just remove "of a bone"). This joint is called Incudostapedial joint. It's the joint between the Incus and the Stapes bone.



This is most likely the site responsible for the sound you hear. There is a tiny muscle that pulls on the Stapes bone in order to protect the Cochlea when we are exposed to a very loud noise like that of a gun shot close to your ear. Like in the case of the Belgian prime minister.

It can take months or even years to develop the symptom. If our assessment is correct the symptom you describe is a neurological one that results from trauma to the ear and the brain. It does not have to be the result of a loud impact sound. It may also result from neurodegeneration of the cochlear nerves and neurons, which we know will deplete from "normal" overexposure to things like loud music or construction work without ear protection.

The warmth you feel could be from the muscle. It's normal for muscles to become warm when exercised. So if a muscle or a groups of muscles are used a lot repetitively, with or without voluntary control, they will become warm.

Don't get too worked up about it. Try to rest and relax. Eat well, get as much sleep as possible, get out of the house as often as you can and take a walk. It may seem scary at first if you are new to this. But there are a couple of us here that have it, myself included. It gets better with time, and even if it does act up again it will not be as troubling as the first time. There are a couple of drugs that could help, but I would advise against using them unless your symptoms are severe.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Is that TTTS.

I am pretty sure that this is TTTS. We are hearing the sound of that muscle contracting. I am not aware of any treatments for it. When I first got T, my TTTS was very bad. Gradually it got better. I had several months when I think it stopped. Unfortunately it came back recently. But it is not nearly as annoying as the sound of T. At least you can stop hear TTTS when you get to a quiet room.

It bothers me mostly in the mornings when I talk. In the early days I would hear the "whoosh" sound at the end of every phrase spoken by other people too. These days I hear that sound when an external noise is moderately loud, and after I speak (even when I whisper). I got used to it somewhat, so it doesn't bother me Too much.

How the heck is "whoosh" in greek to tell my doc tomorrow?

Sometimes mine sounds like paper being crumpled.

If there wasn't a chance that this is what we might have to hear for the rest of our lives, it would have been funny. For people who are lucky enough not to have TTTS, imagine hearing paper crumpling in your ear at the end of Every Phrase you say! Hilarious, right? );

 

[Taylorslay]

How are you feeling today? Keep us updated.

I'm feeling better. My hear is no longer warm. I was worried if my eardrum ruptured. However, considering what happened I thought it was unlikely. But it was still on my mind. I ruptured my eardrum one time a few years ago with a cotton swab (I learned not to do that anymore haha). I didn't have pain or hearing loss but I had blood.

I wonder if it was inflammation. Hmm...

 

[fishbone]

I'm feeling better. My hear is no longer warm. I was worried if my eardrum ruptured. However, considering what happened I thought it was unlikely. But it was still on my mind. I ruptured my eardrum one time a few years ago with a cotton swab (I learned not to do that anymore haha). I didn't have pain or hearing loss but I had blood.

I wonder if it was inflammation. Hmm...

I think you'll be ok

 

[Taylorslay]

Hi Taylor! How are you doing?

So your main symptoms are,

1. Physical sensation of involuntary movement inside the ear.
2. Feels like it's something hard, like a bone against another bone.
3. Warm sensation in the ear.

Do you still have these symptoms? When did this start? How long does it last? Does it come and go? The sound you hear when this happens, is it a click sound, like that of a computer mouse button? Is it loud or it quite? Is it active when you rest or when you walk outdoors?

What can you tell me about the onset of your tinnitus, was it caused by a loud, sudden noise, like the noise of a gun shot? I see you have stated that your tinnitus was caused by acoustic trauma.

What you are describing seems to be what I wrote about yesterday. If you can exclude ETD and TMD, and the sound you hear is a sharp click, then my diagnosis would be Stapedial muscle myoclonus, or SMM for short. I made up this name, but it's accurately descriptive of what I suspect to be the cause. You are right in your own assessment in that it's "like a joint of a bone" (just remove "of a bone"). This joint is called Incudostapedial joint. It's the joint between the Incus and the Stapes bone.

View attachment 13954

This is most likely the site responsible for the sound you hear. There is a tiny muscle that pulls on the Stapes bone in order to protect the Cochlea when we are exposed to a very loud noise like that of a gun shot close to your ear. Like in the case of the Belgian prime minister.

It can take months or even years to develop the symptom. If our assessment is correct the symptom you describe is a neurological one that results from trauma to the ear and the brain. It does not have to be the result of a loud impact sound. It may also result from neurodegeneration of the cochlear nerves and neurons, which we know will deplete from "normal" overexposure to things like loud music or construction work without ear protection.

The warmth you feel could be from the muscle. It's normal for muscles to become warm when exercised. So if a muscle or a groups of muscles are used a lot repetitively, with or without voluntary control, they will become warm.

Don't get too worked up about it. Try to rest and relax. Eat well, get as much sleep as possible, get out of the house as often as you can and take a walk. It may seem scary at first if you are new to this. But there are a couple of us here that have it, myself included. It gets better with time, and even if it does act up again it will not be as troubling as the first time. There are a couple of drugs that could help, but I would advise against using them unless your symptoms are severe.

My T onset was from acoustic trauma. Largely from headphones. That was the only loud thing in my life that could have caused it. Especially since it happened once I removed my headphones.

The symptoms have gone. The movement only happened once, it was short and quick, but it caused warmth after a good 10 minutes. Therefore I was worried. I may have a little warmth left. But its barely noticeable. I just would love the reassurance that it isn't dangerous haha. That nothing in my ear has been hurt by this.

Thank you for being so well detailed and thank you for your help.

 

[Samir]

My T onset was from acoustic trauma. Largely from headphones. That was the only loud thing in my life that could have caused it. Especially since it happened once I removed my headphones.

That's not acoustic trauma then. Acoustic trauma, acoustic incident or acoustic shock is when you are exposed to a very loud, sudden noise. It can be a very loud sound coming from the headphones, or that from a gun or a bomb. The source is not important, the important thing is that it is very, very loud and it's sudden.

This is what acoustic trauma looks like:

Using headphones a lot and listening at high volume is more like a progressive wear and tear on the ears. It's like doing a tire burnout. It's not a traumatic event like the one you see above.

You are of course free to call it however you like. I call mine "bewitched ears"! I just thought I would inform you so you understand the difference when you come across this term.

What do you mean it happened when you removed the headphones? So you were listening to your music and stamping to the beat, and then you take your headphones off and you experience tinnitus? Is that it?

The symptoms have gone. The movement only happened once, it was short and quick, but it caused warmth after a good 10 minutes. Therefore I was worried. I may have a little warmth left. But its barely noticeable. I just would love the reassurance that it isn't dangerous haha. That nothing in my ear has been hurt by this.

I'm glad to see you are doing better now. No, it's nothing dangerous, even if it was your muscle or muscles of the middle ear playing up. But I know the feeling when you don't know what it is and you get scared and worried. If it was infection you would start feeling very sick very soon and you would be getting a fever. Give it a few days, and if you start to get those symptoms more often I would advise you to go see a doctor.

 

[PaulBe]

I am not aware of any treatments for it.

There are some threads on it around somewhere. It gets covered more in the Hyperacusis forum I think (including known treatments). For some its a bigger issue than tinnitus itself.

 

[Taylorslay]

That's not acoustic trauma then. Acoustic trauma, acoustic incident or acoustic shock is when you are exposed to a very loud, sudden noise. It can be a very loud sound coming from the headphones, or that from a gun or a bomb. The source is not important, the important thing is that it is very, very loud and it's sudden.

This is what acoustic trauma looks like:

Using headphones a lot and listening at high volume is more like a progressive wear and tear on the ears. It's like doing a tire burnout. It's not a traumatic event like the one you see above.

You are of course free to call it however you like. I call mine "bewitched ears"! I just thought I would inform you so you understand the difference when you come across this term.

What do you mean it happened when you removed the headphones? So you were listening to your music and stamping to the beat, and then you take your headphones off and you experience tinnitus? Is that it?


I'm glad to see you are doing better now. No, it's nothing dangerous, even if it was your muscle or muscles of the middle ear playing up. But I know the feeling when you don't know what it is and you get scared and worried. If it was infection you would start feeling very sick very soon and you would be getting a fever. Give it a few days, and if you start to get those symptoms more often I would advise you to go see a doctor.

Thank you for clarifying Acoustic Trauma.

What happened though, it happened twice. I took out my headphones (this happened twice and I didn't listen the first time) and my hearing decreased enormously. My hearing never fully recovered back to what it was. After the 2nd time, tinnitus set in about half a week later. Then another week Hyperacusis set in.

 

[Samir]

What happened though, it happened twice.

I am sorry but I still fail to understand what exactly happened.

Will you try to explain that one more time please? It happened two times. But what is it that happened?

I took out my headphones (this happened twice and I didn't listen the first time) and my hearing decreased enormously. My hearing never fully recovered back to what it was. After the 2nd time, tinnitus set in about half a week later. Then another week Hyperacusis set in.

Yes, tinnitus usually sets in first it seems, then comes hyperacusis. Then hyperacusis goes away and you are left with only tinnitus. That's most typical, but it does vary between individuals.

You took them out? Not off? You mean to say you used one of those that you insert inside the ear or the ear canal? Have you done a hearing test that confirms you have hearing loss?

 

[Taylorslay]

I am sorry but I still fail to understand what exactly happened.

Will you try to explain that one more time please? It happened two times. But what is it that happened?


Yes, tinnitus usually sets in first it seems, then comes hyperacusis. Then hyperacusis goes away and you are left with only tinnitus. That's most typical, but it does vary between individuals.

You took them out? Not off? You mean to say you used one of those that you insert inside the ear or the ear canal? Have you done a hearing test that confirms you have hearing loss?

Yes I did a hearing test to 8k and I had no loss. But my perception isn't the same. I can't seem to put those two together since I had no loss, but I notice a difference in my hearing.

For years I used earbuds. The ones that you insert into your ear canal. I had them on max volume, always. One day I remove them from my ears and everything is muffled. This muffled hearing happened not once, but twice (over the span of two weeks) before I began listening to my body. Over the 24 hrs after I acquired the muffled hearing much of my hearing seemed to have recovered, but not quite. When my audiogram shows no loss but my perception isn't the same. My perception believes me to think otherwise.

 

[Samir]

Yes I did a hearing test to 8k and I had no loss. But my perception isn't the same. I can't seem to put those two together since I had no loss, but I notice a difference in my hearing.

For years I used earbuds. The ones that you insert into your ear canal. I had them on max volume, always. One day I remove them from my ears and everything is muffled. This muffled hearing happened not once, but twice (over the span of two weeks) before I began listening to my body. Over the 24 hrs after I acquired the muffled hearing much of my hearing seemed to have recovered, but not quite. When my audiogram shows no loss but my perception isn't the same. My perception believes me to think otherwise.

Oh I understand now completely. Thanks for clarifying that!

Well, what you experienced on these two occasions then is what's known as a threshold shift. If your hearing recovers within a few minutes it's considered to be a temporary threshold shift, or TTS. If it takes longer time or if it doesn't fully recover, and you seem to feel like it has not fully recovered, then it's considered a permanent threshold shift.

But knowing what I know now, how sensitive and delicate the inner ear is I would say that there is no such thing as "temporary". How much it "shifts" or how much the hearing is able to recover, it's all relative and depends on a lot of factors. But the bottom line is that it is a type of hearing loss, Sensori-Neural Hearing Loss or SNHL. Audiologists just love to use these abbreviations!

If you have normal hearing level, or HL, then I would say you have more of a neural hearing loss (NHL) than sensory hearing loss (SHL). Assuming my assessment is correct and what you felt the other day was a muscle acting up it would be likely caused by a misfiring neurons. Hopefully those symptoms will stay at bay.



Oops! Wrong kind of NHL! Or is it?...

I'm sorry for your loss! I hope you are coping well. One thing you should know about all of our symptoms is that they are unpredictable and individual. I hope you are taking better care of your ears now.

Please avoid headphones as much as possible. Especially the ones that you put inside the ear canal, the so called ear-buds or in-ears. They are the reason I am here too. But unlike you, I was exposed to a very loud, sudden sound that was cause by failed audio device. It went through those in-ear headphones and into my ears and brain. So in that sense, I had a traumatic incident.

For safety reasons and to preserve the hearing I have left, I no longer use headphones at all. I have had enough of it. If I have to use headphones I would use the big ones that go over and around your ears and I set the volume very low. It's up to you if you want to do the same. Just be very careful if you do use headphones. Don't ever have the volume on high when you connect or disconnect them or any other audio device.

 

[Taylorslay]

Oh I understand now completely. Thanks for clarifying that!

Well, what you experienced on these two occasions then is what's known as a threshold shift. If your hearing recovers within a few minutes it's considered to be a temporary threshold shift, or TTS. If it takes longer time or if it doesn't fully recover, and you seem to feel like it has not fully recovered, then it's considered a permanent threshold shift.

But knowing what I know now, how sensitive and delicate the inner ear is I would say that there is no such thing as "temporary". How much it "shifts" or how much the hearing is able to recover, it's all relative and depends on a lot of factors. But the bottom line is that it is a type of hearing loss, Sensori-Neural Hearing Loss or SNHL. Audiologists just love to use these abbreviations!

If you have normal hearing level, or HL, then I would say you have more of a neural hearing loss (NHL) than sensory hearing loss (SHL). Assuming my assessment is correct and what you felt the other day was a muscle acting up it would be likely caused by a misfiring neurons. Hopefully those symptoms will stay at bay.

View attachment 13959

Oops! Wrong kind of NHL! Or is it?...

I'm sorry for your loss! I hope you are coping well. One thing you should know about all of our symptoms is that they are unpredictable and individual. I hope you are taking better care of your ears now.

Please avoid headphones as much as possible. Especially the ones that you put inside the ear canal, the so called ear-buds or in-ears. They are the reason I am here too. But unlike you, I was exposed to a very loud, sudden sound that was cause by failed audio device. It went through those in-ear headphones and into my ears and brain. So in that sense, I had a traumatic incident.

For safety reasons and to preserve the hearing I have left, I no longer use headphones at all. I have had enough of it. If I have to use headphones I would use the big ones that go over and around your ears and I set the volume very low. It's up to you if you want to do the same. Just be very careful if you do use headphones. Don't ever have the volume on high when you connect or disconnect them or any other audio device.

Actually, I'm doing quite well. It always does feel like there's a wall in front of my ears but I can function properly and that's all I want. I'm doing quite well in the Tinnitus and Hyperacusis regard too.

I sometimes experience dizziness or when I lay down I get a false sense of motion. It varies how long, sometimes it lasts 2 minutes, sometimes it lasts 3 hours, and the longest 3 days. I hope you can bring some light to what and why I'm experiencing the dizziness sometimes, it would be extremely helpful. One time, I had balance problems for a short time, a week ago. I was swaying everywhere, nearly falling over. As of right now I'm not experiencing any of the dizziness or balance problems.

Most of this stuff doesn't bother me anymore, at the least. But of course I get my highs and lows. When my T was louder than everything around me for about a week, that did bother me. Same goes for my Hyperacusis when the brush of the wind against the trees felt like knives. Fortunately, the past few months these symptoms have been quite mild. I am quite thankful.

Haha, National Hockey League.

 

[Taylorslay]

@Samir I did forget to mention that my audiologist said there was no damage to the hairs in my cochlea. Also in noisy rooms people need to speak at a particular volume or everything they say just sounds like, as I call it "word vomit". I can't make out what they are saying.

 

[Bill Bauer]

I did forget to mention that my audiologist said there was no damage to the hairs in my cochlea. Also in noisy rooms people need to speak at a particular volume or everything they say just sounds like, as I call it "word vomit". I can't make out what they are saying.

The underlined text seems to imply that Had been some damage to some of those hairs...

 

[Taylorslay]

The underlined text seems to imply that Had been some damage to some of those hairs...

The audiologist said I had none.

 

[Bill Bauer]

The audiologist said I had none.

The audiologist was using the results of your hearing test to make this conclusion. It is not like the audiologist was able to count all of the individual hairs inside of your inner ear. You performed a test of your own (listening to people talking in a loud environment before and after your problems had began). Your test revealed that your hearing is not as acute as it used to be. This means hairs had been damaged... Audiologists' tests are imperfect.