Yesterday Night Sudden Deafness, No More Crackling Sounds, What Is Going On?

[Ears Hurt]

I'm curious to hear how your LLLT works. More power to you being able to build it. I wish I was that creative and had the know how to do so...

 

[Tamika]

For me, it's not a tinkly bell sound. It's just like the "eeeee" of tinnitus, but it is intermittent and in EXACT correlation to the cadence of my footsteps (which are the "shock"-producing stimulus for the "eee" response. It's like: "eee" - "eee" - "eee" with every single footfall

@Cityjohn @Steve
I thought I was the only one with this strange experience. Within the first few weeks of getting T and hearing loss after a concert I had to do a noisy job at home. I was wearing double hearing protection and walking downhill down a long driveway and my ears squeaked in time with the impact of each foot hitting the ground.

 

[Cityjohn]

I'm curious to hear how your LLLT works. More power to you being able to build it. I wish I was that creative and had the know how to do so...

Don't worry, if I got it and it works I'll distribute them.

 

[Path Maker]

@Cityjohn @Steve
I thought I was the only one with this strange experience. Within the first few weeks of getting T and hearing loss after a concert I had to do a noisy job at home. I was wearing double hearing protection and walking downhill down a long driveway and my ears squeaked in time with the impact of each foot hitting the ground.

I DO believe this needs to be brought to light with researchers! It is a sign/symptom of SOMETHING definitive in the tinnitus process!!!

 

[Cityjohn]

@Cityjohn @Steve
I thought I was the only one with this strange experience. Within the first few weeks of getting T and hearing loss after a concert I had to do a noisy job at home. I was wearing double hearing protection and walking downhill down a long driveway and my ears squeaked in time with the impact of each foot hitting the ground.

This is so strange, I really have no idea what could possibly cause this... Presumably something is moving down and squeaks every time...

 

[Path Maker]

This is so strange, I really have no idea what could possibly cause this... Presumably something is moving down and squeaks every time...

I have this intuition that maybe a whole bunch of the nervous system (acoustic nerve and related brain nerves) is in a "high tension wire" state of arousal, and that jogging the brain/auditory nerve when walking is setting it off and causing the squeaking/ringing/twang.

When you walk, especially quickly and with high impact, you send mechanical "shock" from your heel up through your body right into your head.

When this happens to me, if I press upwards on my mastoid process, this pressing action acts as a shock absorber and I don't get the "squeak."

Similarly, if I walk hard but keep my head extended all the way back (as in, looking up at the sky) or all the way down (looking at the ground), I also do not get the squeak. Why? Because the "shock" of walking sent from the foot up through the body is then cut off at the neck. It never gets to jostle the ... AUDITORY NERVE and ASSOCIATED BRAIN NEURONS/HIGH TENSION WIRE AREAS.

SOMETHING is happening here!

 

[Alue]

@Cityjohn @Steve
I thought I was the only one with this strange experience. Within the first few weeks of getting T and hearing loss after a concert I had to do a noisy job at home. I was wearing double hearing protection and walking downhill down a long driveway and my ears squeaked in time with the impact of each foot hitting the ground.

I have this intuition that maybe a whole bunch of the nervous system (acoustic nerve and related brain nerves) is in a "high tension wire" state of arousal, and that jogging the brain/auditory nerve when walking is setting it off and causing the squeaking/ringing/twang.

When you walk, especially quickly and with high impact, you send mechanical "shock" from your heel up through your body right into your head.

When this happens to me, if I press upwards on my mastoid process, this pressing action acts as a shock absorber and I don't get the "squeak."

Similarly, if I walk hard but keep my head extended all the way back (as in, looking up at the sky) or all the way down (looking at the ground), I also do not get the squeak. Why? Because the "shock" of walking sent from the foot up through the body is then cut off at the neck. It never gets to jostle the ... AUDITORY NERVE and ASSOCIATED BRAIN NEURONS/HIGH TENSION WIRE AREAS.

SOMETHING is happening here!

Interesting. I can't say it happens all the time, but I do notice my tinnitus will make this zing zing zing sound when I walk. Especially If I'm wearing earplugs while walking. It too seems to be in sync with my footsteps.

 

[Ears Hurt]

I went jogging for the first time since getting tinnitus and I have to agree with the shock causing something to happen in the auditory system. I had a spike afterwards too. I miss jogging and I'm not sure if I should continue or not. I certainly don't want to cause more damage but then again I'm hoping to knock something back in place to end this nightmare too.

 

[Dutchy]

So yesterday I didn't have a headache anymore for the first time in three months, not to threat though it's back... but this morning at 3 AM my right ear suddenly went deaf twice in one minute, I jumped up and started hitting my head thinking "No please no!"... luckily it stopped after a minute.

I just noticed that I no longer have the loud crackling sound in my ears when I yawn or clear them. I've seen the crackling ear thing come by on this forum a few times, and due to everything I've heard here and at my audiologist I was made to believe that it was due to senorineuronal hearing loss and an altered experience of the conductive hearing.
Clearly this is not the case. Since we're going to model every aspect of tinnitus in a clearly for tinnitushub I need to understand what in the ear could possible cause this.

Since the cochlea is buried in the strongest bone of the human body only the vane running below the middle ear and Eustachian tube have any effect when yawning or clearing there has to be a good explanation.
Perhaps the increased pressure when clearing causes friction between the three inner ear bones.. I'm at a loss.

Would you please share your crackling experiences to shed some more light on this mystery?

View attachment 10326

I hear crackling every time i walk,have an eardrum spasm in a very occasional matter.Yawning will make my T go trough the roof.Being on my Lexapro regiment makes the sound in my head much more organized ( ikr? lol)
It's a faint sound compared to a few months ago.I really hate the med itself as it adds more pounds to my body.
I guess it's either this or eEeEeeEeee eee iieieiiiiieieiiie lol.

About audiology,they're guess is about as good as ours.I'm waiting on the researchers as they seem to have more flexible ideas.

 

[Cityjohn]

Guys my mind is blown by sheer amount of info unknown and undiscussed in literature or healthcare. I'm going to have to write down these things to make sure our next survey is gonna blow ENT science up.

 

[Path Maker]

Interesting. I can't say it happens all the time, but I do notice my tinnitus will make this zing zing zing sound when I walk. Especially If I'm wearing earplugs while walking. It too seems to be in sync with my footsteps.

Yesterday I had to wear earplugs most of the day due to being in a super noisy environment, and the zing-zing-zing was definitely more pronounced (meaning, it appeared amplified while the plugs were cutting off the input of the ambient sounds). The zing-zing (for want of some super-lofty scientific term ) is definitely something. I'll bet lots of people have this ...

 

[Ears Hurt]

@Cityjohn you are truly a gift to science! Most medical professionals dismiss our comments and symptoms, because they don't understand or it isn't textbook material.

 

[Cityjohn]

Most medical professionals dismiss our comments and symptoms, because they don't understand or it isn't textbook material.

Well... the economy of science is a weird one. I can't imagine any researcher would think they could get any credit for examining why walking causes a "zing zing" noise in the heads of tinnitus sufferers hehe.
And by the time you've got a job as an M.D why would you care about credit anymore...

My only advantage is that I 'm obsessed with learning, and I have time to kill.

 

[Ears Hurt]

@Cityjohn I guess we aren't a top priority in the medical community, but doesn't learning everything we can about the human body lead to new advancements regardless of the credit given.

 

[Cityjohn]

I guess we aren't a top priority in the medical community, but doesn't learning everything we can about the human body lead to new advancements regardless of the credit given.

I'm afraid not, there is a prioritization within science and then also on the individual level. When you have tinnitus yourself that priority quickly changes.
In science you are given a credit score called the h-index based on how many times you have been quoted. All scientist generally want to produce single pieces of works that are quoted many times. Some scientists have taken a class or two in investing and realize you need to produce many works to spread out your portfolio as it were.
Some just don't give a shit and go for whatever they want, is convenient, they understand, etc.

It's a weird world, if you want a good job in science you need a good h-index, not a good impact on the world. For example if I were to by some miracle get a paper or two published on tinnitus and they were never quoted because people think it's strange to quote a physicists work in the medical field, then it would permanently damage my ability to become a professor...

 

[Reinier]

After my NIHL I too have this "zinging" sound when I walk. I only notice it when using earplugs.

Now the following may sound far fetched, or even silly:
I remembered this sound. This sound is very similar to a phase locked loop oscillator. I used to build these oscillators and when you tapped them this exact sound was generated.
Not to long ago I read this document: http://lab.rockefeller.edu/hudspeth/research/Decoding
There is phase locking in our hearing apparatus. The interesting thing is that this is for the relative low frequencies (400-500Hz).
When I have to estimate the frequency I am hearing when walking with earplugs, my estimation would be around the same frequencies.
I don't know. I just noticed these similarities.

 

[Alue]

After my NIHL I too have this "zinging" sound when I walk. I only notice it when using earplugs.

Now the following may sound far fetched, or even silly:
I remembered this sound. This sound is very similar to a phase locked loop oscillator. I used to build these oscillators and when you tapped them this exact sound was generated.
Not to long ago I read this document: http://lab.rockefeller.edu/hudspeth/research/Decoding
There is phase locking in our hearing apparatus. The interesting thing is that this is for the relative low frequencies (400-500Hz).
When I have to estimate the frequency I am hearing when walking with earplugs, my estimation would be around the same frequencies.
I don't know. I just noticed these similarities.

Around what frequency is your tinnitus?

 

[Steve]

Guys my mind is blown by sheer amount of info unknown and undiscussed in literature or healthcare. I'm going to have to write down these things to make sure our next survey is gonna blow ENT science up.

Agree here, you find out all of these things and realise that we need to get a bigger picture and see just how many people are experiencing the same thing. I have been brushed off by doctors for having dull hearing / feeling of pressure and told nothing is wrong, I wonder how may others have too.

@Cityjohn @Steve
I thought I was the only one with this strange experience. Within the first few weeks of getting T and hearing loss after a concert I had to do a noisy job at home. I was wearing double hearing protection and walking downhill down a long driveway and my ears squeaked in time with the impact of each foot hitting the ground.

I've just conducted a very simple experiment as this really made me curious. Try walking with plugs in first, I also get that sound. Now plug your ears by pressing on your tragus to fully cover the ear. I don't get the sound at all when I do this - do you?

When you walk the earplugs are moving as your body moves. This creates a similar sensation to pulling on the earplugs and shaking them or if you rapidly press your tragus on and off the ear canal. It's probably a rapid air pressure change causing your eardrum to vibrate.

 

[Alue]

I've just conducted a very simple experiment as this really made me curious. Try walking with plugs in first, I also get that sound. Now plug your ears by pressing on your tragus to fully cover the ear. I don't get the sound at all when I do this - do you?

When you walk the earplugs are moving as your body moves. This creates a similar sensation to pulling on the earplugs and shaking them or if you rapidly press your tragus on and off the ear canal. It's probably a rapid air pressure change causing your eardrum to vibrate.

Interesting observation but that doesn't hold true for me. I get it if I have earmuffs on, I also get it without any earplugs in. Jumping up and down does it for me too.

 

[Reinier]

Around what frequency is your tinnitus?

My tinnitus frequency is 8.5kHz.

I also noticed when I move my eardrum (by pushing an earplug carefully in and out), I get the same "zinging" synchronous with the eardrum movement.
The same with earplugs in and shaking my head. The "zinging" frequency (Hz) changes slightly with walking, eardrum moving or shacking my head.

 

[Ears Hurt]

Is it possible that a mechanism in the ear is damaged to cause this phenomenon that we all seem to share?

 

[Reinier]

Is it possible that a mechanism in the ear is damaged to cause this phenomenon that we all seem to share?

Yes my idea too. Perhaps it was always there but because of the damage we notice now. I would think it is in the inner ear and not in the middle ear.

 

[Ears Hurt]

@Reinier Yes. I'm certain it comes from the inner ear.

 

[Telis]

The zinging while you walk with ear plugs in is the occlusion effect. The vibrational sounds that normally escape the body through the ear canal are trapped by the ear plug and bounce back to the ear. I think that these sounds somehow mix in with the tinnitus giving you the impression that your tinnitus is changing, zinging or whatever.

 

[Alue]

The zinging while you walk with ear plugs in is the occlusion effect. The vibrational sounds that normally escape the body through the ear canal are trapped by the ear plug and bounce back to the ear. I think that these sounds somehow mix in with the tinnitus giving you the impression that your tinnitus is changing, zinging or whatever.

And the zinging without earplugs? It doesn't change in pitch, but just fluctuates in amplitude.

 

[Path Maker]

I've just conducted a very simple experiment as this really made me curious. Try walking with plugs in first, I also get that sound. Now plug your ears by pressing on your tragus to fully cover the ear. I don't get the sound at all when I do this - do you?

When you walk the earplugs are moving as your body moves. This creates a similar sensation to pulling on the earplugs and shaking them or if you rapidly press your tragus on and off the ear canal. It's probably a rapid air pressure change causing your eardrum to vibrate.

@Steve I get the zing-zing sound whether I have earplugs in or not. I haven't tried the tragus thing yet, but I CAN make it stop by pushing up on the mastoid process, and I wonder if firmly holding in the tragus transfers supportive force to the mastoid bone/general ear/skull area, thus lessening the shock effect and jostling that comes with walking. ???

 

[Ears Hurt]

@Path Maker im going to have to try that when I go jogging again. Where do you press on the mastoid?

 

[Path Maker]

@Path Maker im going to have to try that when I go jogging again. Where do you press on the mastoid?

@Ears Hurt , I place my fingertips beneath it and push upwards on it. I'm interested to hear what you find!

 

[Telis]

And the zinging without earplugs? It doesn't change in pitch, but just fluctuates in amplitude.

Well you still have vibrational noise pass through your ear canal even if it's not blocked. Maybe you have reactive T? In my experience, my T will compete with noise, it can be generated inside my body (like the vibration from walking) or it can be exterior noise, it doesn't make a difference.

 

[Steve]

@Steve I get the zing-zing sound whether I have earplugs in or not. I haven't tried the tragus thing yet, but I CAN make it stop by pushing up on the mastoid process, and I wonder if firmly holding in the tragus transfers supportive force to the mastoid bone/general ear/skull area, thus lessening the shock effect and jostling that comes with walking. ???

There could be an element that relates to pressure on the auditory nerve. By pressing very hard it keeps things pretty still up there, the jaw is held in place too. So maybe there are a few things at play - the air pressure changes, internal sounds being more amplified and auditory nerve pressure from the jolting movements?