Are you hearing crackling in your ear? A condition called tinnitus can bring about many different noises in your ears including buzzing, ringing, whooshing, and crackling. Here is some relevant facts.
Where is that crackling, buzzing, or ringing noise coming from? If you have hearing aids, it can mean that they require adjustment or aren’t properly fitted. But if you don’t use hearing aids it may be tinnitus.
Although we mostly 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’s what it may mean when some of these more prevalent noises are playing in your ears.
What’s The Cause of The Snap, Crackle, And Pop in My Ear?
We can tell you one thing – it’s not Rice Krispies. When the pressure in your ears changes – whether from an altitude change, going underwater, or just yawning – you may hear crackling or popping noises. A small part of your ear named the eustachian tube is the source of these noises. When these mucus lined passages open up to equalize the air pressure, fluid, and air move causing these noises to occur.
It’s an automatic process, but in some cases, like if you have congestion from allergies, a cold, or an ear infection, your eustachian tubes can actually get clogged up from an excess of mucus in your system (don’t forget, your ears, nose, and throat or all connected). Medical assistance, like surgery, is occasionally necessary in severe cases where nothing else has helped clear the blockage.
I’m Hearing Vibration in my Ears – What Does That Mean?
Sometimes tinnitus manifests as a vibration in the ears. Tinnitus is the medical term for a condition that causes people to hear noises that have no outside cause, like vibrations, inside of the ear. Most people will refer to it as a ringing in the ears and it manifests across the spectrum, from hardly there to debilitating.
What Should I do About Sounds in my Ear
If you use hearing aids, once again, checking those is the first task. You might hear these kinds of sounds for numerous reasons: your batteries are running low, the hearing aids aren’t properly positioned in your ears, the volume is too high, or your hair is rubbing up against it. But if you don’t use hearing aids and you’re hearing this kind of sound, it might also be caused by accumulated earwax.
Dull hearing, itchy ears, and ear infections can frequently be caused by too much earwax but how could it be responsible for tinnitus sounds? If it is touching your eardrum, it can actually inhibit the eardrum’s ability to function, which is what causes the buzzing or ringing. Fortunately, earwax issues are easily fixed.
Reach out to us if you have strange noises in your ears. We can check your hearing aid to make sure it’s functioning correctly.