Advice About Ear Clicking

January 8, 2025 3:41 PM

My partner has a clicking or squeeking sound in his ears. Have you experienced this too? Details below.

My partner has a clicking or squeeking sound in their ears. If I get close, I can hear it myself. It is not his jaw, it's definitely coming from his ear. It happens when he blinks or moves his eyes. It's comes and goes, but doesn't seem to have any real pattern. Being extra hydrated seems to help? But it's quite annoying and can mess with his sleep.

We have talked to doctors. They say "Huh, weird. Let me know if you figure it out!" So, have you or someone you know experienced something like this? What helped?

(Audio recording taken on my phone held ~2 inches from his ear)

posted by Garm to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

IANAD, but I am a person with hearing loss and a lifetime of ear issues. I frequently experience a clicking or sort of rubbing sound in one or both ears, often when I yawn, or otherwise move my jaw. I have not experienced this with eye movement. I don’t know if anyone else can hear it.

Sometimes it means I have wax/dead skin in my ears and they need to be cleaned. Other times it’s congestion (possibly not the correct medical term) in my Eustachian tubes. Sometimes, it’s nothing. But, I have a lifelong history of all the ear problems. It sounds as though your partner has not.

I would suggest a visit to an ENT who has an audiologist on staff. If you have already seen an ENT and/or an audiologist, I would find a better one for a second opinion. If you have not already tried, an academic health center or large ENT practice, with experienced practitioners, might be a place to start.

I would want to make sure there is no infection, blockage, or physiological issue, and also make sure their hearing is healthy.

I hope you are able to get some actual information and find some relief.
posted by kyraU2 at 3:56 PM on January 8 [2 favorites]

My Eustachian tubes are a little wonky, and so my my ears make a lot of noise because they pop all the time. I can also hear all kinds of fun jaw noises, and even hear what sounds like grinding glass when I turn my neck. Plus the tinnitus and some one-sided strangeness in my left ear, just for kicks. Sometimes I can hear my eyes blink, but that doesn't present as a noise *in* my ear that is audible to another person.

One thing I would recommend when you see an audiologist (because I definitely concur with kyraU2 about seeing an ENT *and* and audiologist if you haven't already) is to ask about getting an MRI to see if he has an acoustic neuroma. This is a benign, usually very slow-growing tumor that can show some of these kinds of symptoms, though often there are more as well. This is especially true if the noises/symptoms are only on one side, but they can vary. Worth looking into for sure.
posted by Molasses808 at 4:34 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]

You've talked to doctors. Has a doctor looked in his ear?
posted by Text TK at 5:03 PM on January 8

It's the thing about the noises happening when he blinks/moves his eyes that's really striking to me. So, if you're close, you can actually hear it when he moves his eyes? That makes me think this might be more of an eye issue than an ear issue. Has your partner gotten a thorough eye exam?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:13 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: We have talked to the doctor twice, but they haven't referred us to a specialist, so we can't really get to a specialist. I was kind of hoping something in here might get us something more specific to convince them. They look in the ear and say it looks normal. Doesn't need cleaning, no inflammation, no perforation. His hearing is otherwise great. Personally, I think it's the muscles in his face when he blinks moves something in some tube?
posted by Garm at 5:16 PM on January 8 [1 favorite]

The pcp can't see the Eustachian tubes, or anything behind the eardrum. The eyes are connected to the nasal and ear ducting, this is how people can squirt milk out of their eye socket. You're right that it could be his muscles tweaking the tubes. It could also be related to pressure. I build up negative pressure on my eardrums somehow just by my tubes and jaws work, and I often get squeaks or pops when I equalize it.

You need to push for an ENT referral because it's probably nothing but I (someone who had to have two ENT surgeries and now has a new hole in my skull) would really want to have an authoritative 'all clear' from an ENT if possible.

Your partner can experiment with the valsalva maneuver (very gently and carefully!) to see if that changed the noises, elicits them, or makes them go away for a while. A good hot cup of tea and inhaling the steam can also help clear the tubes, as can sniffing vaporub or camphor or other soothing menthol-adjacent stuff.

I might even play up some itching, discomfort, distraction, or interfering with hearing if that's what it takes to get to the ENT. Good luck!
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:31 PM on January 8 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Check out reddit's /r/earrumblersassemble and /r/EustachianTubeClick for people with similar issues.
posted by ShooBoo at 5:33 PM on January 8 [3 favorites]

Best answer: My ear clicks and squeaks, just one of them. Pseudoephedrine, the real decongestant, staying very hydrated, and gentle decongesting massage helps. I associate it with deep sinus congestion with real thick mucus. If it gets really bad I get a round of prednisone and that REALLY helps.
posted by stormygrey at 6:57 PM on January 8 [3 favorites]

Some time ago, I found an explanation online that said this is a phenomenon arising from the muscles moving near the eardrum. It can also produce a rumbling sound… Here’s an explanation of the rumbling sound, for example: https://mymodernmet.com/tensor-tympani-control
posted by Misciel at 8:53 PM on January 8

Sounds a bit like what I might have at times, and yes, hydration helps - because I think it's in the sinuses, and by keeping mucus light and slippery (instead of drier and sticky), it flows better. (If it doesn't flow, it's as if it starts to drip when internal muscles relax in the sinuses, but then with movement or a breath, it rebounds back and that 'clicking' noise happens, as if it is un-sticking from other mucus membranes).

I would never have thought of it as being "post-nasal drip", but when I described the symptoms to an NP recently, that's what they thought it was. It gets really annoying at night. Sometimes, just shifting my neck position helps, but also having more water to sip slowly (so that I don't have to pee all night) is all it needs. I think a chiropractic visit also tends to clear it up for a longer stretch. I suppose, for the same reason, a decongestant may work - but I haven't tried that, and I am opposed to medications unless absolutely necessary (for me).
posted by itsflyable at 9:25 PM on January 8

Oh, I forgot that a saline nasal spray, or salt water neti pot rinse can also be a good way to hydrate the sinus cavities. I use the neti pot when I think I may have a virus coming on, but just a plain saline spray would be a healthy, non- medicinal way to keep those mucus membranes flowing normally (much better than a decongestant that compounds the problem of dry/ sticky membranes)
posted by itsflyable at 7:49 AM on January 9