Ear Clicks After Noise Trauma
 

Hello!

I am sorry if this is the wrong forum for this. Please move it if it is more appropriate in another forum. I feel like this is a brain injury of some kind.

I sometimes hear a click in my left ear. It is a sharp click, and it sounds like a cracking bone. I believe this started after I was exposed to a loud, sudden, impact noise.

I think this may be caused by one of the two muscles in the middle ear cavity. But which one? And why is this still persistent? Do I have a brain damage? The noise incident happened over 1 year ago. I only started having these symptoms recently.

I read on the web that clicks could be caused by Eustachian tube dysfunction. But I feel like this is different. I talked to an ENT doctor and he tried to convince me that I am imagining things. But I was able to record the click with my phone!

I am trying to understand this myself. Since doctors just send me home as if I am dumb and not worth their time.

Since I was exposed to a loud noise, this is likely part of the startle reflex. But why is the part of the brain controlling this still active? Even after the traumatic event? Is there nothing modern medicine can do about this?

Regards,
Click

Click,

Welcome to NeuroTalk.

Wow, what a unique condition you have. I can imagine how annoying it is. I have constant tinnitus. Had it for decades. My ringing is at about 1100 hz. It's very loud right now but it is sometimes not so loud. Drinking a bit of water can make it very loud. I have had to learn to ignore it.

Your thought of muscle twitching sounds right. I found a good web site by an ENT. It sounds like you need to find a better ENT. Maybe a hearing clinic can direct you to a good one. Here is what I found:
Irregular Ear Clicking or Vibration Noise

Have you tried adding magnesium to your diet as a supplement ? The web site suggest mag oxide but mag citrate or other non-oxide form of magnesium is better absorbed. Anti-seizure meds can also help in some.

The Vitamins sticky at the top may be of help. Nerve/brain nutrition may be useful.

You likely need to find someone who can determine it this is palatal myoclonus or middle ear myoclonus.

It sounds like a hick-up but in the palate or middle ear rather than diaphragm.

My best to you.

Wow I have same unique symptom too. I smashed my head in 98 and both my ears plugged in after a week and my brain and nervous system shutdown on me. My 5 senses including my recognition of people was diminished. That's another story. My ears,feel like they are full of fluid the Crack popped and all sorts of weird noises.

Hello Click: Welcome to NeuroTalk. I just wanted to mention that another thing you can do here on NT (in case you haven't already found it) is to use the Advanced Search function to search for previous posts related to your areas of concern:

https://www.neurotalk.org/search.php

By the way, I might just mention I have Meniere's Disease & tinnitus. I was fortunate to find an ENT physician in my area who has tinnitus himself & who has made something of a specialty of treating tinnitus patients. I had previously seen another ENT who not only didn't help, but who actually caused my condition to become dramatically worse (temporarily fortunately.) So I know from personal experience it can make a big difference what ENT doctor one sees. I'm not surprised you had the experience you had. Good luck with your efforts to find answers to your dilemma.

Adding to what Skeezyks wrote, I have tinnitus in one ear.

Following a discussion with mrsD, I took taurine as a supplement (1 g/day) - it has helped a lot with my tinnitus.

As an aside, I have osteoarthritis in one shoulder. Following a PubMed search I decided to increase my taurine dose to 3 g/day - so far this is working well.

Clicks can be many things. If in the inner ear or middle ear not much can be done.

They can be from your jaw joint, or blocked eustachian tubes. You can hear clicking from any nearby tendon movements. Sometimes my right wrist clicks in the night and I can hear that in my right ear.

Can you pop your ears and do they both click open? If you have throat swelling from infections or allergies, then they will make clicking sounds when they open up.

Don't use Q-tips in the ears, as they can push wax back into the ear canal which may vibrate against the ear drum.

When the weather changes quickly and the barometric pressure changes quickly too, then you may notice that these sounds increase in frequency. That would point to a pressure issue as your trigger.

Thanks for writing back to me everyone!

What I did not mention is that I have tinnitus too. I think it more than likely caused by that acoustic trauma. But it took time for it to fully develop. So I didn't even register at first that I had tinnitus. But I had noticed a static type of noise in quite places. It was very faint and I did not think of it much. Then the tinnitus changed character and it is now tonal. I had also been feeling fatigued and I had a few anxiety attacks for no apparent reason, but always at night. When it was otherwise quite I suppose.

I am still coming to terms with my tinnitus. Thankfully it is not very loud. I do however get loud fleeting tinnitus sometimes. Not so often lately, and I think I may have started to habituate to it. I get scared when I get loud fleeting tinnitus and I unvoluntarely pull my head in as if being startled. It's like a flashback from the trauma!

These ear clicks are more than likely associated with the trauma. Somehow the reflex is activated even when there is no danger. It is somehow more easily activated now. It's been several months now, and it's not getting a lot better.

It's not palatal myoclonus, and it's not eustachian tube dysfunction. It's most likely middle ear myoclonus, caused by either one of the two muscles in the middle ear. My ears don't feel full, and I had the acoustic reflex test done and the pressure is normal in both ears. The dentist said I have a nice, normal bite. My left temporomandibular joint seems to be a bit uneaven, likely made worse by a wisdom tooth in the upper jaw which I removed a bit late.

I normally lay on my back when I go to sleep. While still awake I can hear the click when I swollow. I swollow... 1, 2, 3, ... 7, click! About 7 seconds after I swollow I hear a click! Sometimes I hear it simultaneously as I swollow. Sometimes it clicks without swollowing.

So you can imagine that is very diffuclt to fall asleep. And when I do, I suspect this is waking me up, preventing me from falling deep into sleep and getting the rest I need.

Will these clicks never stop? The thought of getting the muscles cut seems barbaric to me. Why are we still doing that in 21 century medicine? It seems that there are not that many ENT surgeons that will comply to do this. But I can't even get any pills for it from my ENT doctor. He just keeps telling me that it will get better and to give it time.

Tinnitus cannot be cured, but neither can middle ear muscle myoclonus. If that's what it is... It would seem more tangable, if we know what it is and where it is.

Taurine, magnesium, vitamins, anti-seizure meds... I will look into these more. Is magnesium oxide and magnesium citrate equally safe for the body? How much should I take?

What is nerve/brain nutrition?

Mag oxide will pass through as a laxative with low absorption. Mag citrate or theonate are good.

I get that click 2 out of three swallows. I never paid attention to it. Hope I don't now. I get a slight click on the left and a microsecond after, a loud squish then click in my right ear. My jaw does not have to move at all. Maybe my clicking TMJ has desensitized me to this sound.

But then, I have learn to ignore 60dB tinnitus. Ringing like a high pitched bell right now.

You might try finding a music track that has some sounds that can hide the clicking so you can sleep.

Taurine is surprisingly helpful. At least 1 gram which is 1000milligrams up to 3 gm in divided doses is needed daily
It is easy to tolerate, and not expensive.