Crackling Ears when yawning or swallowing + full deafness landing by plane

[alemito80]

Hello, strange thing ... I am 37 years old and I had a classical seasonal cooling at Christmas with some flu, a lot of catarrh at the bronchial level, ears and throat.  Paracetamol and aerosol with physiological and mucolytic has healed.  The only annoying issue is a crackling in the ears every time I yawn or swallow, and full deafness when landing with a plane or going down by car from a mountain (even only 900 meters high) . I did 2 visits with 2 different otorhinolaryngologists, each performed the fibroscopy nose and throat examination, confirming free Eustachian tubes, paranasal sinuses, ears control, impedance and audiometric examination. Perfect hearing, zero residues of phlegm in the ears.  The thing does not convince me because the crackling remains constant (attention, only if yawn or swallow, no other symptoms or whistles, etc).  Under suggestion of the general practitioner I did a cycle of 12 "endotubaric insufflations", it doesn't seem there was some kind of progress with the problem that remains. What do you think ? Further advice?  Thanks a lot to everyone Ale

[Angelawolff221]

Hi alemito80, Is this tinnitus? I was suffering from this disease. But I was hearing a whistling like sound continuously. Then I consulted a clinic in Oshawa for Tinnitus treatment( https://www.hearingsolutions.ca/tinnitus ). You are not having such a continuous disturbance of the sound. So we can't confirm it as tinnitus. Sometimes, it may be due to eustachian tube dysfunction(ETD). When the tube is not opening and closing normally, a crackling like sound may experience in the ears. This ETD may occur due to sinus infection or allergies.

[alemito80]

Hi,
thanks for your comment !
No it's not tinnitus because I've only this "sound" of crackling/popping when yawning (even only pushing the jaw to yawn with closed mouth) or swallowing (like when you are on a plane or high mountain and you are trying to free your ears, but I hear very well).

I did some other things in the past weeks under medical suggestion:
- 9 days of cortisone assumption with no effect
- ear CT scan, perfect and all normal, except showing a lot of air in the mastoids (but it could be physiologic as said by the last ENT doctor)

So the last ENT doctor said that my ears are fine, the issue could be on the temporal mandibular joint and I need a gnathologist visit
Let's see ...

[Isle39]

This happened to me back in 2003.  I had sabe symptoms and went deaf after a plane landing in Brazil. This is sinus pressure that developed after your infection.  Mine resolved on its own.