sound when moving ear

[guzmano]

About two weeks ago I started hearing a "crumpling paper" sound inside my ear right whenever I move the ear with the ear muscle or when i pull it upwards manually or when I move the lower jaw from side to side.

There is no water in my ear, no infection and no wax build up (I just came back from my family doctor) and my hearing is not impaired and I have no pain. I have not had any cold for the past few months and I have not injured myself in that ear or anything like that. This just started out of the blue.

Why am I hearing this sound as if I have water and why is it not going away after two weeks?
Is this a sign of a lesion in the cochlea or ear drum that my family doctor has not been able to detect?
What are the internal ear conditions, diseases or lesions that could be consistent with these symptoms?

Thank you

[Samehere23]

I have the same thing, but im scared of doing anything with a qtup or my finger.

[InCrypt]

SOLVED - Yay! Had the same thing as everyone else described. I tried the "little crowbar" trick that
jzarech, suggested to "pop" my ear. However, just popping the ear (Inserting pinky, forming a seal, and leveraging the pinky out so that the vacuum that formed between pinky and eardrum "pops") didn't immediately work. Tilting head to side and THEN popping did work.
I too wear ear-plugs to sleep (Snoring dogs. ;) ) and woke up with it this morning. Been bugging me all day. I thought it was wax buildup, or an ear-hair (Hate those buggers) that was pushed up against my eardrum.

I am no doctor, but I suspect that it is indeed something resting against the eardrum, and when facial muscles, jaw muscles (from chewing), or you just wiggle your ear lobe, this mechanically moves said object against the eardrum and creates said "Crackliing" noise.
I also suspect that the reason this process works is because the vacuum that is formed while levering the finger out of the ear canal pulls on the ear drum, pushing the wax or ear-hair out of the way. Leaning to the side affected allows gravity to assist and/or amplify the effect.

Oh, and If it hurts, stop. See a doctor. Your either doing it too hard, or, there is something else going on. This process was not painful at all.

Anyway, that is my 2 cents from my experience.

[rp0503]

The qtip idea is what worked for me.  I first tried wiggling my finger in my ear, and it helped a little.  But I used the qtip carefully as lukta described and now the noise is gone!  Thanks!

[shera888]

Thank you durazcoton!
this has been happening to me 2 to 3 weeks now...  I just put some castor oil on a Q-tip and gently, very gently moved it around inside the ear and on the third time a piece of hair, about an inch long, was stuck to it and the sound is completely gone! Yeah.. no doctor co-pay needed!!

[DDS2]

I am a practicing dentist and would like to share my experience.  I have found some patients have symptoms as described if they have issues with the TMJ.  Oftentimes these issues can result from bruxism or grinding. It may be worth asking your dentist next time you visit.

[DracoJuniper]

Hi, sorry, couldn't help but notice your TMJ comment. I have a question, if I may. Do you find that many patients being treated for TMJ have symptoms of a low tinnitus or phlegm in the back of the throat? Thanks :)

[johnny0505]

I may have found the answer...I had THE SAME EXACT PROBLEM and searched forever...MAKE SURE YOU DON'T HAVE WAX BUILDUP DEEP IN YOUR EAR!!!!!   Thought I had tinnitus or sensitivity problems like Mozart..my girlfriend looked in my ear and found a huge blockage of wax..I CLEAN MY EARS OFTEN but it was too far back for a Qtip. I rushed to the CVS and purchased some ear wax flush (came with a bulb to flush with warm water afterwards).  Did it once and it got worse...i was deaf overnight (the blockage had moved deeper because my dumb *** turned my head so my girlfriend could look and it slipped deeper). Next morning I tried again and out came this huge clump of wax...I could hear amazingly well and the crumpling paper sound was GONE. Hope it works for you all too!!!!

[Mz_Cianna]

Actually, the one and only time I had a problem with ear wax was from using Q-Tips, it's a FACT they are NOT for cleaning ear wax. It pushes the wax further in, and packs it against the eardrum. I ended up in the ER with deafness, extreme pain and headache... Dr cleaned my ear out with water and a couple tools... the amount of wax that came out was insane. It was almost unbearably painful to have done... but, as soon as they got the wax out, I WAS PERFECTLY FINE. Zero pain... a bit of a residual headache that was cured with a Tylenol. Don't use Q-Tips INSIDE your ear!!