Strange hearing effect

looksee

I have had poor hearing in my right ear for a good while, apparently due to an infection. I wear a hearing aid and that improves the situation.

My left ear just seemed to deteriorate and I ended up getting a left hearing aid because my audiologist said that he could not adjust the right one further without a second aid. Ok for a while.

Now I have noticed an odd effect. I have been woken at night by very loud ticking of my clock and other sounds that normally I would not hear. If I carefully avoid swallowing or sniffing this lasts for several minutes but does eventually fade away. I thought I was dreaming it, but it has happened several times and there does seem to be a sensation in my head that I want to change the pressure in my ears, and if I do it vanishes.

Not looking for a diagnosis but I wonder if anyone else has experienced anything similar. Sadly my experience of hearing consultants has not been good and I think it would be a waste of time and money pursuing it.

the_syco

looksee wrote: »

Now I have noticed an odd effect. I have been woken at night by very loud ticking of my clock and other sounds that normally I would not hear.

Maybe take note of where your ears are? For example, is one ear pointing up towards the ceiling, or are you facing the ceiling when you wake up when you hear the clock?

lowelife

I get a very similar sensation (but not quite a ticking, but can bit like the noise you get when clicking your tongue)
Usually for me its after a bit of a good chew/or a big eat and its like the pressure has changed within my ears.
I usually take the aids out of a few minutes for it to return to normal.

lowelife

the_syco wrote: »

Maybe take note of where your ears are? For example, is one ear pointing up towards the ceiling, or are you facing the ceiling when you wake up when you hear the clock?

If your left ear is pointing towards 12 and the right ear is pointing towards 3, go seek serious medical help

looksee

Oh thanks folks, very helpful No, its nothing to do with the position of my head (or my ears). Without my aids I cannot hear the clock at all, and the ticking is definitely the clock, not an 'in head' effect. It happened again last night...either it is happening or I am dreaming, but its a very realistic dream if it is!

larko

Sounds like some sort of middle ear dysfunction. Meaning you hear the sound but then it fades away. A lot of people who "pop" their ears get a sensation of better hearing and then it fades. Could it be this. Also when you are lying down you are changing the position of your head and possibly moving some sort of pressure/blockage in the middle ear.

Sometimes a grommet in the eardrum to release the pressure but I don't think it's a permanent fix.

I understand you're unwillingness to go to a specialist. They are so rushed that they don't investigate anything.

the_syco

I was querying the position of your head to see if it's always in the same angle when you're able to hear things. Keeping a log of this will allow you to give more info to the specialist when you do see one. It may mean nothing, but as they can only go by what they know, it could help them diagnose what the issue is.

Without knowing the symptoms they'll be just looking at probable causes that caused your issue a high percentage of the time.

looksee

Update So it happened again and this time I breathed very carefully, I woke up completely and got up. I continued to be able to hear for several minutes till I swallowed or sniffed or something like that, and it all vanished again. It might be worth chasing, but it seems to be some sort of air pressure thing that I doubt anything can(easily) be done about.

the_syco

I apologise for lack of scientific terms, but have you gotten your ears drilled? I think it's something to do to check for inner ear wax buildup.

looksee

Grommets? Yes I had them early on, didn't seem to make a lot of difference at the time, but that was about air pressure. I was not convinced by the Consultant though, he didn't seem to know what he was at. Glad he was not a cardiac consultant.

You were right about head position though. I woke up again with the earth shattering tick of the clock and the gale from hell blowing outside. It stayed with me till I sat up, then gently but quickly vanished, so I reckon you were right about maybe liquid moving around. (all went peaceful again, the clock stopped ticking and the gale disappeared to a gentle sigh.)

the_syco

looksee wrote: »

Grommets? Yes I had them early on, didn't seem to make a lot of difference at the time, but that was about air pressure. I was not convinced by the Consultant though, he didn't seem to know what he was at. Glad he was not a cardiac consultant.

You'll some great people in every profession, and you'll get some bellends. I was lucky that I got a good dude after I left the NRA. I did get the odd bellend in the NRA (I still LoL at how they are/were called the NRA) when going through the system, but some did great work.

In saying that, they can only work with the info that they have, and mostly the only info they have is the results from your audio test.

I wanted you to keep a log of what you do to hear, so when you do find a competent one, and you give them the info, they'll have a better idea of why you can hear at times, and what needs to be done to ensure you can.

The drilling I mentioned, was done maybe 25-30 years ago. AFAIK, it's to rule out wax buildup as a cause for your hearing loss. Processes may have changed since.