Sometimes patients may complain about various irregular ear noises, such as: vibrations in ear, clicking noise in the ear when swallowing, irregular crackling in one or both ears for a few seconds.
Irregular ear Clicking or Noises
The unusual sound or vibration in one or both ears that patients could complain about, occurs suddenly and can last from a few minutes to days or even weeks at a time. Just as this mysterious noise begins, so suddenly it can also cease. In rare cases the sound could remain. Patients describe it as a continuous non-rhythmical clicking.
Clicking noise in the ear should not be associated with tinnitus. In contrast, an irregular clicking noise in the ear is almost always due to muscle spasms, just as in “blinking” or “facial twitching.” Thus, instead of being able to “see” the contraction with the eyes, one hears the contraction since the muscles are around the ear or in the ear itself.
The most common causes of contractions are:
Myoclonus of the Palate:
This is a rare disorder characterized by continuous rhythmic movements of the soft palate. The rhythmic movements have a frequency of 1-2 Hz and are accompanied by a rhythmic sound or “clicking”. It can be caused by two factors:
- Damage to the area of the brain in the Guillain-Mollaret triangle. In this case, rhythmic contractions are also observed in other muscle groups such as the larynx, tongue, face and diaphragm. The existence of this damage is usually due to neurodegenerative or demyelinating diseases.
- Functional psychogenic factors.
Irregular ear Clicking due to Palatal Myoclonus
The palatal myoclonus can be diagnosed by simple pharyngoscopy or endoscopy with visible “spasms” of the soft palate that appear over time.
The ability to hear the contraction exists because the muscles of the soft palate extend to the ear via the Eustachian tube.
Treatment of Irregular ear Clicking
The treatment of palatal myoclonus is carried out by injecting Clostridium botulinum (Botox) into the muscles that are contracting. The results are temporary, therefore, treatment should be repeated every 6-12 months.
Middle ear myoclonus (stapedius or the tensor tympani muscle):
In this extremely rare condition,muscles of the middle ear can go into spasms and contract rhythmically, therefore you will hear a “butterfly fluttering” type of sound. Sometimes these muscles contract unpredictably every few seconds and can be annoying and disturb sleep.
Unfortunately there is no diagnostic test for this disorder, but sometimes we can see the contraction of the eardrum with endoscopic observation.
Trust the experts for the Irregular ear clicking.
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- suggest therapy and improvement treatments
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