“Ear crackling?”
When I swallow, my ears crackle (like when I get off a plane). This I believe, is because of my TMJ symptoms which I have had for a few months. I have had an x-ray done on my jaw and they say it looks fine, and I even had a tympanometry test to test the pressure in my ears, and they say it's fine. no damage, no infections, or perforations. What should I do to remove the crackling? There is no pain, and the ENT said it won't do damage over time, but I would like to get rid of it. When I swallow liquid it goes away for a few seconds for some reason. Should I carry on with TMJ exercises and hopefully that will get rid of it? What other options do I have?
Male | 29 years old
Complaint duration: 6 months
Medications: none
Conditions: slight inflammation of jaw, leads to slight earache, sometimes minor headaches, TMD
2 Answers
Stop eating dairy and this symptom will probably clear up after about 3-4 weeks. The other way to get this to resolve is mucinex, however, eliminating dairy is much more powerful.
This sensation is produced by the mucus layers in the Eustachian tube separating to allow ambient air to enter the middle ear space and equalize the pressure. Nothing related to TMJ. You can do Valsalva maneuver as often as necessary to clear your ear.
