What is happening when our ear pops and crackles?

Not sure. Curious as well. I have crackling and have never had gent.

 

Had that with the Gent shot as well. Currently going through a period of "spasms" in my inner ear and along the back of my ear and neck. Loads of pressure around the ear as well. Don't want to waste a trip to the doc so he can tell me "That's interesting. Probably not related to Meniere's. Suck it up."

 

My ears produce a plethora of weird noises including the usual crackle and pop, and then tone changes to my tinnitus. Sometimes they just pressurize or depressurize on their on, for unknown reasons. All things considered, this is not the greatest problem I have.

 

I have had crackling and pressure change sounds and have never had any procedure on my ear. I've been on acyclovir for 1.5 years and all of that has gone away. Hoping that shows that it is not just coincidental remission. I was in remission for 4 yrs previously (never having any vertigo) but still had all the inner ear sounds. Now I just have low level white noise. Audiologist said it is the filling in in the "region-decibles" I am deaf.

 

My ears stopped cracking and popping when I started TMJ treatment with a tmj specialist (not a regular dentist).

 

This is info from WebMD. Also read my other posts about it. Just search my name and tmj. "Your temporomandibular joint is a hinge that connects your jaw to the temporal bones of your skull, which are in front of each ear. It lets you move your jaw up and down and side to side, so you can talk, chew, and yawn.

Problems with your jaw and the muscles in your face that control it are known as temporomandibular disorders (TMD). But you may hear it wrongly called TMJ, after the joint.

What Causes TMD?

We don’t know what causes TMD. Dentists believe symptoms arise from problems with the muscles of your jaw or with the parts of the joint itself.

Injury to your jaw, the joint, or the muscles of your head and neck -- like from a heavy blow or whiplash -- can lead to TMD. Other causes include:

Grinding or clenching your teeth, which puts a lot of pressure on the joint
Movement of the soft cushion or disc between the ball and socket of the joint
Arthritis in the joint
Stress, which can cause you to tighten facial and jaw muscles or clench the teeth

What’s TMJ?
Pain in the jaw? What causes the click or pop in your joint? Find out what you can do about it.

TMD often causes severe pain and discomfort. It can be temporary or last many years. It might affect one or both sides of your face. More women than men have it, and it’s most common among people between the ages of 20 and 40.

Common symptoms include:

Pain or tenderness in your face, jaw joint area, neck and shoulders, and in or around the ear when you chew, speak, or open your mouth wide
Problems when you try to open your mouth wide
Jaws that get "stuck" or "lock" in the open- or closed-mouth position
Clicking, popping, or grating sounds in the jaw joint when you open or close your mouth or chew. This may or may not be painful.
A tired feeling in your face
Trouble chewing or a sudden uncomfortable bite -- as if the upper and lower teeth are not fitting together properly
Swelling on the side of your face

You may also have toothaches, headaches, neck aches, dizziness, earaches, hearing problems, upper shoulder pain, and ringing in the ears (tinnitus)." For the record I didn't have pain and didn't know I had it until I got a 3D xray from a specialist in TMJ.

 

At my worst, i had hearing lows, terrible distortion, terrible tinnitus, hypercusis, tulio's you name it, everything but vertigo. In addition i had a wierd nighttime thing where when i lay down to go to sleep, i would have clanging and banging, sounds of faraway large equipment, every odd noise you can imagine, even the occasional horn. All these wacko sounds went away with antivirals. I just conclude this is what happens when the ear is damaged.

 

Hearing loss not lows ^^

 

My hearing has returned from moderate deaf in my right ear, to normal.

 

To speculate, the pops & crackles you hear are the effects that fluid, or fluctuating fluid levels have on the tubes, chambers, & membranes of your inner ear.

 

I started getting the crackling and popping immediately after my first drop attack, and even more after my surgical labyrinthectomy. When I asked my doctor for an explanation he said nobody knew for sure, but the speculation is that it is something to do with the balance function burning out, so to speak, in conjunction with the further destruction of the otoliths. It's thought the bursting of the otoliths causes the sounds.