[Jodles]

Hello!
 
Sorry if I posted this in the wrong forum category, but I thought "sound science" was the closest one...
 
Bear with me:
I flew a lot back and forth across the Atlantean ocean, and in Europe about 1.5-2 months ago, and have always had problems with pain in the ears during take-off/landing (especially landing). I had a terrible cold all this time as well, which didn't really make things better.
 
On one of the last trips, I started to hear sounds like a bone cracking in my right ear every time I swallow. These sounds have stayed there since. I went to a doctor specialist in ears to have it checked out. He found I actually had over-pressure in my left ear, but otherwise (+ a lot of wax) everything was ok. Also did a listening test, and found that my left ear was slightly above average "performance" of people my age (21), and the right ear was even further above average. 
 
Now I've never had it like this before. It feels like my right ear is a lot more sensitive to sounds than my left (I'm pretty sure the over-pressure is gone now). Whenever I swallow it feels sort of "open" out to the right ear with the cracking sounds, and sort of "closed" to the left ear (anyone know what I'm talking about?). And when I'm listening to my headphones now, the soundstage is always a little to the right of the middle (super annoying), and a little louder on the right ear.
 
Has anybody had experiences like I'm experiencing now? Did it go away and return to normal at some point? Anything I can do? This is important to me as I'll be studying sound recording and working with sound later...
 
Sorry for the long post, but thought it was necessary with some context
 
Joachim

 

[Pio2001]

Hello,
Yes, I see what you mean. The pain during flight must have been worsened because the cold prevented the pressures to equalize between inside and outside the ear.
 
I can hear clicks also when I swallow. I also sometimes have the phenomenon of sound brightening when I swallow. This only occurs when wax is abnormally piling up in the ear channel. I think that swallowing widens the ear channel. It is not possible to remove wax by oneself. Don't try with cotton or water. At this stage, it only makes matter worse. And Hopi candles are snake oil. They don't suck anything. The wax found in them is not ear wax, but burned candle wax.
 
A specialist can do that easily. They sometimes use a kind of vacuum cleaner. Extremely noisy when operating in the ear. I had temporary hearing loss because of that noise. But mind that I am extremely sensitive to temporary hearing loss. I can have one when a fork falls into a clean plate.
They can also project hot water in the ear. Quite painful in my opinion.
 
One of them told me not to sleep always on the same side in order to avoid wax plugs in the ear. Another told me to regularly clean the ear with the shower's hot water.
This was not very effective. Another plug started to build up while I was alterning left and right-sided sleeping. My hearing was still OK, but  But I could stop it with the shower. The shower jet had to be powerful. I had to remove the top and project water by hand, holding my thumb over the end of the bare hose.

 

[leeperry]

 

 
Has anybody had experiences like I'm experiencing now? Did it go away and return to normal at some point? Anything I can do?

Your brain is a very powerful DSP, it will work out the FR difference...I've got the very same problem as you on the left ear, it's highly sensitive and if I don't chew gum regularly the pressure becomes painful, but I've got a hole around 8kHz on that ear...so yes 8kHz mono is not quite mono to me. If I do several Valsalva manoeuvres in a row, I hear all kind of crackling in the left ear...and also like something slowly filling in and out.
 
I've been to an audiologist who told me that I was imagining things(doctors always know better, it irritates me to no extend), and I've done some checkups whether my jaw would have been pushing my ear canal somehow, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
 
I use sweet almond oil and I chew gum...works for me! I will go see another audiologist someday, I won't say a damn word about headphones this time huh. As soon as you talk about phones to an audiologist, he has his diagnostic made up already...he doesn't even listen to what you're saying anymore.
 
I used to take the plane all the time in one of my previous jobs, and I've got all the symptoms of this: http://www.american-hearing.org/disorders/barotrauma/
 
maybe it's due to headphones after all, but it's not like I'm gonna stop using them...been using the same phone for the past 15 years, it's not gonna change anytime soon.

 

[Jodles]

Thank you for your replies!
 
My audiologist did some serious testing and even stuck this long thin piece of wire down my nose and mouth/throat to check the canals. He was confident there wasn't anything wrong. And regarding the sounds I hear in my ear, he said they were normal sounds everybody has, just that not everyone has good enough hearing to hear them... But he wouldn't really listen to me when I said I had never heard these sounds before. That they are *new*. What would be good is to find an audiologist that is also an audiophile!
 
In any case, my right ear is still more sensitive, but it feels as if the left ear has opened up a little (paradoxically after a lot of exposure to pretty loud sounds (I work part-time as a follow spot operator on concerts)). So the off-balance isn't so prevalent anymore. Or maybe my brain has just adjusted?
 
I have had issues with my jaw before (clicking) and it's very stiff. I will try to start chewing gum and see if that helps a little. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Regarding air-flight, I now do all I can to limit the pain during flight, and this is what I most often do, and it works to some extent:
 - From my doctor I got a product called "ephedrine" that aids in opening up the ear canals a little 
 - Nose spray, inhaling while spraying and then gently using the valsalva maneuver to get it as far up as possible.
 - EarPlanes, these funky earplugs that helps in reducing the speed at which the pressure changes. IMO they help me a little.
 - Valsalva of course, and all the other: swallowing, chewing, yawning...
 
Regarding spraying water in the ear or using almond oil: I feel uncomfortable putting liquid in my ear. Is this actually safe? How does it help you?

 

[terriblepaulz]

I have experienced similar symptoms (though to a lesser degree).  The only thing that helped was to flush my ears of wax (usually there is quite a build-up) and wait.  Eventually my ears would return to their normal state.  I don't know if that helps, but I hope it's reassuring. 

 

[leeperry]

 

 
using almond oil: I feel uncomfortable putting liquid in my ear. Is this actually safe? How does it help you?

It's that expert audiologist that advised me to use sweet almond oil on a q-tip, it works wonders
 
basically he told me that the ear canal is very prone to eczema and that closed headphones only worsen things up...sweet almond oil is one of the best things to loosen up human skin. I've also tried liquid chinese balm, it ain't bad either.

 

[Jodles]

Thank you for the tip! Will try that!

 

[Pio2001]

Water is not completely safe. If you have got a wax plug building, the water can remain trapped behind it and make it grow.

 

[Ohungry]

Quote:

Water is not completely safe. If you have got a wax plug building, the water can remain trapped behind it and make it grow.

Oh really?
Last time I asked doctor/nurse to clean my ears, they used water in a syringe and basically squirted it in my ear until the earwax fell out.
 
@Jodles, I seem to have the same problem as you, but reversed =P.
When I first got IEMs the image of the main part was slightly to the left.  I thought my drivers were messed up, but now that you mention the ear problem thing, I think I will go check my doctor soon.
I used to have a lot of ear problems as a kid; some of which included infections and a pressure difference.
 
Thank goodness I'm in CAN =).  Socialized healthcare =).

 

[xnor]

After a bad cold and over-pressure in my left ear I also had a left-right imbalance. Never had problems with ear wax though.
I was very bothered at first, but it went away automagically after weeks.
 
Concentrating on the imbalance will just make things worse. If you've been at the doc and he said that everything's ok I'd suggest to clean your ears normally and regularly and ignore the imbalance. Sensitivity should return to normal without you even noticing it.

 

[Jodles]

Thank you for all your input guys! It has been very helpful indeed!
 
I'm not worried anymore
 
Ohungry: Socialized healthcare in Norway too. Simply awesome; more money to spend on gear!