Problems with hearing....broken speaker sound

Symptoms - I fall into the busted speaker category with the following specifics - left ear only, plus pressure, pops in and out sometimes (no dizziness).  No wax issues.

History - started about 2 years ago, I think from snorkeling and free diving, pressuring popping my ears under water and potentially getting water behind my ear.  Got better in time then worse when I got an ear infection from scuba diving.  No traumatic incident, wasn't prone to ear infection prior to this.  No known allergies. 

Triggers - my own voice when I talk too loudly, singing, certain people's loud voices, air pressure changes from planes or a single window being down in a car.  Comes and goes.

Relief - I took benadryl for about a week - just one pill a night before bed and it made a significant impact.  I saw other people mentioning allergy medicine and this one worked for me.  A few months later and it's bothering me again along with some other congestion issues I'm having so I'm back on the benadryl.  Will update if it works a second time. 

I just skipped three pages of the thread so I'm sure if this has already been addressed:
I'm wondering if most people on here have this condition in only one ear or both?
And if it's one ear, is the the one you hold your phone to?
I have this broken speaker problem in my right ear and that is also the ear I always have my cell phone up against. Please reply.

Mine happens on both ears. I've had the problem for probably 15 years now and have just learned to live with it.

It doesn't seem as bad as it used to be but some days are better than others. I've never quiet figured what triggers is more than others.

Loud and high pitched noises is what triggers the broken speaker sound for me. Movie theaters, plates clattering, certain loud talking. That kind of stuff.

My ENT said I had perfect hearing but blamed it on eustachian tube dysfunction. I had tubes put and it helped but the tubes caused me to lose bass response so I had them removed.

I think it's either fluid getting trapped and the sound of it reacting to certain sounds or it's an overreacting tensor tympani muscle inside the ear.

The tensor tympani helps protect your ear from damage and I think it might be overly sensitive to certain sounds, tightens up and causes the distorted sound.

I've read a post before where someone fixed theirs by listening to white noise while they slept and gradually increased the volume overtime until the ear got used to higher pitched noises again. Essentially, they had to retrain their ears not to freak out over certain sounds. I've been a little too afraid to try that but it's an interesting idea.

For those of you who are still unsure what this is, I discussed this again today with my ENT here in The Netherlands, and in addition to this I already had other information from a few years ago, so basically she again confirmed my earlier conclusions/knowledge. So, it's pretty conclusive now. Let me explain below.

First, I have the exact same issue: in one of my ears I hear the broken speaker sound when it's exposed to loud sounds, like when there's lots of talking in a bar, or when I'm close to the sound of falling water, like in a shower (it's mostly higher pitched sound that seems to trigger it). Sometimes, right before it's about to trigger, I can even slightly feel some tension in that ear. Remember this. My issue started about 20 years ago, and hasn't gotten worse since, but also hasn't significantly improved. I'm hardly ever bothered by it because I just avoid loud places and always make sure to bring some ear plugs in case I have no other option. In the long run, this strategy may save your hearing anyway, so look at it positively :)

Now, as I said, I discussed this again today with my ENT, and the reason this is happening is the tiny muscle in your ear that's used by the body to dampen loud sounds, the tensor tympani muscle, see also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_tympani_muscle

Somehow, in our case, this muscle starts twitching when exposed to loud sounds, rather than simply contracting. The result is a twitching eardrum and resulting in the broken speaker sound. Compare it to how your eyelid sometimes starts twitching after too much caffeine. It's not dangerous, but it can of course be annoying. I've heard of people doing an operation to cut this muscle, which fixes it, but then your ear is no longer protected from loud sounds. You may want to discuss this with your ENT if in your case it's triggered at quite low levels and is very annoying. If not, I wouldn't recommend messing with your ear (but I'm not a doctor).

Good luck dealing with it, but most of all, try not to worry about it too much: there are other things that can be much worse to deal with, like tinnitus. This is a relatively minor issue that you can at least avoid.

Hello and greetings from Bulgaria.

I'm so glad that I found this place and thank you all for sharing your stories.

I've had the broken speaker issue for more than 10 years and I had some different type of moments when once I was very frustrated and irritated by this problem and some other times when I completely forgot about it.

I saw these page about a year before and after reading most of the comments I felt a massive and pure relief. Before I went to a doctor but he told me that I have infection with the Eustachian tube in the ear. He had some controversial thoughts on the condition but nevertheless I started taking the prescription medications. There was no improvement so I started browsing the Internet for people with similar conditions. At that time I felt like this problem was very serious and because of that I felt the bad broken speaker effect almost all the time. After failing to find what exactly was the cause of this I was really going through a hard period.

And finally I found this topic and after that I really feel like a perfectly normal and healthy person. Thanks to all of you I finally understand that this is nothing serious really. Actually I feel unique because of having this and it's like being a part of a community from all over the world brought together by this strange problem. Right know I almost never pay attention to the problem although it still triggers often. I actually have very loud music in my car and when I turn it to the stage when my back mirror is trembling the broken speaker effect triggers but it still doesn't bother me because subconsciously I know that this is nothing serious.

Thank you again for sharing. I wish you everyone not to worry a lot about this and feel like I do.

Did the MRI show any thing?

Hi everyone,

Look up Tonic Tensor Myoclonus or Tonic Tensor Tympani Syndrome.

For those still banging their head against the wall looking for answers on why you get the broken or cracked loud speaker sound in response to either external or internal loud noises, start looking at something called Superior Canal Dehiscence. Hearing a "cracked loudspeaker" is a known symptom of it.

There is actually a whole hoard of other symptoms that can go with it, vertigo, balance issues, dizziness (which many of you report), is one of them, and can be one of the main issues associated with it. People could have all the symptoms listed, whereas some people may only have some. Some could have pure auditory issues, while others are primarily vestibular in nature. Some people may have a combo of both

There is a lot of information on it, I'll post a few links:

https://www.scdssociety.com/

They call it the great otologic mimicker It mimic's other ear disorders (including Tensor Tympani Syndrome). It also can cause anxiety which actually fuels Tensor Tympani Syndrome. So for any of you fixated on TTS, get your ENT to also test for SCDS, which includes a temporal bone scan which will show an opening of the semi-circular canal (if there is an opening).

Basically when there is an opening there sound doesn't travel through the inner ear smoothly anymore. The opening in the semicircular canal has a new window that sound and pressure partially dissipate out of. This is where the hearing loss and distortion come in. That cracked or broken speaker sound (distortion), may be the influx of loud noise dissipating out of that hole in the semi-circular canal.

Something for people to look at who still don't have answers. Look at the link I provided above, the symptoms list is pretty detailed, but still incomplete. There are many more symptoms people can experience than that.

When I was about 14 (29 now) I used to be able to hold my breath for almost 2 minutes. I would go to a popular lake with a floating dock you had to swim to. We would try to swim to the bottom and bring up a rock to prove you touched bottom. I had no problem getting rocks from the more shallow end, about 15ft. so I usually went down the deeper side. About 20+ft. deep. Well, one time I went down, grabbed a rock, sprung off the lake bottom and on the way up it felt like my ears blew out. It hurt really bad and ever since, I can no longer swim deep cause the pressure hurts my ears really bad. Also, ever since, I get the broken speaker effect, static noise or white noise, etc. It's not quite painfulI but it's extremely annoying and frustrating. I get it all the time but normally with certain pitches or tones. Gym Weights clinking, people talking loud, loud music, window slightly open on the highway, dogs barking, etc. I have great hearing and can hear things that a lot of times others can't. The problem isn't not being able to hear well, it's almost as if there is a filter missing that lets in too much noise and my ears dont like it and react with a static noise. I haven't seen a doctor about it but I'm pretty sure I blew my ear drums and they're reacting the same way a broken speaker would. Hope this helps someone.

Eardrums heal by them selves in like 97% of the cases, within a month or two.
I've haf the same symptoms as you guys, been experiencing it twice, first when my right ear degraded out of existence from otosclerosis, second time after my operation to fix the otosclerosis. It's my opinion that the bones in my middle ear only responded to louder noices before the operation.
My uneducated guess is that now it is the outer ear (eardrum) that hasn't healed 100% yet that is causing the same effect by not transmitting all vibrations to the middle ear.
I'd say check out Otosclerosis! If it's in your family it's likely you'll get it to. It's operable with good chances of better hearing, in Sweden we have a 93% success rate.
Good luck!

My left ear does exactly that. Three years ago I had a ruptured ear drum with a double ear infection. Ever since then I have felt like my ear has gone out of the popping phase and now just me reading to my kids it sounds like a blown car speaker. My hearing has been checked and is all good. My ears are clean as a whistle the nurse says and still it sounds muffled, popping, unclear. It is hard to explain but exactly what you said sums it up. It is rough going.

71 yr old Musician, have same cracked speaker problem, Bottom line HAS ANYONE FOUND SOLUTION??? Currently trying Flonaze, Analase steroid 3-4 days and take Augmentin antibiotic. Please email me: ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** posting of private information such as name, phone number or email address is not allowed in order to protect your privacy*** Please read our Terms of Use

Have same problem cracked speaker right ear sound, Musician, FIND ANY ANSWERS.. Trying steroid nazal spray 3-4 days nothing yet, antibiotics, nothing yet..

So what was the solution if any??? SCDS, TTTS? What do we do to fix cracked speaker ear prob???

Hi Johnny I was wondering if you ever tried hearing aids in that one bad ear? I have the same issue lost 60% of my hearing from an infection...(they think) but only thing I can hear now is that busted speaker sound. Ear doctor is recommending hearing aids...