Symptom: Ear sounds

Introduction: Ear sounds

Hearing inappropriate sounds such as ringing, buzzing, roaring or similar noises in the ears is quite common and is called "tinnitus". It may be temporary or it may be intermittent or permanent, and tinnitus may be mostly harmless (i.e. only annoying), or it may be an indication of a serious underlying medical condition. For more information, see the disease information on tinnitus, or any of the conditions listed with similar symptoms. Tinnitus and similar ear sound symptoms need professional medical advice.

» Review Causes of Ear sounds: full list

Causes of Ear sounds:

The following medical conditions are some of the possible causes of Ear sounds. There are likely to be other possible causes, so ask your doctor about your symptoms.

• Tinnitus - see causes of tinnitus
• Earache
• Ear infection
• Acute inner ear infection (see Ear infection)
• Fluid in the ear (see Ear discharge)
• Ear wax
• Eustachian catarrh
• Meniere's disease
• Auditory nerve tumor
• Loud noise exposure - see also noise induced hearing loss
• Heart murmur - the sound of the heart is sometimes heard within the ear.
• Anemia - may cause noises in the ear.

See full list of 67 causes of Ear sounds

» Review Causes of Ear sounds: full list

Causes of Types of Ear sounds:

Review the causes of these more specific types of Ear sounds:

• Tinnitus
• Buzzing in ears
• Ringing in ears

See full list of 25 types for Ear sounds

Ear sounds: Multiple Symptom Checker

Listed below are some combinations of symptoms associated with Ear sounds, as listed in our database. Visit the Multiple Symptoms Checker, to add and remove symptoms and research your condition.

Multiple Symptom Checker - Other Symptoms

• Ear sounds: Multiple Symptom Checker

Multiple Symptom Checker Combinations

• Ear sounds and Tinnitus (61 causes)
• Ear sounds and Ear symptoms (59 causes)
• Ear sounds and Hearing symptoms (58 causes)
• Ear sounds and Nerve symptoms (52 causes)
• Ear sounds and Sensations (52 causes)
• Ear sounds and Head symptoms (50 causes)
• Ear sounds and Pain (49 causes)
• Ear sounds and Face symptoms (43 causes)
• Ear sounds and Deafness (30 causes)
• Ear sounds and Hearing impairment (30 causes)
• Ear sounds and Digestive symptoms (30 causes)
• Ear sounds and Fainting (28 causes)
• Ear sounds and Syncope (28 causes)
• Ear sounds and Dizziness (27 causes)
• Ear sounds and Headache (25 causes)
• Ear sounds and Balance symptoms (24 causes)
• Ear sounds and Vertigo (21 causes)
• Ear sounds and Behavioral symptoms (20 causes)
• Ear sounds and Hearing loss (19 causes)
• Ear sounds and Vomiting (19 causes)

See full list of 472 Multiple Symptom Checker combinations related to Ear sounds

Home Diagnostic Testing and Ear sounds

Home medical tests possibly related to Ear sounds:

• Home Ear Infection Tests
• Home Ear Tests
• Home Hearing Tests

Causes of General Symptom Types

Research the causes of these more general types of symptom:

• Hearing symptoms
• Tinnitus
• Ear symptoms
• Head symptoms
• Face symptoms

Causes of Similar Symptoms to Ear sounds

Research the causes of these symptoms that are similar to, or related to, the symptom Ear sounds:

• Hearing voices
• Hearing loss
• Buzzing in the ear

Diagnostic Guides for Ear sounds

12 MEDICAL SYMPTOM BOOKS: FULL TEXT ONLINE! Read the full text of published book sections related to Ear sounds from the following published medical books for more detailed information about Ear sounds. Free access (no registration): read all online diagnostic book sections about Ear sounds

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic tests for Ear sounds:

Various tests are used in the diagnosis of Ear sounds. Some of these are listed below :

• Physical examination
  • Blood pressure
  • Examine ear for abnormalities - e.g. ear wax, otitis externa (outer ear infection), otitis media (middle ear infection), rupture of ear drum, mastoiditis and cholesteatoma.
  • Ear drum may be red in cases of a glomus tumor
  • Complete nervous system examination should be performed. If abnormalities are found may suggest multiple sclerosis, advanced acoustic neuroma, basilar artery occlusion or insufficiency, brain stem tumors and central nervous system syphilis

See full list of 22 diagnostic tests for Ear sounds

Diagnosis Checklist: Questions your doctor may ask (and why!)

During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in their assessment of Ear sounds. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor about your symptoms may help them with their diagnosis. Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:

• How long have you noticed the ear sounds? - to determine if acute or chronic.
• How would you explain the noise that you hear? - e.g. hearing inappropriate sounds such as ringing, buzzing, humming, roaring or similar noises in the ears is quite common and is called tinnitus.
• Is the noise intermittent or constant?
• Can other people also hear the noise? - if you and other people can hear the noise, this is unusual but may suggest a glomus tumor (a globular tumor arising from the vessels in the middle ear) which cause a pulsatile tinnitus), arteriovenous malformations (abnormal communication between arteries and veins, carotid stenosis (narrowing of the carotid artery due to atherosclerosis), aneurysms (circumscribed dilatation of an artery), significant anemia, a patent eustachian tube or myoclonus alternate contraction and relaxation of a muscle).
• Is the ear sound unilateral or bilateral? - unilateral tinnitus is more likely to be associated with a more serious disorder such as Meniere's disease, acoustic neuroma (benign tumor of the 8th cranial nerve), cholesteatoma or vascular disease.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Ear sounds (20 listings)

Diagnosis Checklist: Associated symptoms your doctor may ask about (and why!)

Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. The symptoms your doctor may ask about (in association with Ear sounds) may include:

• Vertigo and deafness? - may suggest Meniere's disease, acoustic neuroma, cholesteatoma, multiple sclerosis, basilar artery insufficiency and brain stem tumors.
• Hearing loss? - may suggest presbyacusis, noise-induced hearing loss, otosclerosis, Meniere's disease, acoustic neuroma, fracture of the petrous temporal bone, ototoxicity from drugs.
• Symptoms of Meniere's disease? - e.g. nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, vertigo, sensorineural deafness.
• Symptoms of otitis media? - e.g. infection often follows upper respiratory tract infection, ear pain, fever, sensation of pressure in the ear, hearing loss, drum may perforate with subsequent relief of pain and fever.
• Symptoms of otitis externa? - e.g. often occurs in ears that are itchy due to eczema, dermatitis or psoriasis or in those that swim; pain, discharge, pressure on the ear lobe causes pain.

See Diagnosis Checklist for Ear sounds (20 listings)

Stories from Users for Ear sounds

Symptom specific forums: The following patient stories in our interactive forums and message boards relate to Ear sounds or relevant symptoms:

• ENMT (Ears, Nose, Mouth and Throat) (198)
  • Swelling in roof of mouth
  • Pain on one side of throat
  • Sinus headache & eye area pain
  • Please help! Mucus/dark circles/bad breath...
  • Painful white bumps on tongue
  • More user stories
• Cardiovascular (Heart and Blood Circulation) (115)
  • Chest pain and shortness of breath
  • Need help with diagnoses
  • Hand numbness
  • Purple-blue skin color
  • High blood pressure from stress? In a 28 yr old with no other risk factors... seems
  • More user stories
• Neurological (Nerves) (215)
  • Could this be MS?
  • Numbness and tingling all over
  • Essential tremor
  • Upper extremity Numbness and Tingling ??
  • Eye twitch
  • More user stories

Videos for Ear sounds

Patient Surveys for Ear sounds

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about diseases related to your Ear sounds
  Take Survey  View Results

Organs affected by Ear sounds:

The list of organs typically affected by Ear sounds may include, but is not limited to:

• Ear

Detailed list of causes of Ear sounds

The list below shows some of the causes of Ear sounds mentioned in various sources:

• Acoustic neuroma - tinnitus
• Acute inner ear infection
• Aerotitis syndrome - tinnitus
• Ancylostoma duodenale - tinnitus
• Anemia - may cause noises in the ear.

See full list of 67 causes of Ear sounds

How Common are these Causes of Ear sounds?

This information refers to the general prevalence and incidence of these diseases, not to how likely they are to be the actual cause of Ear sounds. Of the 67 causes of Ear sounds that we have listed, we have the following prevalence/incidence information:

• 5 causes are "very common" diseases
• 2 causes are "common" diseases
• 0 causes are "uncommon" diseases
• 1 causes are "rare" diseases
• 2 causes are "very rare" diseases
• 63 causes have no prevalence information.

See the analysis of the prevalence of 67 causes of Ear sounds

Conditions listing symptoms: Ear sounds:

The following list of conditions have 'Ear sounds' or similar listed as a symptom in our database. This computer-generated list may be inaccurate or incomplete. Always seek prompt professional medical advice about the cause of any symptom.

A

Causes of Ear sounds Based on Risk Factors

This information shows analysis of the list of causes of Ear sounds based on whether certain risk factors apply to the patient: