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Original poster

Irritating, constant fluttering in left ear. What could it be?

23 replies

EvanMom · 31/05/2007 18:55

I have a strange fluttering in my left ear. On a bad day it happens every 20 seconds or so and on other days I don't notice it. I have just moved abroad so do not have a doctor yet. In the meantime any ideas?

OP posts:

BettySpaghetti · 31/05/2007 18:57

MIL had a bug in her year whilst in France last year. She could hear it moving araound.

Could this be the cause of the "fluttering" ?

jalopy · 31/05/2007 18:57

Check it's not an insect

ZZMum · 31/05/2007 18:57

I get that from time to time... annoying but it does go away -- never thought to ask doctor about it as I assumed it was some ear wax or ear drum movement thing... and as it never hurts....

BettySpaghetti · 31/05/2007 18:58

ooops, bug in her ear obviously

Twiglett · 31/05/2007 18:59

bet its a bug .. sorry

Original poster

EvanMom · 31/05/2007 18:59

eh? What a REAL BUG!?!!!! AAAAAhhhhhhhhh

OP posts:

BettySpaghetti · 31/05/2007 19:01

yes, afraid so

Original poster

EvanMom · 31/05/2007 19:02

You are all having me on..... right....?

OP posts:

Twiglett · 31/05/2007 19:02

spiders in boys' ears

jalopy · 31/05/2007 19:03

Honest, it has been known!

Twiglett · 31/05/2007 19:03

boy's ear

BettySpaghetti · 31/05/2007 19:03

and it really did happen to my MIL

gingerone · 31/05/2007 19:11

This is a true story, we went for a romantic weekend away in wales by the sea. Earlier in the evening we had a hot air balloon ride, nice bottle or two of wine, gorgeous evening, great loving IYKWIM....

In the middle of the night DP (now DH) jumped about 10 feet out of bed, screaming, banging his head and beating himself in the ear. I thought we were being burgled, so jumped out of bed, grabbed a candlestick (only thing to hand) and ran after him. He is stark bllck naked running around screaming and shouting. After a couple of minutes of wondering what the hell was going on and calming him down, he finally tells me he has a bug in his ear and he can hear it fluttering away.....

It turns out a moth had landed on his ear and instead of batting it away, he had actually pushed it into his ear. So we warmed up some baby oil, stuck it down his ear and he said he could hear the death flutters of the moth.

Following day, down to Casualty for possibly one of the funniest moments of my life. They thought he could not hear, so they shouted his name as loud as they possibly could!

PML

Enid · 31/05/2007 19:13

does it feel like a muscle flickering

if so dh has had it and it is muscular tension in the neck and jaw appaerntely

are you stressed?

Original poster

EvanMom · 31/05/2007 19:14

... I'm going for a litle lie down. The fluttering is going strong tonight. Must be salsa night. What do I do now?

OP posts:

Twiglett · 31/05/2007 19:16

you can't do any harm with a few drops of warm (not hot) olive oil

if its wax it'll soften it
if its a bug it'll kill it
if its stress it'll do nothing

sorry, I bet its not amusing if you're you .. but it is rather amusing from the outside

Enid · 31/05/2007 19:21

stop clenching your jaw! I bet you do

pigsinmud · 31/05/2007 20:10

OOh gingerone your dh has my sympathy as I had a moth in my ear a few years ago. The moth only lasted about 5 hours - through most of the night. Had my ear syringed the next day and it came out. I had no idea what was in there until it came out. It was horrible - think the moth was on my pillow and I put my head straight on top of it and it crawled in. I swear I could hear it breathing.
EvanMom - to be honest I don't think it's a bug if it's been going on for a few days. I get that feeling every now & then - almost as if my ear is popping. I do clench my jaw quite a lot and grind my teeth, so not sure if that's the reason.

SallyAllbright · 31/05/2007 20:20

I had this for ages - then one morning I had a bit of a poke around in my ear with my little fingernail and managed to hook out a massive chunk of earwax! I think I had been sleeping on that side, so the warmth had softened it and it had slid down to the entrance of my ear. it was disgusting, but incredibly satisfying, and I haven't had the fluttering feeling since!

I think that Twiglett's advice about the olive oil is a good bet. I hope it's wax and not a bug!

fizzbuzz · 31/05/2007 21:30

When I was little, I dared my friend to put a currant in her ear. She took the dare........!

Her mum went mad, but A&E thought it was hilarious

icyweet · 12/08/2019 13:51

If you hear the fast fluttering sound only when you burp, yawn, or stretch, it is likely because of something small touching your eardrums. Even a tiny piece of hair, or a bit of earwax can cause that. When you burp, your muscles vibrates, and causing that piece of hair to vibrate thus touching your eardrum.

What you really need, is to buy an ear-wax cleaning solution, which costs about $12 from pharmacies. I had the same problem which lasted a few days. I used it once and it was gone the other day. You then keep using it according to the instructions in the case of earwax.

I know this thread was back in 2015, but in case someone arrives here looking for some information, I hope this can help.

PrettyShiningPeople · 12/08/2019 16:35

I’ve had this before. I thought it was like when you get a twitchy eye but in your ear IYSWIM

PJ67 · 12/08/2019 23:24

Ive had something like this, felt a bit like a thumping or pulsing in one ear. I went to see an ent doctor and it was diagnosed as tensor tympani syndrome. Went away after a few months.

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