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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes High Pitched Sound In Ears While Hiccups, Burping And Swallowing?

I recently started using heating aids for asymmetrical hearing loss. I went to an outdoor concert 1 week ago in the rain and did not wear them knowing it would be loud and would not need them. Ever since that loud, rainy concert, my ears/eardrums make a bird chirping/flitter high pitched sound every time I hic-up, burp, or an intense swallow??? Thoughts?
Fri, 12 Sep 2014
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ENT Specialist,  's  Response
Hi. Loud noises are known to irritate and damage the auditory nerve. This is regardless of whether you are able to hear or not. These sound travel through the eardrum, ossicles and then to the inner ear. With loud music these vibrate more than necessary and injure the nerve responsible for hearing.

The bird chirping sound that you hear is called tinnitus which means you are perceiving a sound when there is actually no sound. The irritated nerve misfires and produces the feeling of a sound when there is no real source of the sound outside.

Every time you have a hic-up, burp or intensely swallow, it closes a tube called the Eustachian tube (ET) which connects the middle ear to the back of the nose in order to equalize pressure between the two regions. When the ET closes, it creates a negative pressure within the middle of the ear and this creates irritability in the auditory nerve that creates the tinnitus.

I would recommend that you avoid exposure to loud noises and use your hearing aids as much as possible (They must have been programmed to your hearing test results and the audiologist may have created filters for high frequency sounds).
Oral multivitamin tablets (B12, C and anti-oxidants) once a day after breakfast can help in early recovery of the nerve.

Do see your ENT or your audiologist is the tinnitus persists for more than a week.
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What Causes High Pitched Sound In Ears While Hiccups, Burping And Swallowing?

Hi. Loud noises are known to irritate and damage the auditory nerve. This is regardless of whether you are able to hear or not. These sound travel through the eardrum, ossicles and then to the inner ear. With loud music these vibrate more than necessary and injure the nerve responsible for hearing. The bird chirping sound that you hear is called tinnitus which means you are perceiving a sound when there is actually no sound. The irritated nerve misfires and produces the feeling of a sound when there is no real source of the sound outside. Every time you have a hic-up, burp or intensely swallow, it closes a tube called the Eustachian tube (ET) which connects the middle ear to the back of the nose in order to equalize pressure between the two regions. When the ET closes, it creates a negative pressure within the middle of the ear and this creates irritability in the auditory nerve that creates the tinnitus. I would recommend that you avoid exposure to loud noises and use your hearing aids as much as possible (They must have been programmed to your hearing test results and the audiologist may have created filters for high frequency sounds). Oral multivitamin tablets (B12, C and anti-oxidants) once a day after breakfast can help in early recovery of the nerve. Do see your ENT or your audiologist is the tinnitus persists for more than a week.