A few days ago, I noticed subtle clicking sounds coming from the area just below my ears, near the jaw hinges, when playing flute. At first, I thought this was a mechanical issue with my jaw, but the clicking sounds appeared only when I was blowing into the flute. I did not hear any clicking sounds when moving my jaw and keeping my breath still, so I concluded that the clicking sounds were due to ear pressure changes - like the ear pops when changing altitude.
Is this anyway to prevent this, as the clicking can get annoying?
The eustachian tube is what makes yer ears pop and seems a likely culprit http://www.slcent.com/eustachian.html
as to stopping it… is there a doctor on the board?
I noticed this recentlly also. But instead of a pop, the volume of my flute was lower. I thought it was my playing, until I tried clearing my ears-then it was a nice volume again! J.
good that someone started this discussion because I was going to start up one also…
I have started playing flute may this year so I am still in the learning stage but since beginning july I do have those problems with ear pressure so badly that ten minutes after I have started to play the flute I can not hear a lot anymore, no volume on the flute and ears felt plugged.
At first I thought my hearing aid was to blame (have a hearing loss already) but it happened only on the flute.
I have contacted a throat, nose, ear specialist and going to see him friday.
Will be interested to hear if there are any other people on the forum who had the same problems and was it solved and how?
The ear specialist had recommended learn how to clear and do that regularly, additionally use a good nose spray 4-6 times a day.
I suggest see your doctor.
Would be helpful if he played flute too
The focused embouchure required for flute playing also causes a presure in the eustachian tubes. If the tubes are blocked for any reason, then you can expect a reaction, such as a popping in the ears. A decongestant should work. I have found the Old Milwaukee Light works quite nicely for me. After a while I don’t even hear the popping anymore.
I’m a nurse not a doctor… well I am a doctor, but the PhD type. Anyway, if your eustachian tubes are clogged you would think that should help prevent building up positive pressure in the inner ear. The problem is that air pressure once built up is not allowed to equalize due to the clogging.
MEDICAL ALERT: Holding your nose and blowing gently will NOT help the situation! It will just make it worse by adding more positive pressure. This method works for diving because the inner ear pressure is negative relative to the water pressure. So in diving the problem is NEGATIVE pressure in the inner ear; whereas with flute blowing the problem is POSITIVE pressure in the inner ear. If you must hold your nose and do something suck don’t blow (probably won’t work though). What does sometimes work is vigoursly working the jaw around and then swallowing. This is hard to do during a tune - really mucks up the phrasing and rhythm of the piece. Find out why the tubes are clogging and take the appropriate steps (antihistamines etc.) If you have always had trouble with your inner ear and were one of those kids with chronic ear infections the problem may be structural. Now it is probably possible to do a bit of roto-rooting, but can you imagine, in the absence of other symptoms, trying to talk a surgeon into doing the job so you can play flute better? Now that would be dedication.
I have been teaching myself to articulate with tonguing and glottal stops. Coming from many months of whistle playing, tonguing seemed the easiest choice - although it was not easy at all. The movement of the tongue kept changing my embouchure/jaw position - which could generate tiny pressure pops in the ears (they really are subtle but still noticeable).
Anyway, just a day or so ago, I managed to articulate clearly using glottal stops for the first time. For me, glottal stops work best if I try to make a “ker-ker-ker” sound instead of “ka-ka-ka,” as some have recommended. Unlike tonguing, glottal stops don’t alter my embouchure very much and the ear pops are not as frequent.
As I improve my flute playing, tonguing may turn out to be as trouble-free as glottal stops. For now though, I recommend glottal stops as one way to reduce ear pops.
Yes, and that’s exactly why Doug’s Old Milwaukee works so well!
Headwizer, I noticed this, but didn’t have a problem with it. However, I just tried to see if anything in particular would make my ears stuff up.
Doug is right that there is a little pressure in the pharynx while blowing. It pushes air up your eustachian tubes. However, I was able to make it much worse by tightening up my mouth and throat. Tonguing with everything tight like that, in fact, actually produced popping and an earache. It produced a lot more pressure in the pharynx. With my jaw loose and the back of my tongue down, there was no problem. Raise the jaw and tongue, and the pressure increased.
I think I read somewhere that keeping a loose, relaxed oropharynx was a good thing? Maybe that will help you? Anyone know?
A nasal decongestant might make the situation better, but you can’t use some of them regularly because of the rebound. While it will shrink the tissues once, they’ll swell up even worse after it wears off, so you use it again, and so on in a vicious cycle.
