How does an ear make noise????

[Crackajack]

So....need your help guys!!

Im in Malta - no horse hospitals...no major surgery...its all down to how good the horses owner is - most of the time any major problems result in them being put down!

Can any of you provide any ideas on this strange situation...

Welsh x cob

Yes - this sounds strange but the noise you get ringing in your ears from a night out...this horses right ear is giving out this same sound!!

We have thought of the obvious - insect - but it cant be...the owner has told me and i have confirmed it myself that the noise is constant...24 hours a day.

An italian vet has been out - has no clue what it is...

A Maltese vet has been out and said no idea...

Both of them have come to the same conclusion...it is driving him crazy if it hasn't already and to put him down...

Any ideas?

 

[Boxers]

You mean you can hear a noise coming from the horse's ear?

Very strange, and sorry I can't be of any help. Hopefully someone else on here can help.

Could you research horse vets in the uk and maybe have a telephone consultation?

 

[smellsofhorse]

Weird

Sorry no help.

 

[Crackajack]

Yes - its very very weird....in fact - unknown i think!

A telephone consultation is not a bad idea...however, not sure they will be able to tell me anything :/

Just to confirm this horses ear IS making noise...wtf??

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Insect stuck in his ear canal?

 

[Crackajack]

I thought that - but an insect cant make noise for 24 hours a day for last 3 months

Next suggestion?

Could it be a burst eardrum...someone mentioned that?

 

[Reindeer Rider]

I Googled and found this :-

Vets at the Animal Health Trust in New Market, UK, had just removed a tumor from the lip of a 5-year-old Welsh pony, when they heard a strange, high-pitched hum emanating from its right ear. The hum was surprisingly loud and quite obvious to the surgical team standing a meter away. The hum's pitch was a steady 7 kilohertz.

E. Douek, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, stated that audible sound coming from ears is extremely rare. Such sounds are usually caused by muscle spasms in the inner ear or throat, or by resonance due to abnormalities in the ear's blood supply.

(Bonner, John; "Humming Horse Puzzles Vets," New Scientist, p. 5, April 29, 1995.)

Comment. This is not the first time we have heard about humming ears. In SF#31*, H. Zuccarelli stated that human ears normally emit a faint reference sound, which mixes with incoming sound to form an interference pattern inside the ear. The resulting "acoustic holograms" allow humans and some other primates to locate the source of a sound without turning their heads. The affliction called "tinnitus" is evidently not involved.

*SF#31 Science Frontiers #31. The book Science Frontiers also contains this reference. It is described here.

 

[Reindeer Rider]

http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf100/sf100b06.htm

That was the web address

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Wow RR, that's very interesting.

 

[vallin]

Fascinating!

 

[Venevidivici]

Wow! The natural world is weird...I saw on tv last week that a medical condition exists in humans whereby they constantly hear music,in their head. Not tinnitus but actual songs or music. The really strange part was a med expert on the program said he has never known a case(worldwide) where the music is in a minor key...it's always in a major key...why?!? AND..the vast majority of cases hear Christmas songs/hymns/carols....double weird! The rest are often songs of emotional significance to the sufferer(like song played at wedding or whatever). They interviewed a really sweet old lady who'd had it for years,not really talked about it and was clearly exhausted and haunted by it,bless her. Not sure which is worse,that or tinnitus.... Sorry,OP,I digress..but am often amazed by the new things you find out. Hope horse is ok and nothing serious causing the noise.

 

[Emz99]

Strange! Hope you get to the bottom of it. Tho if you can't see anything with an otoscope (I'm guessing vets used one to examine ear??) then an MRI or something might be needed to diagnose the cause.

 

[Crackajack]

WOW RR!

Thats an awesome find!!
Thanking you very muchy!!

The horse in question is NOT mine...
He is a rescue horse - no background or papers - no idea even how he ended here

However.....I have a soft spot for this horse and I'm trying to see if i can evaluate a way to investigate this noise to see if it is treatable....because if it is I'm thinking of buying/taking him!

Some of my motivation is guilt as I was going to take this horse on before I got King but didn't for various reasons... None his!

Sssssshhhhhh!

I know that sounds awful...but tbh she has already offerred him to me...I think he's cute - she thinks he is a pain in the arse

He is a bit of a devil child but again has nothing on CJ (My first horse) and my horse now King is an ex trotter so this cutie would be lovely to train and also help owner if she wants to then ride him...have np with that - helps me exercise them both

Or she could help anthoer one....

Anyway sorry I digressed!

I checked again his ear today and it has quietened in volume and weirdly does not seem to be projecting the sound as far as it previously has....

Emz - I hope to god he doesn't and we can find something
Malta does not have a horse hospital or facilities to care or treat horses....most who get injured live or die
An MRI is not an option
She hasn't even paid for the vet to do the scope
He isn't showing signs of it affecting him but I am now even more concerned due to fantastic research and his 'wonky' ear being the same ear as the one making noise....

Tumor?

 

[Tonks]

Wow! The natural world is weird...I saw on tv last week that a medical condition exists in humans whereby they constantly hear music,in their head. Not tinnitus but actual songs or music. The really strange part was a med expert on the program said he has never known a case(worldwide) where the music is in a minor key...it's always in a major key...why?!? AND..the vast majority of cases hear Christmas songs/hymns/carols....double weird! The rest are often songs of emotional significance to the sufferer(like song played at wedding or whatever). They interviewed a really sweet old lady who'd had it for years,not really talked about it and was clearly exhausted and haunted by it,bless her. Not sure which is worse,that or tinnitus.... Sorry,OP,I digress..but am often amazed by the new things you find out. Hope horse is ok and nothing serious causing the noise.

Auditory hallucinations - probably of the non psychiatric kind.

Can happen with hearing loss - or may be psychiatric - then you're in deep doo doo!! Imagine hearing Slade's 'Merry Xmas' all day long!!

 

[laura.colingsworth]

In the US and I have a mini donkey with the same type of sound coming from its right ear. Nothing visible with otoscope. Radiographs don't show anything made with ab electrical component (the thought that someone may have stuck something down into the ear canal being considered). I've only found this thread and the article mentioned in this thread for other cases like this. I do find it interesting that all the are in the right ear.

Was anything ever discovered in this case in Malta?