What’s wrong with the ringing in your ears when you move them?

The most common clinical condition that causes earwax to ring when the ear is moved is ear canal cerumen. It may be related to the attachment of pieces of cerumen deep in the external ear canal. When the patient moves the ear, the local muscle pull and joint activity induce the cerumen in the ear canal to move, and the movement then stimulates the wall of the ear canal and the eardrum thus producing a ringing sound. When the patient does not move the ear, the ringing will be gone. When the patient opens his mouth, moves his ear, or walks, the sound comes back. In this case, when the otoscope is done, it can be seen that there is cerumen debris in the deep part of the ear canal against the eardrum. After the doctor removes the cerumen debris, the patient’s sound will be gone, and basically, it can be diagnosed as caused by cerumen debris in the ear canal. In some patients, if the debris is very deep, it is recommended that it is safer to flush it out with saline.