Can anyone tell me the name of the muscle inside my inner ear or somewhere inside my head that I am able to flex at will?

When I flex this muscle, I can feel a subtle movement inside my head and the wax in my ears moves, evoking a crackling sound.

When I am on an airplane and I feel pressure buildup in my ears, I can flex this muscle at will and the pressure is relieved.

It's possible that I'm flexing a muscle in my pallette, creating air pressure that pushes on my inner ear. I would like to know the name of this muscle or of this function so that I may read up about it online.

I don't suffer any pain or discomfort from this. I am simply aware of it, have never heard any reference to it from anywhere before, and am curious to learn about this phenomenon.

possibly the palate muscle, eustacian tube muscle or middle ear muscles, tensor tympani and stapedial muscle they are actually in the middle ear.

possibly the palate muscle, eustacian tube muscle or middle ear muscles, tensor tympani and stapedial muscle they are actually in the middle ear.

"Possibly"?

It would be helpful to hear from someone who has a firm familiarity with my description.

"Possibly"?

It would be helpful to hear from someone who has a firm familiarity with my description.

did you read up on any of these muscles? i am more than familiar with this, but there are several muscles in there and your description is minimal.....
middle ear...

did you read up on any of these muscles? i am more than familiar with this, but there are several muscles in there and your description is minimal.....
middle ear...

While I thank you for your readiness to help me understand this function, I am sorry to say that my research on the subject, based upon your suggested keywords, has yielded only vague possibilities.

Nevertheless, I have learned that there is a voluntary muscle contraction ability in the middle ear. It does not seem to benefit me in any way. Nor is it harmful. Precisely which muscle is moving and precisely what causes the "crinkling" sound in my ears, is still unknown to me.

I believe I am contracting a skeletal muscle in the middle ear. This contraction moves nearby membranes that have wax accumulation and I hear the wax shift and "crinkle".

Obviously, this subject is not of paramount medical importance, so I find very little documentation about this function.

Thank you for your helpfulness, lib.

Hey Scott,
If you come back to these forums at all, please let me know if you were able to get any relief from these symptoms you were experiencing when you oringally created this topic. I know exactly what you mean and I'm also having a little annoying pop going on in my ears (mainly my left) that causes a popping sound when I'm chewing something usually/talking/bending over - creating involuntary pressure in my ears that causes a slight popping sound. As you said, it is not painful either, and it is just a huge nuisance, if anyone knows of any ways of helping these symptoms, please don't hesitate to speak up. I've been experiencing these symptoms now for almost 3 months and can't seem to get rid of it.

I don't think there is any correlation to my symptoms but I had Tinnitus starting in late July that caused me to have extreme stress and emotional thoughts that almost drove me to wits end. About a month later, I almost passed out on a hot summer day while falling off my bike after I climbed a hill and got on my feet. I could feel my head getting light, and definitely could tell something was going on in my middle ears at the time and ever since the day after the minor bike fall, I have had a weird popping sound off and on when I'm talking/chewing random foods.

I have read numerous posts on this forum already and it seems the poster named "lib" also had some similar symptoms like I am experiencing. I haven't read nearly all her posts, but she ended up getting her muscles severed and claims to be doing very well now. It'd be nice if she visited back once in awhile to give us any information that might be of help to me or anyone else experiencing these symptoms. As I said, these symptoms I am now hoping to get rid of, since my Tinnitus is barely noticeable anymore only 4 months after having it, are hardly painful in any way/shape or form, just very annoying and will tend to disrupt my train of thought when they do happen if I'm talking/eating.

Thanks for reading.