Hollow Sound In Ear When Tapping Skull

Posted on Wed, 12 Sep 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 Answered on

Thu, 4 Oct 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I hear a hollow sound in my right hear when tapping any location on my skull

Answered by Dr. Naveen (2 hours later)

Hi

Thanks for the query

Sound reaches inner ear through two modes of conduction i.e. air conduction and bone conduction.

A normal individual hears mainly through air conduction wherein the sound waves hit the eardrum and making it to vibrate. Further, the sound waves are augmented by the movement of the middle ear bones, which in turn stimulate the inner ear.

Bone conduction happens when the inner ear is directly stimulated through the bone by the virtue of contact. In a normal hearing, the bone conduction is not appreciated because of the masking effect of the external environmental sounds. Upon blocking the ear canal, any tapping over the skull can be clearly heard as it is stimulating the inner ear directly as there is no masking by the external sounds.

Hence, in your situation there could be presence of either wax in the right external auditory canal or fluid in the right middle ear which could be giving this effect. My suggestion to you is to consult your doctor for a thorough evaluation of the ear and further management if required.

Hope I have answered your query; I will be available for the follow-up queries.

Regards
Dr. Naveen Kumar N.
ENT and Head & Neck Surgeon

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar