I suspect many people get a form of "glue ear" as they progress into older age.

Inside the ear canal is supposed to be open of course equalizing pressure changes and staying well drained.

People with long term sinus issues and especially if they fly a lot, tend to get glue ear. You go up in a plane, the pressure comes out of your inner ear no problem, but it cannot repressurize when the plane comes back down.

If the vacuum is not relieved in the inner ear within several days, it forms the trapped fluid into a gel and then a glue, removable only by surgery.

This insult to the nerves in the area can manifest as perceived sound signal.

I have sinus allergies big time. Once on a business trip my inner ears were so itchy I was losing my mind because you can't scratch inside the ear drum. The shower had an adjustable water-pic shower head. I dialed it to a tight pulsation pattern and blasted that directly into my ear canal.

The relief was amazing! I figured the pulsations against the ear drum were working the inner ear structure like an old style oil can and functioned to pump out the fluid from the inner ear.

I have been doing this every time I have showered for the last 15 years. My hearing acuity has improved dramatically.

I hear stuff that people can't believe. Caterpillars chewing leaves, leaves skittering across a road sound like a full brass band playing. If I am inside the house, I hear the tire noise from passing vehicles. I hear the heater element on the coffee pot cycling from about 50 feet away 2 rooms away.

Everyone should learn the various techniques (Toynbee, Modified Toynbee and valsalva maneuvers), for equalizing inner ear pressure as well (mainly for the pressure changes in flying but also scuba diving or any time you simply feel an imbalance in ear pressure which can also happen from nasal congestion, blowing one's nose etc.