Man who could hear his own eyeballs roll cured

A man with a rare medical condition which meant he heard his eyeballs move in their sockets has been cured.

Stephen Mabbutt, 57, from Charlton, near Banbury, could also hear his own heart beating.

Mr Mabbutt first experienced symptoms six years ago, when he felt a dull ache in the side of his head.

GPs treated him with nasal sprays and antibiotics, but his hearing deteriorated. Mr Mabbutt was eventually diagnosed with an unusual ear condition in which sounds inside the body are heard very loudly. The condition meant that the noise from chewing food became deafening.

His symptoms worsened to the extent where loud noises caused dizziness and his vision blurred.

Mr Mabbutt told the BBC: “When I raised my voice I could hear it reverberating in my head and the vibrations made my vision vibrate.

“Eventually I could hear my heart beating and my eyes moving in their sockets. It was really distracting.”

Mr Mabbutt was referred to Martin Burton, a surgeon from the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital who helped establish the Cochrane Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders Group. A CT scan found perforations inside the semicircular canals inside Mr Mabbutt’s ear.

He was diagnosed with superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS), a rare condition discovered by American surgeon Lloyd B Minor in 1995, which is thought to only effect one in 500,000 a year in Britain.

The operation to cure the problem involved a 5cm (2in) incision behind the ear, making a channel through the bone to find the “balance organ” and using the patient’s own bone to create a seal around the defect, the BBC said.

It was carried out by Richard Irving, an expert at the Birmingham Ear Clinic.

“It’s made a big difference to my life. I feel a different person all round,” Mr Mabbutt said.