Hearing Stuff and Ear Crackling

Last night I was startled from sleep at 2am from the sound of a woman screaming. My sister was in the house with her friend so I thought either they were messing around or something was wrong.

I anxiously went to check on them. Sister was asleep and friend had left. I remember the scream was so incredibly loud I actually felt it inside my head. Since everything seemed fine I returned to bed. Within a few seconds of closing my eyes I heard a crackling sound, sounded like a plastic wrapper for sweets. I checked for anything under my neck though I knew there wouldn't be as I don't leave sweet wrappers on my bed but maybe somehow something got there.

There was nothing and even more strange was the fact that I was lying down perfectly still yet the crackling could not have been produced without moving. I listened to the sound intently - much more audible I realized it was coming from inside my ears. I opened my jaw and it crackled a little more.

I'm very aware that this could suggest TMJ but I haven't been experiencing severe pain and the headache is completely gone except for some pressure around frontal bone which moves down to my left temporal bone. The pressure itself is completely painless and tends to feel more like a brain massage.