Musical ear syndrome (MES) is the sensation of music in the ears without an external source. Various melodies and songs play and repeat in the patient's head. These melodies are not fictitious; the patient has heard them before, often in childhood. Essentially, these are musical memories "extracted from the memory archive," not a mental humming of a melody, but a sensation of a "record" or "radio playing" in the head, meaning the music and songs are heard "in their original performance."Music may be heard intermittently or constantly, in one ear or both. The obsessive nature of musical hallucinations and the fear of an "impending mental disorder" cause patients significant emotional distress and can have unpredictable consequences, including suicide attempts.Detection of tinnitus should be proactive. If a patient with hearing loss reports tinnitus, the nature of the noise should be clarified and the patient should be directly asked whether it is music. Not every patient can admit to hearing music in their head.MES is not a mental illness, although elderly patients may have mild cognitive impairment.The following patient groups can be distinguished: those with acquired hearing loss and deafness, those with organic brain damage and epilepsy, long-time musicians, and those taking medications that cause MES.Diagnosing MES requires a multidisciplinary approach. Treatment primarily involves removing the trigger. Background noise (radio on) and reduced social isolation may also help. In the presence of peripheral hearing loss, hearing aids are recommended.Low-dose anticonvulsants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics and antidepressants are used, depending on the cause.Studying this disorder raises intriguing questions about memory, forgetting, and accessing lost memories. Despite the significant impact MES has on patients' lives, it has received very little attention from specialists. Identification of patients with MES should be proactive, as treatment options are available.

Liia Toropchina has completed her PHD at the age of 30 years from Research Institute of Clinical Otolaryngology, Russia. She is an associate professor of the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education, Russia, and clinical audiologist of the Moscow Children's City Clinical Hospital named after Z. A. Bashlyaeva. She has more than 37 publications that have been cited more than 130 times, the Hirsch index of publications is 6. She is the author of 1 monograph and co-author of 3 manuals on various topics of clinical audiology. For 6 years, she was the chief pediatric audiologist of the Moscow region. Area of ​​professional interests: rehabilitation of children with deafness and complex structure of the defect, hearing genetics, congenital anomalies and autoimmune diseases of the ear.