STEPHEN Mabbutt has been living a nightmare hearing his own heart beat and the scratching sound of his eyes rolling in their sockets.

For six years his condition baffled doctors until an appointment with an ear, nose and throat expert at a Birmingham hospital diagnosed a very rare syndrome which was only discovered a decade ago.

Mr Mabbutt’s condition — superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome — started as a dull ache six years ago and gradually got worse to the stage where he had difficulty hearing the television or people talking.

The 57-year-old’s hearing deteriorated and then came the sound of his eyes moving. Then his vision started pulsing when he spoke, which made him decide something needed to be done.

Father-of-two Mr Mabbutt, of Cartwright Road, Charlton, near Banbury, said: “I just could not understand what was happening to me. Loud noises made me dizzy and when I spoke my vision pulsated to the rhythm of my words. About 18 months ago things got much worse. I could actually hear my eyeballs moving and my heart beating.

“I would be sat nice and quiet and would hear a noise and think what’s that, then I would move my eyes. It sounded like sandpaper on wood, that sort of noise, when I moved my eyes.”

Mr Mabbutt was referred to the Birmingham Ear Clinic, based at BMI The Priory and Edgbaston Hospitals, where his case was taken up by consultant Richard Irving.

Scans revealed a tiny hole in the balance canal of his ear caused by the bone protecting it wearing away. Over the years the hole had got worse.

Mr Mabbutt, a training co-ordinator with Abbot Diabetes Care, in Witney, underwent surgery in May to seal the hole and is back at work — and his hearing is improving all the time.

He said: “You cannot believe what a relief it is. If it had all happened at once it would have been a bit scary, but it crept up over the years.”

Consultant Mr Irving explained the condition is very rare and was only discovered 10 years ago: “It was really a case of knowing what you were looking for before you actually started looking for it.

“It is a very unusual with very unusual symptoms which could easily have been dismissed. It must have been very distressing for the patient.

“Once the condition is detected, the operation to put it right is not a complex one, but the difficulty is in actually spotting the problem in the first place.”