Now I rattle while I walk?!

Hi all,

For the last year I have been having increasingly more snapping/popping/cracking in my joints. My knees have always been noisy but lately I've been getting a lot of popping in the hips (not very painful, just kind of...awkward feeling), shoulders (right one makes a HORRIBLE sound as I turn it) and especially the neck -- I figured the neck constant cracking and gravelly noises when rotating my head was maybe from having the muscles so tight all the time?

But here's something new and exciting: I get a snapping/rattling sound in my right ear as I walk! I thought at first it was my head phones with something broken until the other day I realized it's not. I can't tell exactly where the sound is coming from -- it's definitely the right side but I can't tell if it's ear, jaw, or side of neck. I get one snap per step as I walk. Sometimes moving my head around back/forth or around while standing still does it too but not as often. This is the kind of sound that only I can really hear (kinda like tapping a pen against your teeth or chewing; it's a million times louder to your ears than anyone else's).

Has anyone else experienced this or have any advice? My doctor already thinks I am a heaving ball of crazy; I don't want to bring up "rattling sounds in my right ear that only I can hear...no, really!" unless I know he can do something about it. I feel like all I'll get is an eye roll and a quick dismissal from the office, and will be taken even less seriously in the future. But it is driving me absolutely CRAZY to have this sound almost every time I take a step. Help, please?