AKRON, INDIANA — Liquid oozing from your orifices is not always good, and what you assume is mucus or water from the shower might turn out to be something more terrifying.

53-year-old Mark Hoffman says he always woke up in the morning to find his pillow soaking wet, and one ear leaking a clear fluid, reports the Indianapolis Star.

His problem persisted, but it would be another 10 years before a doctor figured out the cause of his peculiar ailment.

Hoffman was diagnosed with a spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak, in which a hole in the skull bone and membrane, or dura, leaks fluid into either the ear or nose.

The condition has become more widespread in the past decade, a trend medical experts believe may be related to obesity and sleep apnea.

The leaks can cause headaches, vision changes, or hearing loss.

Cerebrospinal fluid leaks are often treated with a surgical procedure in which bone and tissue are grafted to the holes in the skull and in the dura.

Patients are also more 15 to 20 percent more likely to develop meningitis, a potentially fatal infection in the lining of the brain, if the leak is a result of surgery or trauma.

Hoffman has since had the surgery, and although he still suffers hearing loss, he feels better.