Constant Low Drowning/Rumbling Not Coming from Ears

[Sadgirl17]

For the past few days I've been hearing a constant low frequency hum/drone. It's really disturbing me because it doesn't sound like it's coming from my ears like my usual tinnitus sounds. It sounds like it's coming from outside me. I hear it like it would any normal external stimuli. Except no one else can.


This hum/drone is having a severe impact on my mental health and work. I cannot concentrate. I cannot mask it. I had to leave school early today because I was just too distracted by the sound. When I say I hear it in everything I mean I hear it in absolutely everything. I hear it even in white noise. It sounds like the deep low throbbing hum a machine would produce. I hear it absolutely everywhere.

Who has gone through this? Did yours go? Is it still tinnitus? Just for extra info: it disappears for a second after listening to white noise really loudly but then quickly comes back. I also had a cold about a month ago, and a doctor told me that could be causing the tinnitus due to buildup of pressure and fluid, but that was before I started hearing the droning sound. Now I hear it everywhere and it's tearing me apart. Please HELP!

 

[butterfly75]

I hear the exact same thing sometimes. It comes and goes. For some reason, it only starts to happen in the winter. It's like a plane gone awry. I don't know what it's caused by, but it's terrifying.

 

[hans01]

I have the same issue, and I think it started using Melatonine and some other stuff to calm down nerves after my burnout, sad enough it never went away, I can't sleep in small rooms anymore because of this as it makes my head sound like a machine after a few seconds, like a low freq feedback loop, for some reason it only starts when everything is very silent, when it happens a small sound or head movement will make it disappear, but it comes back progressively, very annoying, it was already hard to live with high pitch T, but since it has made things really complicated for me ... maybe it's related to my burn out, really don't know would like to hear other peoples input on this.

 

[Sadgirl17]

I hear the exact same thing sometimes. It comes and goes. For some reason, it only starts to happen in the winter. It's like a plane gone awry. I don't know what it's caused by, but it's terrifying.

I hope it's temporary. It's so horrible. It sounds like there's a machine outside or something. Doesn't sound like typical tinnitus at all. I'm going to try to sleep and see if it goes when I wake up.

 

[Sadgirl17]

I have the same issue, and I think it started using Melatonine and some other stuff to calm down nerves after my burnout, sad enough it never went away, I can't sleep in small rooms anymore because of this as it makes my head sound like a machine after a few seconds, like a low freq feedback loop, for some reason it only starts when everything is very silent, when it happens a small sound or head movement will make it disappear, but it comes back progressively, very annoying, it was already hard to live with high pitch T, but since it has made things really complicated for me ... maybe it's related to my burn out, really don't know would like to hear other peoples input on this.

I'm so sorry. I hope yours eventually goes away. And I'd like to see what others say too. This is so scary. Suddenly my cosy room feels very ominous, like a horror movie.

 

[jimH]

Who has gone through this? Did yours go? Is it still tinnitus? Just for extra info: it disappears for a second after listening to white noise really loudly but then quickly comes back. I also had a cold about a month ago, and a doctor told me that could be causing the tinnitus due to buildup of pressure and fluid, but that was before I started hearing the droning sound. Now I hear it everywhere and it's tearing me apart. Please HELP!

@Sadgirl17 ...I'm not sure what the cause is. However, what I can tell you is that it's not time for you to panic. That's because it only began just a few days ago. There's a very good chance that it's just temporary.

Do you have any residual congestion in your head or crackling sounds in your ears from the cold? Did you begin anything new the day it began day? Any new medications, supplements, or something physically strenous such as going back to the gym, jogging etc.?

I see that your T began only recently (September). So, if you don't already know it, anxiety and fear can exacerbate a Tinnitus condition and even cause a spike that can last for a while. Therefore, it's VERY important to try to calm yourself down and reduce your anxiety and fear by reassuring yourself that the sound is probably just a temporary condition.

 

[glynis]

I have the low drone and high frequency hiss in both ears.
Its so loud I ask family is it me or can you hear someone hovering ?
I hear it everywhere and find it impossible to mask unless my hearing aids are in.
I had 6 weeks off work last year when the drone started on top of my other sound and lots of tests in hospital to check out other symptoms.
Try keep relaxing music on around you and uplifting music.
Love glynis

 

[Sadgirl17]

@Sadgirl17 ...I'm not sure what the cause is. However, what I can tell you is that it's not time for you to panic. That's because it only began just a few days ago. There's a very good chance that it's just temporary.

Do you have any residual congestion in your head or crackling sounds in your ears from the cold? Did you begin anything new the day it began day? Any new medications, supplements, or something physically strenous such as going back to the gym, jogging etc.?

I see that your T began only recently (September). So, if you don't already know it, anxiety and fear can exacerbate a Tinnitus condition and even cause a spike that can last for a while. Therefore, it's VERY important to try to calm yourself down and reduce your anxiety and fear by reassuring yourself that the sound is probably just a temporary condition.

Your response was inedibly helpful. Thank you.
I don't recall doing anything different. However I do have a buildup of wax only in my right ear that's blocking it.. I got it checked today and the GP said she couldn't event see my eardrums. So I'm hoping that's what behind all of this.
It's a lot quieter now than it was last night. It's come down to a low bzzing/vibration but it's still very distracting. It's funny because my parents said they could hear a low humming too but my anxiety is making me doubt that they're hearing the same thing. It's pretty much constant. So to test that it was just in my house (I live next to a train track so that was a possibility) I went to the library and could hear a low droning/vibrating but I feel like it was louder or something different? Like an air conditioner? Isn't a library ment to be totally silent?.... I feel like I'm going crazy. At the GP though, I totally could not hear it at all. But then again it wasn't completely silent there. And I was only there for about four minutes.
The only thing that's making hopeful is the fact that it's A LOT quieter than it was yesterday. It was so loud then. It was like I was next to an engine. But I can still hear it now and o can even feel my body vibrate a little bit. It's crazy annoying. About to take a nap and I hope it's gone when I wake up.

 

[Sadgirl17]

I have the low drone and high frequency hiss in both ears.
Its so loud I ask family is it me or can you hear someone hovering ?
I hear it everywhere and find it impossible to mask unless my hearing aids are in.
I had 6 weeks off work last year when the drone started on top of my other sound and lots of tests in hospital to check out other symptoms.
Try keep relaxing music on around you and uplifting music.
Love glynis

I can't mask it with anything because it sounds like a vibration. I can actually feel it. It's horrible. Do you have any idea how to mask it?

 

[glynis]

The only sound that I find is down load a fan app and find the sound on it that helps as usually have a humming fan sound
Love glynis

 

[Joe W]

Have an throbbing, undulating low frequency hum and vibration sound. Suspected it was from idling trains many miles away, but can't confirm. Cannot sleep at night and getting physically nauseous and feel like I am going to go crazy. Wearing big " chainsaw" type ear muffs stopped the sound, yet the only other person I could ask, says they can't hear it, nor does an older neighbour claim to hear anything in his house. I have yet to start a wide area home survey in my area.
I hear it in all rooms, some places louder.

I have used a frequency generator to compare the tone and estimate it's around 60 hz. I now suspect an underground water pump or something with an electrical motor. I have turned of my house electrical Box off and still hear it, yet have read this could be " low " tinnitus.

But would covering my ears not prove it is NOT tinnitus , or can some other tinnitus effect be at play?
Please help!

 

[Kriszti]

Have an throbbing, undulating low frequency hum and vibration sound. Suspected it was from idling trains many miles away, but can't confirm. Cannot sleep at night and getting physically nauseous and feel like I am going to go crazy. Wearing big " chainsaw" type ear muffs stopped the sound, yet the only other person I could ask, says they can't hear it, nor does an older neighbour claim to hear anything in his house. I have yet to start a wide area home survey in my area.
I hear it in all rooms, some places louder.

I have used a frequency generator to compare the tone and estimate it's around 60 hz. I now suspect an underground water pump or something with an electrical motor. I have turned of my house electrical Box off and still hear it, yet have read this could be " low " tinnitus.

But would covering my ears not prove it is NOT tinnitus , or can some other tinnitus effect be at play?
Please help!

I don't know about your special case, but I'll write down my own experience. So, in October for 2 weeks I had a low, vibrating hum sounding like a mix of a very, very loud washing machine and foghorn and an idling motor. (I had it in 2016 and 2017 also, but didn't have such a big impact on my life. ) None of my roommates heard it, and I went to an ENT and to an audiologist, took a hearing test in a silent chamber and heard it there too. What resemblances your case, that if I plugged my ears (it was only in my left ear, around 125 Hz.), it stopped, if I covered my ears very tightly creating kind of like a vacuum, it stopped. It was maddening. Couldn't sleep more than an hour or so, because the buzzing and vibrating kept waking me out. For 1-1,5 day it stopped, but returned. And after 2 weeks it went away completely. I know of an other person @Optigirl19 whose low hum went away after a month. So I'm just saying that if it's proven that it's not from the "outside" world, try not to freak out - easier said than done - it could go away.

 

[MisticRayn]

Yes! Ive been hearing it since 2018. It's not tinnitus. I also went to an ent and audiologist and could hear it in their booth and no one else could. I hear it all over the city but not when I leave the city. I have done a lot of research and I am suspecting the sound comes from wind turbines. The noise standards they have in place for them don't account for low frequency sounds from the machinery inside that's conducted through the ground. I checked the usgs turbine map and they installed the biggest ones yet about 100 miles outside the city when I started hearing it. There are tons of complaints about the turbines causing this type of noise. Whatever I'm hearing is huge and covering large distances. I also hear it most in the winter but since they installed more of them in 2020, I'm hearing it more constantly and louder than ever. It's truly maddening and combined with the tinnitus I have days I can't even get out of bed because of the migraine. I hear it right now. I encourage anyone to look up the usgs turbine map and see if you can find an installation that correlates with when you began to hear the hum.