Humming Sound in Left Ear

[MariaH]

Hello everyone!
I've had tinnitus for over a year which started after taking anti-depressants. I had started getting better recently (some of the sounds were actually reducing), but just over a week ago I started noticing a really loud humming in my left ear. Its like being on a boat with a big diesel engine. First it came and went, but now its pretty much constant.
The strange thing is that it goes away when I hum and when I hear a plane taking off in the distance, although it then comes back immediately. So strange!
The sounds I got from medication were all high pitched and sounded almost electronic + morse code, but this is quite a different story. The humming is very difficult to mask as it feels like it takes over my whole head. Its really like being on a plane or boat.
I've had no recent changes in stress levels, diet or life style. The only thing is that I've been wearing my ear plugs a lot recently to protect my ears from loud wind and city noise. I must confess that after wearing them for many hours, my ears feel a little humid inside. Maybe this has something to do with it? I've taken a break from wearing them for 5 days now, but the humming is still there.
Has anyone else experienced something similar?? Gosh it feels like I'm back at square one.
Thank you so much for any advice or experiences you are willing to share with me!
Nina

 

[MariaH]

Anyone?

 

[Carlo]

@MariaH you started getting better recently, so there's no reason your new sound will stay there. Did you see a ENT? Any test?

 

[MariaH]

Thanks for your reply @Carlos, no ENT yet. The truth is that I doubt they will be able to help. Maybe some fluid got stuck behind my eardrum and that is now causing the same symptoms as when having a cold.
Only time will tell.
How are you these days?

 

[Danza]

@MariaH you just described what I had two weeks ago! Low humming, strong feeling in the whole head, I think I got it from medication. I had it for a 1.5 week, but it went away! I hope yours goes away too. I know how it is, the sound was so different, so low, like some one drilling on the other side of the world whit a huge oil drill... It was maybe not that annoying at first, but because of the "type" I could "feel" it all the time. But this sound went away, I hope yours does too!!!

Danza

 

[MariaH]

Thanks @Danza, thanks exactly the kind of message I was hoping to read before attempting to sleep! I have the exact same sensation as you're describing, like a huge oil dril!
Fingers crossed and I will let you know what happens.
Maria

 

[Danza]

Sleep well Maria! I really hope that yours is easier tomorrow. Mine went away slowly. I didn't post about it because I thought no one has it . But it seems that for every thing we have someone that has had the symptom too. We are not alone! avoid medication and drink calming tea (I did)

Danza

 

[Carlo]

Thanks for your reply @Carlos, no ENT yet. The truth is that I doubt they will be able to help. Maybe some fluid got stuck behind my eardrum and that is now causing the same symptoms as when having a cold.
Only time will tell.
How are you these days?

@MariaH Hi Nina, I'd try to wear ear plugs only when necessary. I see we got the onset at the same time...and thanks, I am doing well. Luckily T level doesn' t get worse, I can say I am habituated. Just taking supplements (cycles of magnesium, different vitamins) and paying attention to loud places. Hope you'll get better soon, let us know!
Carlo

 

[Grace]

I believe it will go away.. It seems that alot will develop new sounds but then they just go away.. Happened to me a few times where id develop a new sound, same loudness as the others and thought oh great here we go its a whole choir now.. But soon enough a few dissapeared! It could take time tho. What i dont get is how the main tone never goes away, like the one we get when we first get tinnitus but then other ones pop in and out.. Confusing but try not to worry im sure it will be gone soon

 

[OnceUponaTime]

but just over a week ago I started noticing a really loud humming in my left ear. Its like being on a boat with a big diesel engine. First it came and went, but now its pretty much constant.
The strange thing is that it goes away when I hum and when I hear a plane taking off in the distance, although it then comes back immediately. So strange!

Hi Maria, I've been having this "hum" for a year and a half now. I'm not sure if I got it from a 2 hr drive (all the noise in the car and highway) or from severe allergies that gave me rhinitus and my neck glands got swollen. Reading your post it was like I was talking. I feel the same way. The hum makes my head feel like vibrating, heavy, full... never rested, tired, headaches...ugh. But strangely the hum goes away when a car or airplane goes by, when I'm next to the refrigerator or air purifier...weird! And I never hear the hum when I am outside of my house! I was hoping it would go away... I'm still hoping and praying it goes away.

How are you doing? Did this hum went away??? Hope it did, Please report and let us know.

 

[Larry OT]

My low hum sound started after hearing loss of low frequencies.
It settled back and I only hear it in very quiet places.
I eat much less salt and that may have helped. But get checked for fluid in ear or Eustation tube disfunction. Also hearing test, mine was directly corrseponding with sudden hearing loss in low frequencies.

 

[MariaH]

Dear @OnceUponaTime and @Larry OT,
Many thanks for your messages. I'm sorry to hear about your hum OUaT. Yes it seems that you have exactly the same as what I experienced. I say experienced because luckily, the hum has gone away. I'm very grateful. I would imagine that your hum was caused by allergies, not by the motorway noise. But of course we can only guess. I think mine might have been cause by wearing my earplugs for too long, but maybe also because I had been cycling in strong winds for many hours a day (cycling holiday!) But yours might still go away too OUaT! Do you feel like you've habituated a little over time? Have you had any improvement at all since it started?
Its nice to read that your hum has settled Larry. Do you have any other noises?
Take care,
Maria

 

[OnceUponaTime]

I say experienced because luckily, the hum has gone away. I'm very grateful.

That is wonderful news!!! I am still struggling with this hum... it is always there. Some days just a little less other days feels like an airplane inside my head. ughh arghh. I've been noticing that extreme cold winds on my head aggravates it and also when I am working hard or get exhausted then the hum feels sooo intense. Oh well... One day at a time. I deal with it, God gives me grace and strength. My husband and children are my anchors in life. I keep pushing through my days knowing for a fact this is only but temporarily. Hugs.

 

[Larry OT]

@MariaH

Oh yes, I have a very loud 10k hi pitch that terrorizes me.

The low drone has it day sometimes but nothing like the high pictch.

 

[Frayact]

I've had a loud, low-pitched hum since 1996. It started from out of the blue. I saw tons of doctors and had many tests performed including 3 MRI's. Everything came back normal. My hearing is also fine.

The humming is mainly in my right ear, but I can also feel it engulf my entire head. It's like having a propeller plane flying around in my brain. However, if I shake my head left to right, the humming noise will stop. It's as if the shaking interrupts the noise. But as soon as my head is still again, the hum returns.

In 1999, I started a treatment of the antidepressant Effexor XR. Within a few weeks, the humming sound disappeared. I went an entire year without hearing that awful noise. But then one morning it returned. I tried other AD's, but none worked.

I've been on Lexapro for about 6 years now, and it's helped me a great deal. But last week, the humming returned and threw me down to rock bottom again. Tomorrow I'm seeing my doctor about switching meds. The depression is crushing me at the moment.

 

[Larry OT]

I've had a loud, low-pitched hum since 1996. It started from out of the blue. I saw tons of doctors and had many tests performed including 3 MRI's. Everything came back normal. My hearing is also fine.

The humming is mainly in my right ear, but I can also feel it engulf my entire head. It's like having a propeller plane flying around in my brain.

In 1999, I started a treatment of the antidepressant Effexor XR. Within a few weeks, the humming sound disappeared. I went an entire year without hearing that awful noise. But then one morning it returned. I tried other AD's, but none worked.

I've been on Lexapro for about 6 years now, and it's helped me a great deal. But last week, the humming returned and threw me down to rock bottom again. Tomorrow I'm seeing my doctor about switching meds. The depression is crushing me at the moment.

I've had low humming in my ears on and off for years. Except when I had sudden hearing loss and it stayed in one ear.
The humming I believe is a kind of intermittent tinnitus. I thought it was sinus related but last time I had the intermittent hum I did a test of playing that frequency in my ear. There is a temporary effect of the tinnitus stopping from doing that many experience but it only happens a few times then it doesn't work.
That's why I assume it's T.
However, get checked for ear issues like fluid, hydrops and tube disjunction as well as sinus. You never know, but those need checking with ENT first.
Short of that, how about upping the Effexor dose?

 

[OnceUponaTime]

@Frayact Sorry to hear you're not doing so well. I have the same hum you described for about a year and a half. Only time I do not hear it.... or I must say it disappears is when I am outdoors or when I am near the refrigerator, air conditioner, air purifier.. literally anything with a motor running. Does your hum disappears when you get near the refrigerator?? or when you are outdoors??? I never took anything for it... just tried some supplements and stuff but t never went away. Do not go down the depression aisle... you have been doing this a long time.... know that this time around it will get better again You will get some relief.... just be patient. This moment too shall pass. Feel better soon.

 

[valeri]

@Frayact

Have you tried chiro?

 

[Frayact]

@Frayact Sorry to hear you're not doing so well. I have the same hum you described for about a year and a half. Only time I do not hear it.... or I must say it disappears is when I am outdoors or when I am near the refrigerator, air conditioner, air purifier.. literally anything with a motor running. Does your hum disappears when you get near the refrigerator?? or when you are outdoors??? I never took anything for it... just tried some supplements and stuff but t never went away. Do not go down the depression aisle... you have been doing this a long time.... know that this time around it will get better again You will get some relief.... just be patient. This moment too shall pass. Feel better soon.

Thanks for your kind words.

Sometimes my fridge will mask it. But after a few minutes, the humming in my head starts to compensate for it. It's as if my brain goes looking for the noise again. And when the fridge turns off, the humming is even louder.

 

[Frayact]

I've had low humming in my ears on and off for years. Except when I had sudden hearing loss and it stayed in one ear.
The humming I believe is a kind of intermittent tinnitus. I thought it was sinus related but last time I had the intermittent hum I did a test of playing that frequency in my ear. There is a temporary effect of the tinnitus stopping from doing that many experience but it only happens a few times then it doesn't work.
That's why I assume it's T.
However, get checked for ear issues like fluid, hydrops and tube disjunction as well as sinus. You never know, but those need checking with ENT first.
Short of that, how about upping the Effexor dose?

I'm going to an ENT on Monday. My primary care physician says he's great. I'm not getting my hopes up, though. After 18 years of enduring this, no answers have ever come to light (except for when I thought it was related to depression).

My doctor also recommended a trial of the drug Meclizine - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meclizine. This is available over the counter and occasionally used by folks with Meniere's Disease. Again, I'm not getting my hopes up.

I haven't been on Effexor in 14 years, but I may try Cymbalta which is a lighter version of it.

The hydrops thing has been explored before, but it was determined that I don't have that affliction.

 

[Mike34]

@Frayact Sorry to hear you're not doing so well. I have the same hum you described for about a year and a half. Only time I do not hear it.... or I must say it disappears is when I am outdoors or when I am near the refrigerator, air conditioner, air purifier.. literally anything with a motor running. Does your hum disappears when you get near the refrigerator?? or when you are outdoors??? I never took anything for it... just tried some supplements and stuff but t never went away. Do not go down the depression aisle... you have been doing this a long time.... know that this time around it will get better again You will get some relief.... just be patient. This moment too shall pass. Feel better soon.

I have this same hum that you are describing. Mine also is less noticable outside and if I put earphones on, I can't hear/feel it! Very strange. I wish we could figure out what this is!

 

[Mike34]

I've had a loud, low-pitched hum since 1996. It started from out of the blue. I saw tons of doctors and had many tests performed including 3 MRI's. Everything came back normal. My hearing is also fine.

The humming is mainly in my right ear, but I can also feel it engulf my entire head. It's like having a propeller plane flying around in my brain. However, if I shake my head left to right, the humming noise will stop. It's as if the shaking interrupts the noise. But as soon as my head is still again, the hum returns.

In 1999, I started a treatment of the antidepressant Effexor XR. Within a few weeks, the humming sound disappeared. I went an entire year without hearing that awful noise. But then one morning it returned. I tried other AD's, but none worked.

I've been on Lexapro for about 6 years now, and it's helped me a great deal. But last week, the humming returned and threw me down to rock bottom again. Tomorrow I'm seeing my doctor about switching meds. The depression is crushing me at the moment.

Sorry to hear. I have the same hum, as I mentioned above. I have been thinking about trying a medication to get rid of it, I wonder if I should try Effexor. I think I can habituate to the tinnitus and my hyperacusis is improving, but the humming is impossible to ignore most of the time.

 

[Frayact]

I saw the ENT a few weeks ago, and he said that all my tests (and there were many) came back normal. He also said I have the hearing of a 1-year-old, meaning for someone my age (54), my hearing capacity is amazing. He said Meclizine (which my primary care physician recommended) would be a waste of money. He also said chiropractic treatment could be very dangerous. He said many chiropractors don't realizing that "adjusting" the neck can cause irreversible damage to a particular nerve. He suggested I avoid at all costs. The only thing he suggested was a type of TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy). I've read all about this (even 20 years ago), and I doubt it would have any effect on me.

At this point, there's nothing more to do. The past few weeks have been better, but tonight I can hear the volume going up again. And like many of you, I can also feel a vibration. I'll just have to deal with it on my own.

 

[cazzapop]

I too have a deep low humming noise that I hear constantly when in my home. I would swear it is not me, or low frequency tinnitus, but an outside source. I don't seem to hear it anywhere else.
I have been for standard hearing tests and told my hearing is perfect in left and just less than perfect in right.
Why then if I put a finger or ear plug in my left ear only does the noise get less and virtually disappear?
I am going crazy! Had this for 18months with only two periods of "quiet" for a few weeks within that time.
It is the first thing i hear on wakening. I don't hear it out in the garden. I am willing to accept it may be tinnitus but I don't hear it in other locations...
Other people don't hear the hum in my home but when doing initial investigations into the source the water man could hear it as did the Scottish power man. I did think it may be an electrical substation that's approx 120metres from my home but I stand beside that hand hear no low him, or else it's tone is disguised by sounds round about.
What I am here hearing sounds really like someone pressing continuing on a low note on a piano or a bus engine running orcthecthrob you get when on a ferry.
It's making me demented!!
Any theories?

 

[Thongjy]

@MariaH Hi Nina, I'd try to wear ear plugs only when necessary. I see we got the onset at the same time...and thanks, I am doing well. Luckily T level doesn' t get worse, I can say I am habituated. Just taking supplements (cycles of magnesium, different vitamins) and paying attention to loud places. Hope you'll get better soon, let us know!
Carlo

what is the cause of your T?

 

[Mad maggot]

It's not a good idea to wear earplugs with T as it makes your brain more sensitive to it and can turn the volume up. If it were something like a nerve twitching in your ear maybe that could explain it but an ENT should be able to see that I think? It will probably settle down again. I have a low hum in my left ear and a whistle over the top of it that fluctuates in pitch but I have no loss of hearing or damage to my ear. In fact I can't remember not having it. It is sometimes louder but it never lasts too long. It always quiets back down again.

 

[Constable85]

Hey Maria, I've got this now too and it came on during a cold. Hope it goes away soon. How long did it take for yours to go away?

 

[Axel]

In 2009 I was on a drug called Risperdone and immediately got a humming noise in my right ear. Shaking my head makes it stop and extern sounds can make it stop. Some sounds aggrivate it. Sometimes eating a lot has stopped it. Sometimes it stops and I get fullness in that ear.
I can feel the vibration in my ear, althought the ENT didn't seem to believe me.
Great to know I'm not the only one with this weird humming.

BTW, mine is also aggrevated be exercise.

 

[OnceUponaTime]

How is everybody dealing lately with the hum?? Any improvements??

 

[Lily rata]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting. It's so good to see other people with the same problem. I got to work this morning and had a wee cry at my desk (I start at 7am so there's no one around then!). Have pulled myself together again now I've had a hum in my right ear for about a year. Sometimes it goes away, then it starts again by 'fluttering' and vibrating off and on, and in about 20 minutes progresses to a constant droning hum. Weirdly I have really numb/tender teeth and sore facial muscles. My TMJ dentist and chiropractor all say the jaw is aligned ok and there are no obvious problems apart from slight wear on the teeth from clenching. So I really don't know if it's muscle spasms, tension or a blood vessel pressing on the auditory nerve, or just something else completely random.
Sometimes when I'm stressed it gets worse, but then other times I'm relaxed so... doctors are baffled...could it really just be all in our "heads"?? Anyway so nice to see others here and to share our stories. OUaT I'm sorry it hasn't gone away for you either. I hope you are all keeping it together and not doing too much crying at your desks