Intermittent, Long Lasting, Low Frequency Buzzing. Tinnitus, or Muscle Spasming?

[Mark London]

Hi - I am wondering if I have a tinnitus, or an inner ear muscle spasm problem.

I have a damaged left ear (inner bone dislodged) ,that has had a constant high frequency tone for decades.

About 5 years ago, I started having an intermittent, low frequency vibrating noise, in that ear. It sounds like a bee is buzzing in my ear. Sometimes it will last for hours.

A noisy environment will cause it to stop. Literally. The noise is not masking the vibrating noise. It really stops. If I start talking, it will also causes it to stop A quiet room, will often trigger it. If I'm in a room that only has a low frequency noise, though, it will irritate my symptom.

It is somewhat relieved by klonopin. It is definitely made worse by neurontin. But I need to take that, for a chronic headache problem called NDPH, that was caused several years ago, by a medical procedure that damaged the nerves in the back of my skull.

If I take the neurontin at regular intervals, the noise is less likely to be triggered. If I'm late to take one of my 4 doses, the noise can sometimes start up. Same thing with caffeine. If I take enough caffeine spaced out during the day, it can actually relieve the symptoms. But if I just have one dose of caffeine, and not any more, it can trigger my symptoms.

Now if you've read this far, here's the most weird trigger. Lying down. It almost always causes the buzzing. I've read that other people with this type of vibrating noise, have also noticed this effect. Those people, thought that they had a muscle spasm problem. But it's unclear that they did.

So basically, I'm trying to determine if this is tinnitus, or an inner ear muscle spasm problem. An ENT (not an expert in the muscle spasm problem) recently told me that a constant buzzing is tinnitus, not muscle spasms. But why does it come and go? What can explain why certain things like a quiet room, or lying down, causes it to occur?

I'm looking for anyone that has had similar problems. Thanks for any help! - Mark

 

[clarice]

Hello I have muscular spasms also I can hear the muscle ticking when I'm trying to sleep but don't notice it during day time it sounds like rapid clicking or coins dropping on metal and it drives me mad been ent but not much help told me to take muscle relaxers however don't want the side effects so I'm trying magnesium

 

[clarice]

Sorry forgot to say I notice the sound only when lying down also

 

[Mark London]

I've tried magnesium with other tic and spasm problems with success, but it hasn't helped my ear problem

I i. So perhaps my ear problem is less a spasm problem, and more a neurological one. Try taking either magnesium citrate or aspartate, balanced with calcium (to avoid the laxative effect of the magnesium).

My doctor said that cutting the muscle is a simple procedure, with few side effects. He said that it has to be cut, when installing a cochlear implant.

I have found that silicon ear plugs can help to reduce my symptoms when sleeping. Perhaps it might help you.

Getting a good night sleep may be crucial also. A lot of people have undiagnosed sleep problems which they aren't aware of (like sleep apnea).

I guess we're both going to have to keep searching for a solution. Good luk!

 

[glynis]

@Mark Arnold London,
Have you been offered corrective surgery regarding your ear bones ?
Love glynis

 

[Mark London]

Since only high frequencies were affected by my ear damage, surgery really was never suggested to me.

 

[Anne123]

Hi, I realise it has been 2 years since this post, but your symptoms are very similar to mine and I am struggling to find any information on it, or anyone else who has something this similar. Since your post, have you managed to find any more information as to what may be causing it? (spasm/tinnitus?) and how is it now? Have you found ways to manage it? I am really struggling with mine, particularly at night and could really benefit from some advice. Thanks.

 

[Mark London]

There is another long thread of people talking about their low frequency tinnitus. It real, but not very common. If you need the link for that, if you can't find it, let me know. Unfortunately, there are no real fixes, but there are ways to cope.

I did have ear surgery done a year ago, where the inner ear muscles were cut. It didn't help me. I was told it was a long shot, since my buzzing was so constant, which is not normally a symptom of inner ear spasms, so I was not surprised.

Do you have it one or both ears? Is it constant at night? If the answers to both those questions are yes, is the one ear affected by putting your finger in your ear? If the low frequent noises goes away, I suggest you try using those silicon ear plugs that can be shaped perfectly to fit your ear, and push as much as you can into the ear. A regular foam ear plug isn't good enough to hep me at night. I also take medication to help sleep through the night. Your ear doctor should be able to prescribe something for it.

I.e., my "humming" tinnitus also goes aware with a lot of low frequent background noise. When air conditioners were on during the summer, I rarely if ever, had a problem. Now that's no longer true. If I'm at a computer, I'll turn on a youtube channel that has a multi-hour simulation of low noise, like this one of an airplane sound:



My ear doctor was willing to create a custom ear plug, but I haven't done it lately. Another suggestion is to get a small wireless earbud for a smart phone, and then you can listen to whatever you want via your smart phone.

 

[Anne123]

Hi Mark, thanks for your reply and advice. I've just taken a look at the thread you mentioned, it's really helpful to know others are experiencing the same/similar thing and there's lots of advice. The low frequency hum, certainly behaves differently to high frequency tinnitus, for me anyway. It's reaction to environmental sounds particularly makes me think it could be more of a vibrating muscle than tinnitus. I move my head and it stops, hear a plane/low frequency engine and it stops and I can cover my ear and it stops/calms down - high frequency tinnitus is just constant. It is however much louder than my high tinnitus, so I am aware of it at quiet times during the day and it's intermittent effect, going up and down to sounds around me, make it very distracting particularly at night. In answer to your question, the hum is in one ear (thankfully), with high frequency tinnitus in both. Thanks for sharing the low frequency plane sound, I am listening to it as I type - it's certainly helpful and will probably make going to sleep easier. I feel night time is the worst and am waking up in the middle of the night, struggling to get back to sleep with the buzzing. I have considered using an ear plug, but don't find it very comfortable, I'll try giving it a go though. I've just started taking magnesium, niacin and vitamin D for their muscle relaxing qualities - I'll let you know if they have any effect. Do your symptoms sound similar to mine? Do you feel you have adjusted/habituated to it now? I have also experienced spikes and drops in intensity. I'm currently going through a spike which is much louder than usual, a couple of weeks before, I had a week when it was much more manageable - I can't connect either with an obvious trigger, it seems very sporadic. Is this something you've experienced?

 

[Mark London]

Anne - My hum can be variable during the day, but it's always there when I lie down to go bed. Long ago, I developed a sleep problem, so I'm familiar with sleep meds. OTC ones are bad for you. Dramamine is a fairly safe alternative.

My hum initially came and went away on it's own, for no apparent reason. They it came back when I had to take neurontin (or lyrica) for a neuropathic problem. I recently had general anesthesia for surgery, and for several days afterwards, the hum was definitely lower. I have no idea why!

Here's the research paper on the hum from 2016, which might be useful to read.

http://www.tinnitusjournal.com/arti...de-also-known-as-the-hum-or-the-taos-hum.html

- Mark

 

[Anne123]

Thanks for the link, that's a fascinating paper. I'm actually taking a flight this week, so it will be interesting to see whether it has an impact.