Is Some “Head Noise” Normal That Everyone Has, or Is It a Component of Tinnitus?

[Paulmanlike]

Okay so let me start by saying I have tinnitus in my left ear, have done for yonks, it's like a whine, electrical sound, that bothers me now and then, but lucky enough to have learnt about it before I did any more damage knowing I'm susceptible to tinnitus.

But I have this burning question and the internet has no answers apart from "it's tinnitus!!"

When I'm in a quiet room, or even so if the tv is on low, I have head noise in quiet areas. I don't see it as tinnitus, because to me it's always been in my ear, but if I focus on this head noise it gets louder.

It's not like any particular sound, almost like an ambient sound, that I wondered what exactly is that? Is it tinnitus or does everybody hear it?

Somebody told me about this and they said oh yeah that, that's the sound of silence.
Others have mentioned things that it is blood flowing. (I'm not talking about pulsatile tinnitus).

It's not even an annoying sound, often I won't notice it during day, in the nighttime in a quiet house I can hear it, sometimes it even distracts me from hearing my usual left ear tinnitus.

Do non-tinnitus people even have this? What is it? Or is it actually a component of tinnitus?

I must also point out that, if I plug my ears, the sound is barely there - diminishes to almost nonexistent and I can hear my left ear tinnitus perfectly then.

@Michael Leigh, do you know anything about this?

 

[Contrast]

its tinnitus.

 

[Don Tinny]

Once I read in a site that a high percentage of human beings have some "head noise". I guess it has no clinical relevance. Of course it is very different from this horrible tinnitus that we have.

 

[Dginobile]

My Tinnitus is in my head, high pitched sound 24/7 which I've habituated to, I occasionally get fleeting tinnitus in my ear that's lasts less than 30 seconds. I guess I've always had this but used to only hear it in complete silence and assumed it was normal but once it made its grande deput everything changed but slowly it tends to fade in the background occasionally.

 

[Steve Ebhodaghe]

I noticed this horrible sound in my right ear and sometimes in my head around 2011 or so , still hear it 24/7 I don't know what to do to get rid of it

I pray one finds a solution to getting of this annoying sound!

 

[nills]

It's blood flowing through the ear and head. Go for a run 20 minutes at night, come home. it's louder.

 

[GregCA]

It's not like any particular sound, almost like an ambient sound, that I wondered what exactly is that? Is it tinnitus or does everybody hear it?

It's tinnitus, by its very definition: you hear something that has no external source. Whether it's head or not, or whether a significant part of the population perceives it is irrelevant.

 

[Drone Draper]

I think it's very mild tinnitus that's prevalent with a lot of people.

 

[OnceUponaTime]

This is what I call my low hum/drone tinnitus in my head. It started low like you described yours. I only heard it in quiet places and really didn't bothered me during the day. I am sorry to report that it got 10 times worst. I hear it outside too. The only time I don't hear it is when I cover my ears, I'm next to the fridge, driving or taking a shower.
It is more bothersome than the screeching hiss I hear all day.

Don't mess with that. Take care of your ears.

Once

 

[Agrajag364]

Okay so let me start by saying I have tinnitus in my left ear, have done for yonks, it's like a whine, electrical sound, that bothers me now and then, but lucky enough to have learnt about it before I did any more damage knowing I'm susceptible to tinnitus.

But I have this burning question and the internet has no answers apart from "it's tinnitus!!"

When I'm in a quiet room, or even so if the tv is on low, I have head noise in quiet areas. I don't see it as tinnitus, because to me it's always been in my ear, but if I focus on this head noise it gets louder.

It's not like any particular sound, almost like an ambient sound, that I wondered what exactly is that? Is it tinnitus or does everybody hear it?

Somebody told me about this and they said oh yeah that, that's the sound of silence.
Others have mentioned things that it is blood flowing. (I'm not talking about pulsatile tinnitus).

It's not even an annoying sound, often I won't notice it during day, in the nighttime in a quiet house I can hear it, sometimes it even distracts me from hearing my usual left ear tinnitus.

Do non-tinnitus people even have this? What is it? Or is it actually a component of tinnitus?

I must also point out that, if I plug my ears, the sound is barely there - diminishes to almost nonexistent and I can hear my left ear tinnitus perfectly then.

@Michael Leigh, do you know anything about this?

I had a conversation with my boyfriend about this a while back - he didn't understand the concept of silence and thought everyone had some noise in their head in a silent room. He has had mild tinnitus for 20 years but distinguishes this from the noise he could always here in a silent room before he got tinnitus from too much loud music when he was 18. I on the other hand was insisting that before I got tinnitus I couldn't hear a damn thing in silent room.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/"what-is-silence-".33135/

I thought it was funny for some reason cos it's like - how do we know what another person's reality is? Sometimes people argue about what colour certain objects are, maybe different people see colours differently.

I would describe noise that can be heard in a reasonably silent room as tinnitus, but maybe people who have this kind of super mild "tinnitus" from birth would not describe it this way.

I think there may be some studies that show most people can hear some kind of noise in a super sound proofed room though.

 

[Bill Bauer]

Do non-tinnitus people even have this?

The only way to find out is to ask your relatives and friends who don't have T, whether they have it.

 

[linearb]

The only way to find out is to ask your relatives and friends who don't have T, whether they have it.

like 2% of the people I know over the age of 30 claim to hear "perfect silence" with their ears plugged. The most typical response is, "there is a very slight humming or eeeee sound that I can hear when it's quiet".

I think this is tinnitus, it's just within the range of not being an issue, and most people never progress beyond that.

My wife does claim to hear perfect silence, except she periodically gets deafening blasts of fleeting T. She's also not very fixated on her sensory system and I don't know that she's ever actually plugged her ears in a perfectly quiet room...

 

[Tom Cnyc]

I had a "head noise" as long as I can remember. I do not consider this to be tinnitus. Maybe it is - but whatever it is - it's not an intrusive condition.

 

[TheDanishGirl]

I had absolutely grave silent ears before T. even with ear plugs in in a silent room.

I have asked around and my mom (age 52) gets an occasional very mild windy noise, but she says she has never experienced a ringing noise and for the most part she has silent ears and this is a woman who has abused her ears with loud parties and concerts all her life and still do.

My best friend (age 38) gets an occasional very mild ringing, but also has total silence (in silent rooms) for the most part