Left Ear Tinnitus, Low Pitch, Rumbling, Rhythmic

[London4108]

Hi there,

New to Tinnitus Talk and have had a long look through the posts but can't find anyone matching my symptoms.

I get a low pitch, rumbling, with a slow rhythm noise in my left ear (only ever in my left ear) about once every 2-4 nights, which wakes me up and makes it difficult to go back to sleep. Never hear it during the day and some nights don't have it at all.
It's definitely not ambient noise as have it when staying elsewhere too.

This has been going on for about 5 months now.

I've been to the Doctor twice and the second time of going they have referred me for an MRI to rule out an acoustic neuroma which has really worried me.

I've felt dizzy with it too and my ear feels like it's blocked (although online hearing tests suggest my hearing is normal in both ears). I'm wondering if this is anxiety causing the dizziness and blocked ears feeling as can't stop thinking about it since I've googled the symptoms of a neuroma (bad I know!). I've got myself into a right state.

Has anyone else experience similar who can bring me some comfort?!

 

[billie48]

Welcome to the forum. If there is not enough response to your question, perhaps do a search on the forum. The following are prior threads with low rumbling ringing. Good luck. God bless.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/search/3793492/?q=low+rumbling&t=post&o=relevance&c[node]=11

 

[London4108]

Thanks for this Billie. Have had a look through the posts from your link, can't seem to find someone matching the symptoms but interesting to read nonetheless

 

[Mister Muso]

This might help you - it's like being in an airplane cabin. Helps cancel out the low-frequency rumbling tinnitus sounds for some people.



Edit:

If you have an Amazon Echo, you can also install the Sleep sounds app and ask it to play the Airplane sound. Good luck!

 

[London4108]

Thanks Mister Muso - think this will definitely help.

MRI came back clear thankfully, so just need to find a way to mask the noise!

 

[Audiophile_bg]

Thanks Mister Muso - think this will definitely help.

MRI came back clear thankfully, so just need to find a way to mask the noise!

Did the MRI cause your tinnitus to spike?

 

[London4108]

Did the MRI cause your tinnitus to spike?

Not at all thankfully. Tinnitus actually improved for quite a few weeks. Sadly now back with a vengeance, louder and noticeable during the day too.

It's like pulsatile tinnitus (but a slower rhythm than my pulse). Really annoying me!

 

[BubbaDubba]

London, let me try to be some encouragement.

I've had the high pitched version of tinnitus for many years from my own stupidity in the workplace, lots of machines and not using hearing protection. My guess is that most tinnitus is preventable, rather would have been preventable had we listened to mom and dad, "turn that music down!"

Alas, we became adults and could afford earbuds for our music and rock concert tix, or we moved to the exciting big city and never knew peace and quiet again. We are the sum of all of our life decisions.

My low frequency tinnitus started as few months ago and I can't give you a cause. Hey, I'm 67 years old and have worked hard most of my life in construction.
I only recently discovered that there was such a thing as low frequency tinnitus.

Prior to realizing that the noise I was hearing was tinnitus, I would forever be stepping outside to try try to identify where there was some construction going on in the neighborhood, like a backhoe running all the time. Step outside, nothing but birds and crickets.

I could hear it all throughout the house. It was louder in some rooms than in others. And my poor wife, you don't hear that? Not at all? . . . No. I got in the car and drove all over the area looking for the source such as a big diesel generator running somewhere. No joy.

Then, two days ago, I came across this forum and found many others experiencing the same thing. What a relief to realize I wasn't going nuts. That people on the other side of world could hear what I was hearing even though my wife couldn't.

OK. Great! So its just tinnitus! Well I know all about that (high frequency tinnitus) I've been dealing with that for years. It was tremendously encouraging. I went to an online tone generator and was able to narrow the pitch to exactly the tone I was hearing. https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/ For me, 89hz. Oh and the rooms I was hearing it in the loudest? They were the quietest rooms in the house, aha!

This tone I hear is easily affected by the lightest sounds, movement of my head even my own pulse. That's why it disappears when I step outside, bird song, breeze in the trees, city noises (far away) most anything overrides it.

Our tinnitus may go away, it does as it pleases. But in the meantime, I can successfully mask the sound with a white noise generator. I use and recommend the LectroFan Micro. Have used it for years now to mask out city sounds so I can sleep. Even with it running low I don't hear that generator running in my head.

https://www.soundofsleep.com/lectrofan/#micro

Nuff for now. I wish you relief from the noise.

Bubba

 

[Audiophile_bg]

Not at all thankfully. Tinnitus actually improved for quite a few weeks. Sadly now back with a vengeance, louder and noticeable during the day too.

It's like pulsatile tinnitus (but a slower rhythm than my pulse). Really annoying me!

I'm glad it didn't cause a spike for you. <3

 

[London4108]

Thanks for the detailed reply above. Always interesting to hear other people's experiences and definitely makes you feel not alone!

I thought I'd post an update as may help others too. I have spoken in detail with an ENT consultant and he is convinced it is a venous hum. I will be going in for a full hospital grade hearing test and ear bone examination (and then potentially a MRA) but he seemed sure that is what it is, which has bought me some piece of mind.

Will update when I know more!