Loud Low Pitch Humming Tinnitus Noise, Sometimes Feels Like the Eardrum Is Vibrating

[dipp]

Hi.

I have a lot of different sounds in both ears, since 2016, but I more or less managed to live with them. Most of the sounds were high pitched, and I learnt to cope with them. Good and bad times but manageable.

But, 2 days ago, I felt a very loud humming / drone noise on my right ear. I don´t know where it came from. And it´s driving me crazy, I can´t bear it. I have had some temporary low pitch noises in the past, but weren´t this loud, and fortunately all the times they went away, but I somewhat feel that this time it´s different and I´m frightened. I can hear it over the shower, and low pitch everyday sounds annoy me a lot.

Also, I can feel at times as if my eardrum is physically vibrating. Unbearable.

ENT can´t see me till next week... anything I can do to try to alleviate the symptoms? Should I try a round of Prednisone, nasal sprays, or similar?

I´m in a very bad situation with this, if this stays permanent I don´t think I will be able to live like this, it´s by far a lot more annoying than all my other sounds (which are bad, but I would give anything to return to my previous state).

Any advice? Thanks a lot in advance.

 

[dipp]

OK I finally arranged an appointment with my ENT for tomorrow. Will keep this post updated.

Other thing I didn´t mention: the vibrating feeling and sound is better in quiet environments. I put my earmuffs inside of my parked car just to test, and the sensation and noise is a lot quieter. I find it very weird. Also, it doesn´t bother me a lot af night when I´m lying on my bed, but when I stand up it comes with a vengeance

 

[dipp]

I have noticed this afternoon that I hear some voices and music distorted, robot-like, like if you speak against a fan.

I can't believe that this is happening to me.

 

[Christiaan]

I have noticed this afternoon that I hear some voices and music distorted, robot-like, like if you speak against a fan.

I can't believe that this is happening to me.

I'm very sad to hear that @dipp. Did you have an acoustic trauma recently? Or did you listen to loud music with headphones by any chance? Much can be done to help you in the short term. Maybe you could ask your ENT to do an intratympanic steroid injection to save your hearing. Anti inflammatory pills (curcumin, NAC, L-arganine, multivitamins) may help as well. Let us know how it all works out for you. Hope all goes well.

 

[monkey124]

Hey, did you ever get any relief from this loud hum? I also am dealing with it but when I put my finger in the ear it totally stops x

 

[JohnL99]

Dipp, hope you are better! I'm hoping that it went away since you never posted again.

 

[Tanni]

Hey, did you ever get any relief from this loud hum? I also am dealing with it but when I put my finger in the ear it totally stops x

I had this -- a loud, low hum that felt like my eardrum was vibrating, and stopped when I put my finger in my ear. Apparently something could be seen on my eardrum, but Covid happened before I could attend the ENT appointment so I never had it looked at. Anyway, it has been gone now for about three months.

 

[monkey124]

It's really really awful and getting pretty difficult to handle now. I've had mine for 8 months now and the thought of having this sound for the rest of my life is frightening.

Interesting that when you put your finger inside your ear it stopped - it is literally what mine does. I have tried to put an ear plug in but the noise doesn't get eliminated. That's amazing that yours just stopped... I so hope mine does but really have a dreadful feeling it won't

 

[Kriszti]

Hey, did you ever get any relief from this loud hum? I also am dealing with it but when I put my finger in the ear it totally stops x

I have had this up until now 3 times in my life, but not for months, only for 1-3 weeks. It stopped when I plugged up, when I covered my ears tightly, and even when I was speaking. Otherwise it was unbelievably loud and I could actually feel my head vibrating.

Doctors didn't really care, tinnitus, get used to it.

I think this could be some kind of muscle spasming. There is a thread about MEM, check it out.

 

[Kirstystired]

I have noticed this afternoon that I hear some voices and music distorted, robot-like, like if you speak against a fan.

I can't believe that this is happening to me.

I had exactly this! The robotic voices eventually went and I would describe my tinnitus to be the same sound as yours. The ENT saw suspected ETD and gave me prednisolone. I don't think the prednisolone got rid of the robotic voices but I think it was just time. There is no known cause for my tinnitus as it stands xxx

 

[Kirstystired]

Hey, did you ever get any relief from this loud hum? I also am dealing with it but when I put my finger in the ear it totally stops x

This is the same with me too !! X

 

[monkey124]

@Kriszti It just doesn't feel like normal tinnitus as it can be stopped when plugging the ear. So weird... has it got any better?

@Kirstystired it is awful. I do find that if I calm down it gets marginally better though!

 

[Kriszti]

@Kriszti It just doesn't feel like normal tinnitus as it can be stopped when plugging the ear. So weird... has it got any better?

@Kirstystired it is awful. I do find that if I calm down it gets marginally better though!

Mine totally went into remission. I am currently not hearing it. Earlier this spring/summer I had a weird noise on the lower end for some weeks, but it was different and it went away as well. I tried to talk about MEM with doctors after I read it here, that it could be the cause, but they weren't knowledgeable on the issue and dismissed my problems as regular tinnitus, although it certainly does not behave like regular tinnitus. (I have that too, and they are like whole different ballgame.)

 

[monkey124]

Hi @Kriszti that is great to hear that it just went like that. How long did you have it for the third time? I do wonder if a lot of it is anxiety related because it does seem to get quieter when I calm down. The problem is, as soon as I get into bed or I am in a quiet place I am constantly alert and just listening out for it. It's almost like I won't allow my brain to forget the noise if that makes sense? Did you hear the humming over the bathroom fan etc? It distorts those kinds of sounds! Did you take anything to try and treat it? I am going to do my best to try and just move on with my life and just pray that it will go.

 

[Kriszti]

Hi @Kriszti that is great to hear that it just went like that. How long did you have it for the third time? I do wonder if a lot of it is anxiety related because it does seem to get quieter when I calm down. The problem is, as soon as I get into bed or I am in a quiet place I am constantly alert and just listening out for it. It's almost like I won't allow my brain to forget the noise if that makes sense? Did you hear the humming over the bathroom fan etc? It distorts those kinds of sounds! Did you take anything to try and treat it? I am going to do my best to try and just move on with my life and just pray that it will go.

In full force it was for 2 weeks, but it went into remission for a day, then came back, went away, came back.

It was really loud, like I was sitting next to a washing machine and it was really like a vibrating feeling. It was awful. I couldn't sleep, kept waking me up, was awake around 23 hours a day. I kind of think that it's somehow stress related for me, because all 3 times I was preparing for very important exams. But the other 2 times it just hummed, but didn't have the vibrating feeling, could sleep, wasn't this loud. Also, maybe that's TMI and probably not related, but it went away like the minute I got my period (Can't remember whether the last 2 times something similar happened.)
Didn't distort the sounds for me.

The second week I started to take Piracetam and Betahistine, but I'm almost 100% sure that they didn't do anything, because they take time to start to have an effect. Also, in hindsight, I wouldn't take them ever again, because as before, the low hum went away, and I'm not entirely sure that they didn't contribute to my bilateral UHF tinnitus, which I'm still struggling with.

 

[Anne123]

It sounds like I have the same low frequency tinnitus. I got it from an acoustic trauma about a year ago. At the time I also had the distorted sounds you describe for a few days too. I had tinnitus for 7 years until this and had habituated well. The low hum however is a very different kettle of fish - much louder, distracting, highly reactive to sound and behaves completely differently. This is not the sort of sound I think I will ever be able to habituate to or get ENT help for as they just don't seem to understand it. I have however noticed that a number of things literally switch it off (unlike normal tinnitus), such as

• Flights - I have had relief for a over a week after the flights I have taken
• Moving my head and touching my ear
• Long car journeys (3 hours plus) - it disappears for a couple of days
• Many sounds switch it off whilst I hear them - voices, planes, trucks, fridge, music, fans etc. I also don't hear it outside
• Plugging the ear
• An MRI scan switched it off for a week
• I go to sleep with this sound on every night (recommended by someone on this site) - it only needs to be at a low volume, but the frequency is able to switch it off whilst it is playing, I couldn't sleep properly before!

Has anyone else experienced anything like that or found any ways of helping them to manage it? I am sure if more was understood about the biomechanics of it, there could be real potential to cure/manage it with some sort of sound treatment, if an 8 minute MRI scan could switch it off for a week! Unfortunately, it seems to be so rare, ENTs just look at me like I am mad when I talk about it!

 

[dipp]

Dipp, hope you are better! I'm hoping that it went away since you never posted again.

I´m sorry to say that currently I´m having lots of problems with my tinnitus. I just wanted to take a rest from the forums. The low-pitched sound appears to be slightly better (not dissapeared, but a bit lower), but now I don´t know why, my previous high pitched T seems to be out of control and I´m listening to it all day long. I´m in a dark place, I feel like I´m never overcoming this, I feel guilty because I have had this for more than 4 years and still struggle and feel depressed and I feel like I´m never going to have a more or less normal life. I hope I can post better news in some months, sadly this is the reality for me at the moment.

 

[Brians81]

I would rather just live with a low soft hum than anything loud, that would drive me nuts, but luckily my tinnitus is now more manageable than ever. Thank God. I hope yours is getting better sir, praying for all of you and hoping we have good tinnitus days.

 

[London4108]

Did anyone manage to get a definitive diagnosis for this? I have exactly the same low pitch, rhythmic pulsing noise (but not the sound of a heartbeat).

Weirdly putting ear plugs in does nothing, but putting fingers in ears stops it, just like others have mentioned. When you take your finger out it stays quiet for about 2-5 seconds and then back.

I fine mine gets better during the day, by the afternoon it's usually gone, and then fall asleep peacefully (or with a very quiet hum) and then by 4-5am wake up with it at it's loudest...

Can't work out if it's the brain or an actual ear problem.

 

[Backpacker]

Can't work out if it's the brain or an actual ear problem.

Ear, and if you feel it less when you're standing or sitting and if it's louder when you lie down, try sleeping on 2-3 pillows.

 

[Ben Winders]

I had acoustic incident in April - 4 weeks later I woke up with the low humming tinnitus that you describe in my right ear.

First 3 weeks were dreadful.

After a while I started noticing how this beast behaves and indeed: it stops when people were talking to me, took a long car ride to hospital and when I came there it was gone (and a few hours after).

I sleep with the exact same youtube video you shared - seems that I have to fill up my brain with that noise so my brain is like "ok - I hear you , I won't produce it myself now"

I haven't heard it now for 6 months - I haven't slept on my bad ear for 6 months either... so every night the ear gets 'filled' up with the YouTube noise.

One time in those 6 months I got it back: I tested sleeping on my bad ear for 3 nights and not having a low humming sound on during the day (always have my Google Home on in the background)... the 3rd day it was back.

I immediately jumped in my car and drove to the sea... haven't hear it since... I sleep on my left side now every single night (my shoulder is very painful).

I guess I have tinnitus from hearing loss at a very low frequency... the low frequency tinnitus is a different beast and takes a bit longer to "come out" and might be a bit easier to "turn off" (car rides, filling it with low humming sound).

 

[Audiophile_bg]

I had acoustic incident in April - 4 weeks later I woke up with the low humming tinnitus that you describe in my right ear.

Hello, Ben. When you say "acoustic incindent, may I ask what exactly happened as in what was the source of sound? I just want to imagine what sounds that can unexpectedly occur are dangerous.

Thanks.

 

[Ben Winders]

Hello, Ben. When you say "acoustic incindent, may I ask what exactly happened as in what was the source of sound? I just want to imagine what sounds that can unexpectedly occur are dangerous.

Thanks.

In ear headphones (earbuds) connected to a phone with volume set to max (I was trying to listen to security cam footage which had low volume). Right after the clip a music track started playing and it hit my ears with a wall of sound.

 

[Audiophile_bg]

In ear headphones (earbuds) connected to a phone with volume set to max (I was trying to listen to security cam footage which had low volume). Right after the clip a music track started playing and it hit my ears with a wall of sound.

Sounds horrible, I'm sorry for this.
Thank you for replying to me.