Low Bass-Like Hum, As If Something Was Vibrating Inside My Ear: Is This Tinnitus or Something Worse?

[Greg Sacramento]

I did an MRI of the head about 3 years ago. It showed an artery that was close to the hearing nerve on my right side, which is the same side I have the hum. Do you think my hum could be caused by this? The MRI was taken 2,5 years before the hum appeared, so things might possibly have worsened since then. I don't have any blood pressure issues as far as I know.
Can an artery pressing against the hearing nerve be fixed?

Yes, MRI shows vascular occlusion. Not dangerous as MRI and radiologist would have noted. A tumor would had been seen by MRI at onset - time of test - so no worries.

Loops of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery in the cerebellopontine angle are found frequently during anatomic studies of this region. Surgery is needed to separate the vascular loop from the eighth cranial nerve - hearing nerve, but only recommended if the hum is bothersome and constant. Furosemide may help - I would consider this.

A battery of audiometric and vestibular system test results need to be done to confirm prominent vascular loops in the internal auditory canal diagnosed by CT or MRI. I believe data reports state one-third have abnormal caloric tests, but spontaneous nystagmus is always detected by photoelectric nystagmography. The loop exerts pressure on the nerve, and the nerve compromises inner ear circulation causing the hum.

Eighth nerve and vascular loops produce similar symptoms, but a cochlear type of hearing loss with good speech discrimination and normal caloric testing should raise suspicion of a vascular loop. I doubt that you have other lesions of the cerebellopontine angle, otherwise you would have vertigo and be dizzy.

@FGG - thoughts.

 

[Brice]

Hi Pony. It seems you have moved into a low hum noisy zone. Not tinnitus. If you want to test this is true, cheap quick test is to buy some earplugs (squish foam ones) and if the noise is just as bad then better try plan b. Go for a weekend stay to a place away from your home (at least 100km) where there are no factories, construction or development for 20km radius. No traffic noise either. Ideally a mountain cabin with snow around as snow deadens sound like crazy but not during the snow storm. This will tell you a lot.

The noise I am sure you have is modern life style hum.

Oh yeah, don't take any kids if you have them, maybe one person that wants to read a book or write one. The idea is to escape every possible source of sound and listen to what is left. No hum, look at moving away from what is causing it IF it is traceable, move far away or try some serious tech noise isolating products for just the bedroom.

Bad news is low frequencies travel thru walls, floors, just about everything. You could build a sleep capsule similar to those flotation tanks but on isolation bearings.

Good luck.

 

[shasta0863]

I have exactly what you have @pony with the same symptoms.

Talking stops it, shaking the head stops it, earmuffs stop it, all these things stop it until the second you stop and then it kicks back up. When it's bad, low frequency noises resonate more in the ear and loud bass music, vibrating type sounds set the vibrating, pulse off.

I wrote quite a bit on it in my threads. I thought I was in the clear, and now it's back after a similar incident started it. Crying, sobbing, yelling, anger, all the general things humans should be capable of. The family blowout, and me being in the middle to try to stop things from escalating has destroyed my progress over the last year.

The initial cause in 2019 was from a day prior of crying and sobbing from my grandfather passing, I awoke to slightly feeling the vibration. I had put in a molded earplug into the ear canal, and after taking out the ear was in full vibration for 24 hours intensely before going down to a low vibrating, which is still abhorrent to feel/hear.

The fact a similar event happened, though much worse of an event, on Saturday and my ear has progressively been getting worse each day after, tells me I had guessed correctly. Not to cry, not get upset, do nothing to create pressure, strain and so forth in the inner ear. I've failed after a year and half and prioritized my family over my well being. And now I'm paying the price. Today it has been a week, and it's worse than ever.

It took basically a little less than a year last time starting in 2019, to have this vibrating rumble in the ear (which changes in intensity) not be 24/7. Last year it became less and less. I could even sleep on the bad ear without triggering it. My VW car still vibrates internally too much for my ear, and sets it off (only noticeably once cars off) but it only took a minute or less before it calmed down and stopped. My episodes were far and few in-between. I was almost back to normal, not even thinking about it much anymore.

Now because of this incident last Saturday, which was a many hour event, I'm left destroyed and my will to live is gone. I cannot go back to the way it was. COVID-19 has already been bad enough for the effects it has had on me and the family.

It's back today to vibrating for hours. I've been going to bed with laying down triggering it, earmuffs now trigger it badly again (after taking off), loud low bass sounding cars that vibrate your house and being, set it off again. The ear again is feeling sore from vibrating too much (which I assume is caused from the muscle spasming too much) I'm clearly injured. And I've taken an injury, which I assume is the small muscle in the inner ear, and re-injured it. Perhaps for good.

I held out before, but I can't do another year or for life. I really don't know what to do now, and things are the most stressful right now with finishing the house we're in to sell and move to another state. I already have regular tinnitus/hyperacusis on top of it. And where I live now, I hear a low vibrating pulse from the outside penetrating into the room, which is very similar to my ear condition making it just insult to injury. And there's nowhere to turn to, no help. Doctors were useless a year ago. The best I got was, surgery and cut the muscle and hope for the best. I'm so tired.

 

[star-affinity]

@shasta0863, just wanted to say that I feel sorry for your situation and hope you can keep going.

I try to remember that there are situations where I don't think about my tinnitus at all, and that I should try to put myself in those situations as often as I can.

Hope you're doing better now and wish you the best of luck!

 

[Ben Winders]

@shasta0863

• 12 months ago I woke up with low buzzing sound in my right ear, 4 weeks after a big fat acoustic accident
• The first month it was almost constant , especially loud in bed during nighttime
• I stopped sleeping on my right (the buzzing side) ear
• 6 months went by without the ear buzzing
• After 6 months I tried again sleeping on right ear and after the 3rd night the buzzing was back
• I went back to not sleeping on right ear for 6 months
• 6 months later (2 weeks ago), I slept on right side again and after the 5th night the buzzing was back
• I had an MRI, numerous ENT checkups, all came out clear, no real hearing loss
• The buzzing stops when someone talks to me (picked back up in between words) bzzz "word" bzzz "word"
• Shaking my head rapidly left to right (like shaking "no") would make it stop too, and it picks back up again 2 seconds after stopping the shaking
  
• Driving in my car, turning the car off, staying in the car and listening — the humming would be there again

Most interestingly, I think, is this: Let's say I went for a drive for 1 minute (very short) and then would get out of the car and go to most quiet room in the house, the buzzing would be there BUT THEN after a minute or so it would start "stuttering" and then completely stopping...

So brrrrrrr then after a minute brrr ... brrr ... brr ... brr ... br ... br ... b ... and stop. Remember ... I'm in the most quiet room of the house and it stops (first month, 12 months ago, it would be the worst room as I would have constant brrrr-ing there).

It's not pulsatile, it's really a constant bzzzzz. (I also have regular high pitched electric static tinnitus.)

I did also have muscle spasms behind my bad buzzing ear, a while ago.

 

[Ben Winders]

So about 2 years ago I moved to a new city, without any ear issues at all. But gradually as time has progressed I've developed this low bass-like hum in my left ear, that actually feels like something inside is vibrating wildly. It's like I have a car idling inside my ear.

Initially it wasn't that noticeable and it would only stick around for a week and then disappear for weeks or a month. Within the last 6 months it's been getting really bad, and has been around more often than not. Not only has it been "on" but it's been getting much much louder. This last week it had not gone away at all, it's the loudest it has ever been and I'm beginning to not be able to relax unless i have a fan on to block the noise.

Some interesting things about my hum: It completely goes away when I say something, but then immediately comes back when I'm done. It seems worse when I just get out of the car after driving for a few minutes. It goes away if I plug the ear or put on ear protection. It seems to vanish when I have either a fan, or really any constant noise on in the background, but will return when the other noise is gone. It has a rhythm to it, but is not consistent and doesn't go with my heartbeat.

I have been to a couple audiologists and to an ENT, and both say my ears look healthy and there's no hearing loss. The ENT said it was just early aging of my ear, which wasn't helpful at all. Based on what they said I just have to learn to live with it.

I'm terrified at the prospect of having to deal with this forever, and am having some serious stress and anxiety about it. I don't know what to do about it or who to ask for help. It's been stopping me from doing the things I love like camping, because I can't be in a quiet environment or the hum takes over.

Does this sound like tinnitus, or possible some other ear dysfunction?

All of our symptoms are so similar: especially the "it stops when I'm talking or when someone talks to me" and the "it stops when I shake my head and then comes back after 2 seconds".

We must work together to try and uncover this thing.

I've seen 5 specialists in 2 countries, including the people at Brai3n in Ghent, and I have no diagnosis yet.

When I have it, I've been trying to figure out if it actually could sound like a muscle rapidly beating my eardrum or something else inside but to me it really sounds more like a bzzzzzzzz than a brrrrrr, but a very fast brrrr could turn into a bzzzzzz of course (so fast that you don't even hear the "rrr" in "bbb", if you're still with me).

 

[Swampy]

Heya, I have similar symptoms as well! I do have tons of other ear issues (high pitch tinnitus, crickets chirping tinnitus, pulsatile tinnitus, 3 different types of ear spasms TTTS/MEM, had a cholesteatoma, slight hearing loss, sinus issues and Patulous Eustachian Tubes).

But I also have this deep revving, like a truck engine in my skull and ear just sat there and can hear and feel it. Mine also stops when I hum or shake my head unlike my other tinnitus sounds. But I've just been told by every specialist I see when I mention it, that it's just another form of tinnitus. But it's very bizarre as it behaves so differently from my other tinnitus sounds. I get relieved when I'm in the car, but as soon as the engine turns off I can feel and hear it deeply again. But nothing else has any effect on helping it for me.

 

[CykoJon]

Hi. 4 months into this. I've got the same symptoms as you all do and my ENT told me it's probably ETD related. I've got no hearing loss but I still get ear pressure/pain from time to time. The hum/drone got much lower compared to the first month (I was borderline suicidal at that time). The hum sometimes spikes loudly once or twice a week when I wake up but goes away after a hot shower.

Something that seemed to help was the saline nose spray and corticosteroid that was prescribed to me by the ENT. Also, when I went back to work I had to wear earmuffs and that seemed to help somehow. I use a masking sound to sleep and that seems to work well so far. If this is tone is permanent but stays like this, I can deal with it.

 

[JFred]

I'd love to keep this thread alive as this is the only thread I've found describing my exact tinnitus. I got it after a cold and it's really impossible to habituate as it's not a constant beeping sound bit rather a wonky, inconsistent bass that clearly cuts on and off when I talk or when others talk, also other sounds nearby, as well as shaking my head.

It's only in my right ear and it also completely disappears when I plug that ear with my finger. I disagree with the comment that it's sound from the finger masking it, as an expandable earplug doesn't mask it even while expanding and creating much more noise, and I can hold my finger still to the point where I hear the beep noise from absolute silence (I don't have that type of tinnitus), so I find it hard to accept that it's masking. It honestly feels like a muscle spasm/twitch.

So far new to this and haven't found anything that alleviates it other than rest. It comes creeping back at night and it's terrifying.

 

[kelmari]

I have exactly what you have @pony with the same symptoms.

Talking stops it, shaking the head stops it, earmuffs stop it, all these things stop it until the second you stop and then it kicks back up. When it's bad, low frequency noises resonate more in the ear and loud bass music, vibrating type sounds set the vibrating, pulse off.

I wrote quite a bit on it in my threads. I thought I was in the clear, and now it's back after a similar incident started it. Crying, sobbing, yelling, anger, all the general things humans should be capable of. The family blowout, and me being in the middle to try to stop things from escalating has destroyed my progress over the last year.

The initial cause in 2019 was from a day prior of crying and sobbing from my grandfather passing, I awoke to slightly feeling the vibration. I had put in a molded earplug into the ear canal, and after taking out the ear was in full vibration for 24 hours intensely before going down to a low vibrating, which is still abhorrent to feel/hear.

The fact a similar event happened, though much worse of an event, on Saturday and my ear has progressively been getting worse each day after, tells me I had guessed correctly. Not to cry, not get upset, do nothing to create pressure, strain and so forth in the inner ear. I've failed after a year and half and prioritized my family over my well being. And now I'm paying the price. Today it has been a week, and it's worse than ever.

It took basically a little less than a year last time starting in 2019, to have this vibrating rumble in the ear (which changes in intensity) not be 24/7. Last year it became less and less. I could even sleep on the bad ear without triggering it. My VW car still vibrates internally too much for my ear, and sets it off (only noticeably once cars off) but it only took a minute or less before it calmed down and stopped. My episodes were far and few in-between. I was almost back to normal, not even thinking about it much anymore.

Now because of this incident last Saturday, which was a many hour event, I'm left destroyed and my will to live is gone. I cannot go back to the way it was. COVID-19 has already been bad enough for the effects it has had on me and the family.

It's back today to vibrating for hours. I've been going to bed with laying down triggering it, earmuffs now trigger it badly again (after taking off), loud low bass sounding cars that vibrate your house and being, set it off again. The ear again is feeling sore from vibrating too much (which I assume is caused from the muscle spasming too much) I'm clearly injured. And I've taken an injury, which I assume is the small muscle in the inner ear, and re-injured it. Perhaps for good.

I held out before, but I can't do another year or for life. I really don't know what to do now, and things are the most stressful right now with finishing the house we're in to sell and move to another state. I already have regular tinnitus/hyperacusis on top of it. And where I live now, I hear a low vibrating pulse from the outside penetrating into the room, which is very similar to my ear condition making it just insult to injury. And there's nowhere to turn to, no help. Doctors were useless a year ago. The best I got was, surgery and cut the muscle and hope for the best. I'm so tired.

This is word for word what I've been dealing with. I'm so devastated because I know it isn't an easy fix. Have you looked into MEM/TTTS? Are you feeling any better?

Even when it calms down there is always the fear of doing something of making it return to a worse state. It's so impossible to live with because it can be painful, for me anyway.

 

[shasta0863]

This is word for word what I've been dealing with. I'm so devastated because I know it isn't an easy fix. Have you looked into MEM/TTTS? Are you feeling any better?

Even when it calms down there is always the fear of doing something of making it return to a worse state. It's so impossible to live with because it can be painful, for me anyway.

So sorry you're also in the same boat. I'm pretty confident it's MEM and/or TTTS. There's a doctor in California that has apparently done many surgeries in the ear for this issue, but it's a drastic step I haven't had in me to confront yet.

I will say there has been improvement over time. A lot of up and downs, but consistently has improved for me. It gets triggered and can be a pain, but not the 24/7 hell it used to be.

Did it suddenly occur out of nowhere, nothing triggered it that you can recall?

Also there's a guy in this forum who got help via surgery in your parts, you can read here:

Pulsatile Tinnitus Gone After Tenotomy of Middle Ear Muscles

 

[JFred]

I'd like to update to my previous post that my vibration slowly diminished until it was a very subtle, inconsistent buzzing noise. It never really came in episodes, although I did have random days where it was gone. Last day I can confirm to have had it was 8 March, so lasted at least about 5 weeks for me.

Unfortunately I've gotten new issues in my left ear, I believe from spending almost all day lying on that ear in crippling depression/anxiety from my right ear. It started as a single thump I would get when bending forward quickly. Around the same time I had a bout of excruciating nerve pain extending from that ear down my jaw, and sporadic pulses, and the pressure feeling off as I bend forward and move my head, of that makes sense. Suddenly, last week I started having episodes of multiple thumps without obvious triggers. It's completely different from the bass-like vibrations I had in my right ear.

From what I've read, I believe this thump is the tensor tympani muscle, while the vibrations were the stapedius muscle.

I can't believe I managed to get rid of the vibrations in my right ear only to get a completely different type of spasm in my left ear. I've never had any issues with my ears before!

I can still trigger a thump by bending forward, bow much easier than before, I can slowly bend over and it'll come 100% of the time, unless I have a finger or earplug in there.

I feel like I've dislocated something in my ear or something from laying on it 24/7, and I don't know how to fix this.

I know you can surgically section these muscles but that's not an option at this time. I'm also not comfortable with the amount of people who seem to get no relief from the surgery. This sucks so bad, I struggle to work 50% now.