Eardrum Vibrating

It's a very low frequency bass hum and often modulates with my heart beat, sometimes it's just constant. Sounds a bit like a tumble dryer off in the distance. My eyes sometimes flicker a bit too, which I think is some crosstalk with the optic nerve. When it's not as intense it's just not as noticeable. It has become 24/7 this year and is in another worse phase since a few days ago. When it's not too bad, I've noticed at night when I sometimes wake up it's barely there. When it's like that I don't really even think about it much these days. Either way it doesn't elicit an emotional response anymore.

When my tensor tympani cramps I get another sound which is a low tone, but higher than the hum one, but that's just due to conductive hearing loss as a result it not conducting sound correctly.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2017.00420/full
This mentions how the trigeminal nerve can become activated and sensitised.

I personally wouldn't waste money on an ENT or neurologist for this. None have helped me. My neck is not good, so I might go and see an upper cervical chiropractor. That link you posted before mentions the C spine being out of whack as a possible cause. I do get a sensation of cold water dripping down my arm several times a day. Who knows it might help, but I do know that it started as a result of acoustic shock and it does react to sound.

 

Strange. I don't recall any specific incident of noise causing my issue. It was random. And I've had acoustic traumas over the years, T/H spiking, getting better, worse, and on and on. I got hit be a smoke detector in my room almost a year ago, my last "major incident". That one, as well as other incidents, never triggered this vibration effect.

Perhaps this was delayed damage kicking in later to affect the trigeminal nerve? But that seems odd. Honestly for the last 2 months I've felt a lot better with my T. I've had no issues. Only when my grandfather died and I spent a lot of the day crying, did I awake the next day with hearing the pulsing vibration back in my right ear. Briefly. It subsided and thought nothing of it. But an hour later when I was messing with those Decibulz earplugs for the first time, putting the in ear portion in the canal and molded the warm plastic part to the outside of the ear pushing in repeatedly did it trigger it permanently.

Makes me wonder then if this is not related to noise trauma and the like, but something else. But what that is has stumped me. And 2 weeks begins to feel like this is not going to ever let up. I don't understand how the muscle, assuming it is the Tensor Tympani or Stapedius (someone even mentioned there's a third one called the Levator Veli) could be affected by these two incidents but it's the only thing relative to this starting back up and permanently for 2 weeks, which it never has done before.

 

Yes low sounds feel like humming / rumbling in the affected ear

 

I've never had any kind of cramping in my ear. The fluttering and bizarre thumping sensations are bad enough.

Something else that tends to aggravate it is talking on the phone. I can be having a relatively quiet day, but then I answer a call, and withing minutes the humming sound awakens. No loud talking on my or the caller's end occurs. I think it has more to do with some kind of frequency.

The biggest mystery for me (other than what's causing it) is why it will go away with no provocation whatsoever. No change in my diet, meds, vitamins, lifestyle, etc. I've been convinced for years that the noise in my head is a side effect of depression. I've researched this and found that sadness isn't always the only symptom. Some people get backaches, stomach aches, headaches, etc. It wasn't until I tried an antidepressant that the noise seemed to dissipate. I've suffered from anxiety and depression ever since I was a child, so it makes sense that my brain would produce a phantom sound. I've often thought my tinnitus was my subconscious screaming at me.

 

Update for you all.

I described the sensation and sound, and ENT looked into my nose, ear, and through the nose to see the tubes. She stated she has had the symptoms I described before and said this can in fact be caused by Eustachian tube issue. Which I know I have and have suffered from off and on, but they've never caused this issue before for so long, but perhaps me getting upset the day before and crying and creating a weird pressure vacuum with the new earplugs the next day triggered it all.

She said my nose was red and inflamed, which I think I've always had. She said even with out nasal drip, fullness ect., I still had would looked like sinusitis. She said my eardrum looked slightly pulled inwards I believe, and she looked through my nose with a camera and said the Eustachian tubes looked tight and red and had clear signs of allergy issues and inflammation.

I also have battled acid reflux over the years and she thinks this heavily contributes to coming into your nasal passages and affecting ears when you sleep.

I really pressed her on the confusion on why all the other times I've had ear issues this vibrating feeling and sound was not present, and she believes different symptoms can happen at different times and never be the same. I mentioned TTS and MEM and she did not believe this was the case based on her findings. She stated she had similar symptoms before and they all revolved around ETD issues, and pressure issues ensuing from it, that mess with the eardrum and can cause these vibrations and the sound.


I'm still insanely skeptical of this, even though she is seeing a problem. I say that because I've apparently gone through ETD and issues for years and never had this issue last this long. But then again, I have had this off and on in small spurts through the ears, so maybe ETD was causing it to some small degree? Though I forgot to ask her if that's the case, why would driving sometimes trigger it and make it worse.

Her recommendation was:

• Prilosec
• Z-Pack(Azithromycin) - She said it was not ototoxic and would be safe for the short duration I took it, but I've read it can make T worse so I'm insanely scared to try it.
• Flonase (which I've already been on for 4 days but to continue for up to a few weeks)
• Mouthguard when sleeping (I told her I had an injury when I was young from getting hit in the jaw, she did a hands on my jaw test while I opened and closed and said she felt a slight deviation on right. I told her this never has affected me or my T, but that since this issue popped up my jaw has been more sore. She believes there's inflammation and it's effecting the jaw region)

and lifestyle change:

No caffeine, alcohol, carbonated drinks, spicy or acidic foods, eating late and not sleeping within 3 hours of eating dinner and elevate head 30 degrees when sleeping.

I really, really hope to god this isn't TTS and MEM. My fear is that I don't think I can change taking the Z-pack which might be the greatest at relieving this issue. But to chance my actual T getting worse, I don't know if I can. And Prilosec is said to be bad for T too. So I'm really screwed here.

 

Yes, and the eustachian tube function is controlled by four muscles, including the tensor tympani. The ENT is speculating because it's difficult to be certain, which is understandable. All of these things are connected and it's not that big an area. Hey, but at least she actually had a look and listened to you - a lot of others don't care because they're clueless.
My tubes often open (patulous eustachian tubes) and click regularly too, so I would tend to agree the tubes are involved as well.

I actually once had this another similar hum/buzz/vibration going on and sprayed oxynase decongestant up my nose and it stopped it. Unfortunately doesn't work with the other one that is affected by sound.

If it were me, I wouldn't be taking the antibiotic.
I'm kind of doubtful about the others too from experience, but anything is worth a try.

 

I thought maybe there was some improvement the last 2 days, (not at night or laying down) but I'm not sure. At the very least there were brief periods in the day that it didn't vibrate I don't think.

When I go to bed it starts to ramp up, laying there. In the morning waking up its there.

I'm struggling to believe this is ETD, unless you can open your tubes with no problem and still have a ETD issue? I can lightly blow from my nose with mouth shut and pop the ear.

Driving seems to stimulate it too.

And sadly, I just got hit by a bell in the ear at the store unaware they were going to ring it. Right into my bad ear with the vibration so I'm sure this will be adding some more problems as the day goes on. It is certainly vibrating more.

 

Well it's been getting worse and worse tonight. This bell ringing didn't affect my regular T, but this vibration is about to kill me. I can't handle it, it's worse than anything I've ever experienced in my life.

The ENT was wrong, how can this be ETD. What a joke. How can I not believe this is MEM now that either the bell being hit at the checkout or my my stress from it, or a combo of both has caused it to increase ten fold. Sound and stress are two things I read about MEM. I can't believe this is what I probably have.

 

Eustachian tubes are affected by the middle ear muscles. They’re what control the ventilation. Also the trigeminal nerve is connected to some of them too. So, it’s all connected.

Sorry to know it’s not going too well for you too, but you have to try and relax about it and also see if you can try to avoid loud sounds to let it chill (I know it’s easier said than done). Mine’s churning away right now, yet my T is not too bad at the moment. Yesterday was the other way round.

Perhaps try massaging gently around your ears, side of head/temples and jaw.

 

Massaging doesn't seem to do anything other than make it more noticeable sometimes. Just like anything else I do really. It seems very random in how intense it gets. It gets worse when I try to sleep. And it just pulses all through the day.

Humming or talking eliminates it, does that make any sense to you? I don't understand how I suddenly just got MEM or rather, a worsening of it because I put these stupid new earplugs in my ear, or the follow day passing of my grandfather. This just doesn't seem rational that some rare issue like this just occurs.

One thing I remember from 6 months ago when I was having weird right ear issues that resolved, which was chalked up as ETD before, was it gave me a weird sensation in the ear and when I rubbed on it, it created a weird tone. It also made low freq. noises very loud and rumble in my head. Now, none of these symptoms are what I have currently, BUT there is some similar to the picking up low freq. noises. It's not the same, but I do notice for the last few weeks I pick up low freq. noises easier. Things far away I shouldn't be hearing. I also notice when I say palm down tap the couch or create a sort of a reverberate low bass sound, I really hear it in my right ear and I think it triggers the vibration pulse more actively.

Is it possible to just have a spasm that can last almost 3 weeks in those muscles or something else? Seems unlikely, but I don't know. I've also noticed though I don't know if it's just from my nerves being shot over this issue, that I'll get occasional twitches on my arm, or leg, like the muscle. Though I'm skeptical to draw any similarities in issue, as it could just be straight nerves and stress from the ear issue causing it.

Trying to remain calm is the best thing I can do, I agree, but I try for a few days and just fall apart. This is worse than my noise induced T which I thought was hell.

 

@shasta0863 Would it be intercranial hypertension since you have mentioned eyes, heart, twitches in arms, legs -
polyradiculopathy, rumble in head, bass noise and a dozen other mentions in your history that could relate to IH.

You know that the E tube supplies air to the middle ear, but from your other systematic problems it may be actual or MEM like. There's MEM response with the roof of mouth. There's veins, arteries and cranial nerves of neck, face, oral and thyroid that always needs to be considered.

D3 is needed for hypertension and low salt is a must.
I have posted lots about hums, rumbles, PT and all the causes and when problems after T, hypertension and stress can could other problems as many of us know.

Wishing you the best - My cause of this problem was from hypertension of neck that briefly slowed blood flow in some neck arteries - non stroke. I received c spine damage, jaw, eyes and thyroid damage.

 

Thanks for the response. I looked up IH but the symptoms don't seem to match. I do get pretty bad headaches once and awhile but nothing else listed:

Visual: blurred vision, double vision, or partial loss of vision
Gastrointestinal: nausea or vomiting
Also common: headache, dizziness, or ringing in the ears

It seems though, that there could be a multidude of different reasons for what I'm going through, so I'll try not just give up and doomsday say it's ear MEM.

There is a lot going on in terms of nerves, arteries ect., like you said. The spontaneous nature of it this re-occurrence in the form of a 24/7 condition combined with the fact that this was a minor, old issue I had off and on for brief times since 2015 makes me wonder if this was some type of condition I originally had but was minor or semi-stable, and turned worse due to time. Though that makes me stunned if it was going to inherently get worse, why on the day right after a death and me using new moldable earplugs. Seems awfully unlikely, but I don't know.

I will have to follow up with a more skilled ENT I guess, not a ENT's PA. More money I fear will be thrown away to have someone look in the ear or nose and simply say "ETD" while asking for $250. But I have to get a second opinion at this point. I had hoped this was a spasm and would go away in time, but 3 weeks seems pretty bad for a normal spasm.

May I ask, what your symptoms felt like?

 

I developed T - hearing loss from syringing from ear noise years ago.
Then a few years ago I developed somatic T - physical injuries.
I also now have PT - a rumble booming noise along with another sound like a generator or motor running in the background.
Sometimes when in bed, I can slightly hear some vibration in the roof of my mouth and back of throat. When this happens I will get some ear vibration. This is probably palatial myoclonus. Sometimes I also can hear my thyroid vibrate, but no feeling of irregular blood flow within my vertebral artery and jugular vein which was initial cause of somatic T and PT.

Palatial myoclonus.
https://www.fauquierent.net/earclicking.htm

 

I have this too.

 

Is your pulsatile tinnitus constant and match your heartbeat?


I've also noticed as of late, I'm hearing my heartbeat more in my opposite good ear and I've been hearing a weird whoosing type flowing sound that seems to occur when I move my head to quickly in bed, or get up. I'm thinking it's blood rushing and I'm hearing it. I know some with pulsatile tinnitus say they can hear that. I hope to god ETD issues or fluid issues perhaps can also mimic these symptoms. This being either MEM or a sudden development of dramatic PT just seems unbelievably unreal.

 

Forgot to ask, what do you make of humming and talking stopping the vibration. Is that an indicator of what the root cause could be? Or why coming back from driving and noticing it big time once the cars off indicates something to do with pressure change of the car or perhaps the vibration of car triggering something.

 

@shasta0863 I found that an internet search on any systematic problem with tinnitus only provides the basics. I use medical research journals and special membership sites for care givers where there's thousands of pages of discussions and case histories. With over lapping conditions such as TTTS, MEM, other forms of MEM, PT, vibrations, fluttering, humming, drumming, thumping or other sounds - journal research includes all systems and processes that may have involvement.

Talking has been noted in journal research to temporary stop vibrations when there's PMEM - palatial throat input as it relaxes several complicated processes. Air pressure change with breathing treatments (respiratory and heart) can temporary stop thumping, drumming and humming, as they most always include blood flow or thyroid.

Could you tell me your age as that will make a big difference as to causes. Also did you receive tinnitus of another form first? Like anything else with any form of physical tinnitus there's more than one process or system involved. Do you have any neck or jaw problems? You may very well have MEM, but 'like MEM' or 'MEM like' is way more common than MEM.

 

I'm 29. I did get noise induced T first at 18. Then worse from another brief exposure outside my window from a woodsaw around 25. Gave me worse T and H. Battled ups and downs from then, brief smoke alarm last year returned a type of reactive T in right ear, which increased with other noises. This has subsided.

I was doing a lot better than this vibration hit. Exactly the same thing I felt briefly off and on for years, but became very rare for the last year or so. I'm not 100% sure on the origin but I think early 2015 i remember awaking from hearing a pop. It was the dead of night and i thinknit originated from my right ear. I awoke and heard the reverberating bass like viberation that I have now in a permanent state. I believe at the time it was off and on and subsided over the following few weeks.

After that I occasionally got it in small bursts and never thought much of it as it was brief.

But this 24/7 state its in is causing a collapse of my will to live. It fluctuates from a full on viberating tone with no pause and a viberating with half second pauses. And like I mentioned it a lot of times i hear bass like low freq. Sounds far away much easier. Unless its in the ear, but it sounds far away and its different from the actual viberating sound I do ear in the ear.

I have had ETD supposedly off and on for years but never this symptom. I'm taking flonase which isnt doing anything and the ent says it wont be quick and.could take more than a month.

She was almost too sure that my ear viberating symptom is in fact a product of Ent. I.almost felt like she was just trying to calm me. I think she mentioned the eustacian tubes looked very closed and I'm not sure if it was inflammed as she didn't elaborate. She also noted a slight inward of my eardrum i believe due to pressure, I'm not sure.

I can pop my ear fine and open the tubes so im concerned ETD is not really.relevant but idk.

Outside that I do have some slight jaw issues on the bad ear side from getting hit when I was a kid. Never been a problem, can make .sound sometimes and rarely is sore. It did become more sore around jaw and below ear lobe from this issue starting up after the first week of spasm. I noticed improvement though as I was stretching and doing ETD excercises, unless is just naturally improved.

 

Vibrations could be the Eustachian tube process - a changing pressure on both sides of the eardrum and you know the process from here, but it may be not because no pause or pausing. The pause is called aurium and relates to either infection, anemia or cardio vascular issues.

This would be a major artery, cardio vascular or thyroid. Not sure if you may have a mild heart vascular issue at only 1/5 because of bass like low freq. It's never a concerning issue under 5/5, but with tinnitus this type of intercranial hypertension will give bass like sounds that appear far away at 1/5. This sound travels thru the jugular vein and with other arteries to the brainstem - not to the ears.

None of this is of my own knowledge - just collected thoughts from medical journal study. I have studied your very conditions because I the same problems that you have. My problem is blood flow of heart and vertebral artery with jugular input and now my thyroid has come into play.

I have to get a heart counsel every six months, an EKG more often and blood work every six weeks. Thyroid meds are not helping my bass thumping, but I will start a new heart med soon and maybe that will help. My red blood count is normal, but my white blood count is high - always fighting infection from a weaken immune system.

 

Do you have a suggestion on what I should request for testing to rule some of these things out?

Also I've started to notice my left is is getting brief as they are, types of spasms. Completely different feeling but that combined with noticing muscle spasms around my body as of late has me concerned.

Did you have any trigger to this or just happened at random. It defies logic to me this just suddenly became an issue whether vascular or what have you just suddenly the day after my grandfsther died and trying new earplugs.

The fact putting in earplugs even now briefly will skyrocket the viberation is an incredibly odd sign of something wrong in the ear I think.

 

@Greg Sacramento if for some ppl these vibrations / hums etc are initially caused by noise/acoustic trauma and sound can make them worse how could it be cardiovascular, thyroid etc?

I believe it’s middle ear muscles and connected nerves (ie trigeminal) become super sensitised that they can get tied into the autonomic nervous system. They’re kind of on a constant state of alert/dysfunction. Using ear plugs and other things like earmuffs can compress and irritate said nerves which can make it louder.

 

@Gman What you say above can be associated - yes. Vibrations in the ears can be classified different from hums, bass sounds, thumping and other sounds where distress is heard. If ear vibrating is heard along with another odd sound that appears not to be from the ears then there's other things going on.
In this second link article there's an added second link to ear protection setting off vibrations.
I would need to post at least 30 medical articles, before conclusions could be considered.
Any GERD or IBS needs to be considered. Smoking has great input to any associated problems.
Dehydration.

The best way to find out what is going on is to start with these basic tests.
Complete blood and urine work that would include thyroid.
EKG
3D cone beam scanning - one quick 30 second exam for oral, face, airways and neck.
A venous ultrasound of neck arteries.

https://www.centrallakesclinic.biz/cardiology/the-venous-hum.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3629860/

 

Thanks. I did identify that the sounds of exterior I was hearing (outside of the vibrating hum that feels right inside the ear) was actual things in the distance running that I was picking up on.

There seems to be a whole host of causes that could cause vibration feeling and sound. Many on this forum have said they have gotten it before, but briefly in length, like I used too. So obviously I triggered something to keep it in this state.

There has to be something connected to my grandfather dying, crying for a lot of the day and being upset, with the following morning waking up to a brief bout of the vibration before fading and then the use of those DecibulZ earplugs that created some type of perfect storm of something in the ear that triggered it and kept it in a spasm or inflamed state. There has been times within the last couple days where it does briefly stop. Brief as it is. The fact putting in earplugs or wearing earmuffs now, which I used to do with no problem, causes it to ramp up and become one continuous tone and more intense, once I take them off has to be a sign of something. Pressure creation causing a problem of some sort. In addition, this whooshing sound when bending down and up or getting up out of bed that I hear more in my ear that only started with this recent episode of vibration are all connected, it's just encrypted for me to find to cause.

 

Yes that is the key, but also with consideration to all that you have said. My best research guess is intercranial hypertension release and this is a sub type and different to the definition of IH. It involves the internal jugular vein under stress and sometime with compression from the C1, but always under stress and twisting neck or lifting neck (hypertension) from a surface. Sometime besides neck hinging, lifting something can also add pressure. The sounds is blood flow of internal jugular that's magnified with blood pumping flow from the heart and sometimes the thyroid or throat as well will pick up the sounds. If talking stops it, then the throat is picking up on sounds. Sometimes coughing will increase the sounds. The number one associated conditions is IBD blurred vision and headaches - this may also connect to the jugular's association to the SCM muscles and occipital nerves. From this MEM like happens. As @Gman said crossover talk with the optic nerves can happen.

If this is the problem the answer is posture forward head hinge bending improvement and not to twist neck hard when under stress. You should notice by using this correct neck posture that it will stop and you should be able to wear muffs again.

 

Funny thing happened recently. I heard a new kind of humming and thought that I had a new thing going on. Then I looked out the window and there was a car idling in front of my house. So similar.

Not so funny is that today my ear cramping issue came back again. I woke up this morning with worse humming (not attributable to noise or stress) and then gradually over the day the middle ear muscles started to cramp. So now I am getting the hum plus the weird low/mid tone that I get from the cramping due to the temporary conductive hearing loss. Plus it seems to be starting to spread to my other ear. It has not flared up because of recent noise exposure or from stress. I'm not worrying about it. It's just not a pleasant sensation or sound - makes hearing uncomfortable and weird until it spontaneously resolves.

My neck is involved too for sure. When I turn my head slowly, the hum changes when my head is at full turn. When I massage around my ears both the hum and tone get louder until I stop.
Oh well, what to do...

 

This is a very interesting theory. I will be bringing this up at my next appointment.

Is this subtype do you think localized only to the area around the face/ear? I ask because I've been more intensely as of late getting very odd muscle spasms. Random areas, thigh, knee, arm. Will intensely twitch and spasms for 10-15 seconds a few times a day. My left ear, which always was the non-issue ear in terms of mechanically, has also started to get brief spasms as well. Different from right ear which is the main problem, but still a physical sensation of something twitching.

There seems to be something very odd occurring.

 

This is very important information. Your muscles are firing electrical impulses and this can cause head vibration sounds. This is caused from hypertension, sadness and stress. This can cause ear spasms. Get any hypertension controlled.

I would still discuss all concerns with your doctor.

 

Color Doppler Ultrasonographical complete neck study.

 

Thanks. Is it possible to have hypertension with normal blood pressure though?

 

https://www.self.com/story/why-you-need-to-know-your-blood-pressure-numbers

Look in the mirror and see if you notice any veins.
Check to see if you can notice your jugular vein.
Check to see it if there's an extension just below your Adam's apple.
Have pulses checked in these locations
I think that sorrow is causing muscle twitching and thus your non tinnitus head sounds.