Inserting Finger in Ear Changes Tinnitus

Hey,

I was in a noisy environment and plugged my ears to see how loud the tinnitus would be (I can hear it loud at night).

I realized the way I put my finger and considering how much pressure I applied the tinnitus went from almost not audible to a very isolated EEEEE.

Could it be somatic tinnitus and have something to do with my ear canal or muscles? Shouldn’t the sound if generated in the brain be static no matter what I do to my ears?

Thanks a lot!

 

Hi
I was wondering if it’s the same sound you hear when you block your ears or a different sound?

 

It is the opposite for me. Plugging my ears or covering them feels like it makes it worse for me and amplifies it.

 

That's the more common experience for tinnitus. If you plug your ears or cover them, outside sounds don't mask the ringing, hence you perceive it as louder.

I had the other type as well, when plugging/covering made the buzzing stop. I don't have answers, but I think, that type has some "mechanical" reason behind it.

 

@NeoKortex88

This happens to me too. Not sure why - but when I plug my ears, especially when putting in my fingers, most of my tones die down and i just get a loud EEEE that almost sounds like some sort of boiler, or water running through something. Pretty strange.

Again, not sure why, but I've had this since the start of the year and I highly suspect my tinnitus is in part brought on by tube dysfunction, as well as neck/jaw issues.

 

Got three different "sounds" in my ears (two in my left ear, one in my right). Two are high pitched "common" tinnitus sounds. The third is a low pitch sound, in my left ear, that is not always present, mostly in evening and morning. Actually, if I plug my finger in my ear I'm able to make this sound stop (it comes back when I unplug my finger from my ear though...).

 

Hi

I just need some reassurance if blocking my ears stops the sounds that’s must mean it’s external sounds I can hear right? Rather than it coming from within?

 

If I understand you correctly you are saying that your tinnitus becomes louder when you put your finger in your ear. This also happens to me. I believe that the noise coming from my brain is that a consistent volume but when you plug your ears you hear/perceive fit louder.

 

If you're using your finger to plug your ear, your finger has very minute muscle movements that you can hear and it can for some people mask their tinnitus. When I use my finger, some quieter frequencies are masked out by my finger muscles but the main high pitch EEEE isn't masked and is also higher volume. So yea, minute finger muscle movement sounds can act like some background noise for certain frequencies.

 

I have the same thing. When I insert finger and press on the lower part of the ear canal buzzing stops. When I unplug my ears it is immediately back.