Low Drone Tinnitus Does Not Need Much to Shut Down Completely

Many people that have a low drone tinnitus can shut it down completely by simply putting a finger in their ear or standing next to a buzzing fridge.

My low drone tinnitus behaves the same and it made me think I really only need to mimic my finger to make it stop:

• A custom made silicone earplug that fits very snug in the ear canal.
• The earplug really only needs to make a very low volume sound → finger doesn't make a big sound either.

That, or using a behind-the-ear device that vibrates (a little bit), if having an earplug in 24/7 is a bit much for people.

What does everyone think?

@valeri, @Christiaan, @Maria Francesca, @Rinz, @star-affinity.

 

Do you mean a passive silicone earplug or an active one (emitting sound)?

In the second case I am afraid to irritate continuously my ear nerves. I am convinced both my hissing and low humming come from branches of facial nerve which is irritated.

 

Haha. It's weird that I haven't received a notification from Tinnitus Talk about your comment, but thanks for tagging me along though @Ben Winders.

Low frequency tinnitus is the worst, isn't it? My low drone acts basically the same as yours. It often appears when I'm in a quiet room or when I'm extremely stressed. And the weird thing is that I also feel it in my brain, if you know what I mean. A sort of electric pressure in the back of my skull. Super annoying at times.

The only remedy that works for me: earplugs. It basically disappears when I wear them. I'm also planning to order some Calmer earplugs and see what kind of magic they have in store for my tinnitus. I'll keep you posted if I notice a difference with those things.

 

I had low drone for a little while months ago. Only in quiet setting and usually in the morning or late night and typically laying down made it worse. It sounded like a car or machine was constantly outside my house idling. It seemed to resolve though I can’t say why.

Fast forward a few months to yesterday and it’s back. It started last night just before bed and I woke up with it. I wasn’t particularly stressed but I have this feeling in my head like it’s tense. The day before the hum, I had increased hyperacusis which for the most part had also resolved greatly. I can think of only two things that caused this: Quercetin with Bromelain or a VR headset.

I have been taking the Quercetin/Bromelain since Sunday and noticed a change in the fluid feeling in my ears when I swallow. Then I got a VR headset for a therapy purpose and only used it very lightly the night before hyperacusis started. Last night I used it for a couple hours on a chat but there was a constant wave and wind type noise, subtle but it was there. I doubt that it caused it but it’s the only thing I can correlate.

It would seem that either the supplements have caused it or something about the sound from the headset caused it. I am slightly leaning towards the headset but I’m not entirely positive just yet. Oh ya, I also say a chiro for some adjustments so it could very well be that as well (but unlikely).

 

I would need an active one, but it would only need to be very low activity. Basically it would be enough if something mechanical would be moving inside the earplug, brushing lightly against my ear canal, just like my finger would.

@Christiaan, I'm afraid I have to backpedal on the fact that just a passive earplug takes away my tinnitus, best case it brings it down a little bit.
If I have my low drone ON (I can make it so by having slept in silence), a passive earplug does not save me. A finger or an arm will though.

 

On the one hand, I think it's great news that your hyperacusis flare-up has diminished, but on the other hand I also feel for you that your low frequency tinnitus has returned. It's really nasty to have that thing. I would personally be glad if I could trade my drone for a higher pitched sound.

It's hard to tell if it's Quercetin/Bromelain, the VR headset or the chiro. With all the pills that I'm currently taking, it's hard to distinguish how much one pill can do for hearing/tinnitus vs. another kind of pill. But so far, it hasn't caused any trouble, at least for me.

Hopefully your new tinnitus will go away after while. I've read a lot of stories on Tinnitus Talk that people often managed to dissolve their new tinnitus after trying to relax, taking some anti-oxidants (NAC, Nicotinamide Riboside), etc. So why wouldn't that work the same way for you?

 

Ah alright. Well, you do not have to backpedal, Ben That's perhaps just the one thing that we experience differently. I actually do not hear, nor feel, my drone tinnitus if I wear air tight earplugs. The only drawback of these plugs would be that I hear my higher pitched hiss even more. So maybe things could be differently if I try these ''open'' earplugs from Calmer.

 

In my opinion the connection between the hissing/reacting tinnitus and low drone is the fact that both are due to facial nerve irritation. Facial nerve innervates the stapedius, so if irritated it will cause hissing/hyperacusis and also clicks and chirping in my case. Another facial nerve branch innervates ear drum, ear canal and concha of the auricle, causing humming. I have tingling sensation in that area. I have also tingling in my cheek, around nose and mouth. What causes this? It could be my ETD not fully resolved, as facial nerve canal passes through middle ear. Or Levofloxacine damage...

I am also starting to take Bromelain for Eustachian tubes and Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) for the nerve. I had to quit Trileptal which was helping.

 

I have tried Calmer, they are really soft, but did not help with hissing or drone :-(

 

I seem to be experiencing the exact same thing. I first had the low drone in May, but it went away after a while. It’s back now. Last week I was at a friend’s apartment, where it was very quiet. That spiked the low drone so intensely that I could almost feel it in my ear. Mine’s also worse in the morning and at night, especially when lying down...

 

Yes this is exactly it. Worse in morning and night and especially when lying down.

Have you noticed when this happens your ears are also more sensitive? Like hyperacusis or they feel less “flexible”, maybe like stiff?

Something I did set this off, it is between supplements (Quercetin and Bromelain), dentist, chiro or noise from VR headset. It was completely gone just a few days ago and now it’s back.

 

I am confused. How is it that your tinnitus goes away when you block your ears with your finger? Since it is an internally driven sound, I would think that would not be true.

 

This is what we would like to know.

I have the exact same thing in my left ear and many people also do, yet I couldn't find any medical professional who could explain it. It can be some atypical MEM or other type of middle ear/Eustachian Tube issue, or maybe something entirely different.

 

It is frustrating with tinnitus, often you find something which "improves a bit", "helps", but not totally solves the issue, so you are always in doubt if this is really effective or it is just an impression. :-(

I just woke up with a drone noise, it "seems" some massage and neck stretching made it go away. And now the hissing is starting...

 

I haven’t noticed that yet but I’ll pay more attention to it and report back! Other than that our symptoms are so similar, though. I can’t really imagine what I could have done to set this off. I take the usual supplements but nothing I haven’t taken for months before the onset of this noise...

 

Even better - it also goes away when I lie my bad ear on my arm, I don't even have to stick a finger in.

Same way it completely goes away when I'm close to a fridge making the typical fridge noise. And again - before anyone comes in and says "it's just being masked, it doesn't really stop" - save your energy, because that's what it does. It actually stops, it's not getting masked.

More proof: driving my car, getting out, stepping into a very quiet room it will be ON ("brrrrrr") - then after a couple minutes it literally starts stuttering ("brrrr... brrr... br... br... b... STOP"), not masked, stopping completely.

Needless to say no specialist has been able to figure this out. Prof. Dr. De Ridder (UZ Antwerp) and Dr. Bance (Cambridge) both told me to try Tegretol (but they are not sure what it is either). Dr. Bance does not think this is MEM.

 

Hi,

Those of us with low humming, who has:
- static hissing
- forward head posture
- continuously or sporadically clogged ears?

My chiropractic says all my issues are related to forward head posture...

 

I guess this could be true. I am a little skeptical that the solution is so easy but it’s possible. The TMJ could impact the Eustachian tubes and that one cause but in reality it much more complicated than this. My low drone had gone away and now it’s back along with hyperacusis after a chiro appointment (possibly even a dental appointment).

If you are so inclined to go down the rabbit hole, have a look at this paper. It details effectively what I believe to be the main cause for many people’s pressure, drone and other related symptoms.

 

Have you always had these symptoms or are they new? Any chance you caused some form of middle ear barotrauma?

 

I have forward head posture and straightened lordosis.

Very, very rarely my ears are slightly clogged without any apparent reason, but I'm not sure I would even notice if I wasn't focusing all the time on my ears. On the other hand, before the penultimate bout of the low drone (mine is not constant) my right ear was quite clogged, but the low sound is mainly in my left ear.

 

Honestly, I don’t think so. I first noticed the low drone in May, and I’ve been getting it on and off ever since. It’s strange because the onset of my original noise was back last year in March so I don’t think they’re related.

 

Author, I have EXACTLY the same, and this was my only tinnitus tone until recently. It used to come out during a cold every time like clockwork, then it would always go after 4 weeks post cold. At the start I spent weeks travelling about at 3 am to try and listen to where it was coming from, I thought the fact I can stop it by sticking my finger in my ear must mean it is not tinnitus, but it was. I would chatter my teeth or shake my head in a "no" style to stop it briefly. I then found a fan next to me would block it out unless it was really bad. Sadly it has been with me for the last 8 weeks since the jab and I have 3 other tones now which are reactive so I can no longer mask it unless I want a deaf ear with ear plug, which also then means I hear the static high pitch hiss more. I can't win any more, I fecking hate my ears.

 

Bananas not working anymore?

 

it’s important to remember these things come and go by themselves and to not randomly search for a cause that may be completely unrelated. I think you’ll find that with both those potential causes it doesn’t happen consistently.

 

Did they ever?

 

At the risk of sounding stupid, what is low drone tinnitus? I mean what does it sound like? Does it sound like it is coming from your head almost? If so, I get that in a very quiet room. It sounds like my head is humming. But I don’t really notice it so much if I plug my ears. But I have plenty of other sound that I hear. Lucky me.

 

I don't know how exactly others' sound like, mine sounds like a mix of a washing machine, a foghorn and a timpani drum with a humming/buzzing quality to it, hard to explain. Mine is situated in the left ear clearly, but it wandered for a couple of days to my right ear last fall. I don't hear it from my head, but my head feels like it's vibrating when the low hum is on. I consider the low hum the worst of my sounds, because it's the loudest.

 

Mine is similar to this. It sounds like a car idling in my head. I can actually feel it. But only in silence, like when trying to sleep, of course.

 

I also have this droning sound. Humming, like a highway in the distance almost. It's the tinnitus sound that stresses me out the most.

 

@Ben Winders, my honest opinion is this low drone, at least for some, and particularly for those that can stop it by plugging their ear, is that this is middle ear myoclonus - i.e. the tensor tympani or the stapedius muscle in spasm. Particularly if it stops and starts. More so if there is a feeling as well as a noise (i.e. a vibration).

Magnesium may help, as may Potassium, and if you were keen to explore muscle relaxants, that’s an option too.