Low Frequency Tinnitus

Just to update you all...

I had my septoplasty a couple of weeks ago and although I can definitely breathe better which is lovely, there has not been any change at all to the weird, low-frequency, reactive tinnitus that we all enjoy.

Back to the drawing board!

 

I suffer from this low frequency tinnitus sh*t but I was able to suppress it for 3 consecutive days after flying for about 7 hours.

I always have my ceiling fan on since the low frequency tinnitus disappears as soon as I turn it on. Sadly, however, my reactive tinnitus flares up instantly with it but I prefer hearing high pitch ringing rather than this low frequency beast (and the high pitch ringing still makes me very frustrated, but the low frequency tone is my break up point where I cry hard).

It doesn’t instantly appear when exposed to silence, it can take anywhere from a few minutes to hours, but on average it may take about 15 minutes in my case. It starts with intermittent bass until it gets constant.

 

Hi everyone,

I come back to this thread from time to time, when the rumble in my left ear haunts me. During busy days I barely think about it but lately I've been less busy so I hear it a lot more. I need to make peace with it and accept that it's here to stay (I'm 8 months in).

Anyone else struggling to cope sometimes?

 

Hi @spcshpsrshngb. I'm sorry you're suffering with your rumbly ear.

Yes, I've struggled with coping. There have been times when mine was so loud I thought my head would explode, and there was no escape. Oddly enough, my low tinnitus was helped by getting on a medication for high blood pressure. I was surprised to learn that I had high blood pressure... that had never been a problem before. During the pandemic I let my regular health care go by the wayside, and by the time I finally got a full physical again I had aged and gained weight, so a lot had changed.

Acceptance is hard but essential. Take good care.

Della

 

Interestingly, I have also heard that medication for high blood pressure should help with the Hum. It would be very interesting to know what the connection is here.

I keep observing that things that give me some relief for a while, meaning really noticeably improve the humming, suddenly just don't help anymore. I find this back and forth almost worse than having the sound permanently - because that way I know there must be some cause somewhere (where?!) in my body.

 

Hi all,

I'm new to the rumble club after having normal tinnitus since 2015.

It's come on in 3 bouts of a few days before going again. This weekend it hit constantly and loud. Then completely vanished Sunday, but is now back yesterday and today and I just know it's here to stay.

Sucks, sucks big time.

 

For entertainment purposes, I asked ChatGPT about potential theories as to the cause of our low hum.

I found it pretty interesting considering it has a pretty detailed knowledge base, far deeper than the first few pages of Google and can reason with said knowledge.

You'll see a lot of familiar theories. No #2 (otoacoustic emissions) has always been my bet.

 

This tinnitus type may be the worst. It's definitely comparable to ultra-high pitched screeching (> 8 kHz). I have a 2 kHz ringing that thankfully dominates this 100-150 Hz hum so I can focus on the ringing and relax a bit. But some days, the ringing gets quieter thus the humming is more prominent, and oh my god, I'm literally about to bang my head against the wall.

 

I agree: this type of tinnitus is the worst. High-pitched ringing is not fun, but for me the low booming, rumbling, and pounding was harder to deal with. The high ringing is generally above other things in my environment that I'm trying to listen to, but the mid-range and low sounds could easily drown out conversations, music, and television... anything I was trying to do to distract myself.

And the physical sensations! It's so bizarre to have your entire head vibrating like there's a big truck idling inside it. I hope one day the researchers can figure this out.

Take care, and good luck.

 

Back here with some positive news. After 2 years my hum is still taking large breaks and maybe yours will too. I was certain it was here to stay.

It's been almost non-existent for a few months - it was gone for the same period as last year, June-August, and when I hear it, it's 1/10.

The only thing I can think of that could coincide with the timing of the year would be that in the summer I sleep with a ceiling fan on low, however the fan is basically inaudible.

My hyperacusis seemingly lessened in the 75 dB and below range too. So maybe it's all connected to lessening sensitivity. Again, we'll see with time.

 

My low frequency tinnitus has been lower all summer, but it's been low like that various times before only to return to a higher intensity again like it was at times in the spring. Unfortunately, the higher frequency tones are still there and fluctuating as much as ever plus more recent TTTS (with and without sound stimulus) and hyperacusis development, so it's a net negative for me.

My low frequency was easier to deal with because it faded away when introducing a low frequency sound from a fan. I'm unable to fully mask my higher frequency sounds/tones.

 

Sorry to hear. Yeah, I've had similar with my slight highs, seems there's a bunch of things that are controllable but regular high-frequency tinnitus isn't one of them. Glad we can get some control over the lows though.

 

Hello All,

I hope that what I share might be useful to someone experiencing low-frequency tinnitus like I did. I was able to get it to completely stop after realizing the anxiety/stress-induced effect on my body’s muscles surrounding my auditory system.

What Happened?

At the onset, I felt like I had a "clogged" Eustachian tube. This lasted for about 4 or 5 days. Then I started to hear and FEEL rumbling in my right ear. For 2 weeks I attributed it to trains/traffic rumbling in my house. I was absolutely convinced that it was external until I took a 2-hour trip and heard it and realized it was coming from me and it was in my right ear. I tried to deal with it using what I learned from habituating to my high-frequency tinnitus. Then, as I listened to it more to try and figure it out (and I could feel it for real), it got weird.

I noticed that when my TV was on or there was an external sound loud enough, the rumbling would instantly stop, but in pauses of silence, it would "kick back in" and then stop with noise in a flash. I was convinced that it was ETD and somehow pressure within the middle ear was off messing up my hearing. My ears did hurt here and there and the "pressure" in my head was off. I made an ENT appointment, and we all know how that went (hearing test fine, nothing he could see, good luck with your tinnitus dude).

It got worse in the week to follow and even more weird as I began to closely monitor it (like we all do). The rumbling was reactive as hell, and I could literally hear my auditory system turning on and off like a warped tape player. My ability to hear acoustics in a room was also way off. This is when I knew something physical was wrong.

Like many, I have anxiety, and for 99% of us with somatic tinnitus, that is the root cause, and it is in this case. However, the anxiety, along with weight-lifting, chewing gum, and Bruxism is what led to my low-frequency tinnitus. I finally figured out that my jaw and facial muscles along with my back and neck muscles were so tightly wound that they were "pulling" on my Eustachian tube and other hearing organs. When I realized this, I went to work moving and massaging EVERYTHING.

I'm not going to provide a list of all the muscles that are involved (yet... see below) but let's just say that there is no "one" muscle. I damaged my system through physical and emotional stress so much that it affected my auditory system. But because I have high-frequency tinnitus in the other ear, I didn't think there was a fix, until one night when I massaged my temporalis for 15 minutes and the next day the rumble was a bit softer. At first, I didn't think it could be that simple, and it wasn't, but to skip ahead, just know that I kept poking and prodding and realized that I had multiple muscles that needed serious attention.

THE FIX

This is what I want everyone reading this and looking for hope to look and read because I did get rid of it through self-massage therapy using a Magnesium-based balm. Nightly self-massage therapy treatments for a week nearly eliminated the "hum." As I write this, it's at a .5 or 0 out of 10. It was a 6 out of 10 at its worst. I am so relieved, and I want to share what I did in hopes that this will help others.

Note: I suggest, if you have experience, use Cannabis before you massage. I do not think it is necessary and you do not want to get "baked." However, there is truth to the medicinal properties of Cannabis if used correctly and in moderate amounts. You can tolerate pain more, you can link your mind to your body more effectively, and it is a proven anti-inflammatory. Just keep in mind that when you smoke, it affects your auditory system and perception by making it more "alert” and your tinnitus will get louder (temporarily). I would not suggest the inexperienced use Cannabis for self-massage for tinnitus (you will give yourself a panic attack). Still, I am convinced it helped me locate all the spots that needed massage and to help tolerate the pain. I know that sounds like some wacky voodoo shit or an excuse to get high, but it’s not.

Step 1: Find All of the Problem Areas... No, I Mean ALL!

This diagram might be useful.

I found muscle knots/pain in the following and massaged them all for 30 minutes or more per night using the balm (I did internal oral massage without any balm just to be clear):

Jaw:

• Lateral Pterygoid (internal massage)
  
  
• Medial Pterygoid (internal and external massage)
  
  
• Masseters (internal and external massage)
  
  
• Temporalis

For this group of muscles, you need to massage inside your mouth, including the lower jaw bone behind your last molar—yes, the bone. Mine was bruised from all the force of my Bruxism. You need to “dig deep” particularly in the upper recess of your mouth behind your last molars to learn how to reach and massage your pterygoids. I think they play a major role in this. Keep in mind, this is very painful, but no pain no gain.

Neck:

• Digastric: this is a MAJOR player in creating the rumble because it affects the Eustachian tube (I think it connects to tissue very close to it or on it). It also connects to the base of your skull under and behind your ear. To reach it, you need to open your jaw and force your fingers to wrap around your jawbone behind your ear lobe and press down into your neck/skull. While you are at it, might as well massage behind your jawbone all the way down where the medial pterygoid connects.
  
  
• SCM: Massage the whole thing. From the base of your skull to your clavicle (shoulder girdle). Again, a horrible, horrible amount of pain to do this right, but it must be done. I had several knots near my ear and lower toward my torso (still do).
  
  
• Trapezius: From the back of your shoulder blade to the base of your skull.
  
  
• Splenius Capitis and Levator Scapulae: To get to these you need to lean your head forward and just push hard against your neck on both sides.

In addition, make sure you move your ear cartilage around. Literally, grab your ear hole and just move it hard. Mine hurt so bad at first, but it was the first thing to start to feel better.

Finally, I would suggest that even if your other side feels fine, you spend some time doing this on both sides!

Again, I hope this helps someone out there. I am still in shock that I was able to get the rumble to subside.

 

Update:

It has been several months with no evening fan/inhibition and still my low hum is around 1/10 most of the time. It can flare up to 2/10 with lots of music. But there are not many days where it’s full blast non-stop like the first year.

So this is getting close to 5 months of it being low.

I hope that gives some of you hope. It’s been 2.5 years since it started for me and it used to be way louder way more often.

 

In my case chewing makes the hum very loud for a few minutes and then it goes back to its baseline. I started chewing gum regularly because of my ETD and discovered this. Other than sometimes, especially when I am active throughout the day, the hum disappears completely (I check it by wearing earmuffs). But as soon as I go to bed for sleep, it appears again, usually when I am sleeping on my side.

For me it is time to see a jaw specialist for a possible TMJ disorder and neurologist for neck and brain MRI maybe neck or jaw are the reason of my ETD.

 

Update:

My low-frequency tinnitus has lately been low (for the last 2 months?).

What changed (since onset 3.5 years ago)?

- I changed my mind on my initial approach where I said you should not overprotect. I found that in TOTAL silence, my buzzing became less, so I started to wear 35 dB earplugs while driving, while washing hair, while taking showers, while vacuuming. So my ears are in "relative" silence most part of the day.

- I started taking blood pressure pills (because my blood pressure was too high, duh).

Those, and time obviously, are the only two things that changed.

Some nights when I go to sleep and I enter my bedroom, the low-frequency tinnitus is even OFF (it starts back up when I lie down after a couple minutes, but lowish, like I said). But the completely OFF thing is something very new (and not due to residual inhibition).

Good luck to everyone. Get your blood pressure checked, also for general health purposes, it's a silent killer (as my doctor told me).

 

@Ben Winders, well done to you, and thanks for reporting.

This is another good example where silence and time have caused a reduction in tinnitus loudness.

 

Wouldn't you say that addressing the blood pressure was the main reason for your tinnitus improving?

 

Interesting. My low-frequency tinnitus also starts back up a few minutes after I lie down on an OFF-day. And if it's a good day where it's hardly noticeable, it will still increase when I lie down. I've tested sitting in the bed for various amounts of time before finally lying down to sleep, so the amount of silence in the bedroom is the same and I am "relaxed" and all, but the shift from upright to down changes something it seems...

 

No. The low-frequency tinnitus was lower before I started the blood pressure medication.

You are correct for pointing out a flaw in my post.

I double-checked my logbook (yes, I keep a logbook so I can backtrack to what changed in my diet / meds) and it was less aggressive before the blood thinners too.

They may have contributed to bring it down even more.

I repeat: for the first time in 3.5 years, it lately is OFF completely without any residual inhibition event! Even in the worst of days, it would sometimes be off completely after having been exposed to loud noise, only then to return even louder after x hours, after the residual inhibition had worn off.

For me, this is absolutely breaking news.

I'm obviously well aware that it can come back to previous horrible levels at any given moment, but I stand by my initial assessment that the lowering of the BRRRRRRR in my head is a combination of:

• Overprotecting (earplugs in car, Peltor when mixing my soup) > not exposing my ears to any long loud noise
• Time
• Getting more relaxed, bringing blood pressure down

Keep in mind that a while ago I drove to Croatia, in summer, with the windows open (earplugs in) and when I arrived after 3 days of driving, my ears went BRRRRRRR to an insane level. The crickets that were chirping made it many times worse (my BRRRRRR also responds to MacBook fans, which are similar frequency to crickets). I broke down and cried at the most beautiful place on earth.

That proves, again, that my BRRRRRRR is in direct correlation to higher frequency noise. Hence, protecting from long exposures of that type of noise is bringing my BRRRRRR down.

Position plays a big part.

Some days I can go into bedroom and hear my BRRRRRR. Then I try to make myself calm and sit on the edge of the bed. As soon as I bring my chin to my chest, the BRRRRRRR stops... completely. Chin back up and the BRRRRRRR starts up again. Mechanical much?

On bad intense days, this obviously does not work. I can flex my body in every imaginable position but the BRRRRRR stays strong through everything.

 

The rate of blood flow to the ears will change, as there is no need for blood pressure to work against gravity.

 

My low-frequency tinnitus is only one-sided. It sounds like the hum of doom / fills the space like a fog horn.

It seems to happen randomly, getting/feeling sick in my tonsils, or salt seems to be a connection.

Half dose diuretics and low salt (not no salt, just not overdoing 1.5g a day) with lots of water AND coffee does seem to help considerably.

If I feel sick, I can be assured it will sound like hell.

 

My low-frequency tinnitus is only in my left ear, unlike my mid and high-frequency tones, which are in both ears. The low-frequency tinnitus is always variable, not a constant level hum. I'm generally a lot more bothered by the mid and especially the high-frequency tinnitus.

But the low-frequency will sometime be quite low, even in a silent room, over days or longer when I won't really think about it, and other times annoyingly loud. I've had it a few years and haven't found any specific triggers - possibly walking outside when it's windy or driving the car might make it worse for a while. If there's an external low-frequency sound that is loud enough, like a low-frequency fan noise, the low-frequency tinnitus fade away during that time.

 

I also find that lying down always brings back the low-frequency tinnitus. Even though my hum-free days unfortunately occur less and less frequently, I always notice that the quiet phases occur during the day and the humming then returns overnight. As soon as I get up, it gradually disappears again. But as I already said, the quiet phases have become increasingly rare in the 10 years that I have been suffering from tinnitus.

 

That’s great news, Ben!

I have the same thing with head tilting down. So strange. And then it gets louder as I tilt up and worse as it goes back.

I’m currently down to 0 hum myself too.

 

The hummm hits me primarily after I drive, and generally only if I am in my own house. Makes no sense. The rest of the time it's this high-pitched static.

 

Gosh! 0 hum? Did it just happen or did you find something that worked? And how long did it take? Soon 2 years since I got it from the lumbar puncture...

 

I wanted to ask a general question about the low hum tinnitus. It seems like it’s been a bit more prominent now since I got a sinus infection and cold last year.

Being in a room with the ceiling fan used to mask it, but not anymore. I used to be able to clear my ears using the Valsalva maneuver and it would make the hum go away.

Does being in a quiet room make the humming louder for anyone else? I noticed the other day I was watching TV with no external sounds (fans, ceiling fans, etc.), and during small pauses of the show the BRRRR or hummmm would instantaneously go up really loud, then come back down.

 

Yeah, I mentioned it some posts back. A quiet room in my house, particularly quiet in very low frequencies, is when it's worst for me, but it's still worse sometimes more than others under the same conditions.

Mine isn't a constant volume hum or brrr, it's continuously variable like a distant flow of traffic or a distant subwoofer or wind, and only left ear.

Just over 3 years ago, I had thought I was hearing sounds outside my house for some time before realizing it was just in my head. I never heard it at work, even in my quiet office, because of the low frequency sounds through HVAC.

I have noticed it outside sometimes when it's quiet, even far from home while stopping for a break on a bike ride, but it's usually in my house, and always/only the left ear.

It never caused me too much anxiety compared to my high-frequency tinnitus which elevated suddenly to a higher volume a year after that.

 

Yeah, basically it can be immediately inhibited by certain level of low sound, it requires different amount depending on how strong it is that day.

You may not notice it on holiday at all for example due to outside sound or hotel A/C. Or people who live in NY definitely wouldn't even know if they had it just because of the low level sound that would inhibit it.

If you haven't noticed already, you'll also find it is inhibited for a few days after a louder noise exposure, for example a long flight or going to a club (with earplugs).

Good news is for a lot of us it comes and goes, usually in waves of a few weeks for me. So you may be experiencing more of a spike at the moment.

I'll need longer to know for sure, as it has come and gone over its lifetime of 2.5 years, however usually much shorter periods of a 2-6 weeks.

So the fact that over 6 months it's been trending down without any loud days (which I haven't seen since it started) and again now reached 0/10 is pretty good.

Changes:

1. I've gone to bars/clubs much less, almost never unless I have a gig. About 5 times in that period. Then strangely and counterintuitively after a louder exposure it'd go down even more permanently (at least on this current trend) - in other words the inhibition will kick in for a few days but it just never comes back to what it was before. This is opposite to what used to happen. It reminds me of hyperacusis in a way, like if you give it enough time without setbacks it can improve and stabilize.

2. I took Swisse 50+ multivitamin which has Magnesium and a bunch of other stuff. This seemed to help with distortions. and this has been consistent for the above time period, so am wondering if it's helped. The reactivity has been almost non-existent too.

I feel like I'm jinxing myself typing this out. Haha, but either way it's good it has calm periods.