Low Rumbling Hum On and Off

Hi all, found this site whilst Googling hum in ears. I am new here and well, it's more about support as nobody not even docs seem to be able to help let alone know anything. Firstly, in 2007 my left ear all of a sudden went deaf totally, it felt like a vacuum effect whilst losing hearing the more it 'sucked' so to say. It brought on instant vertigo which lasted 2 weeks and the hearing slowly returned over 9 months, but it left me with a permanent soft ringing which over the last 11 yrs I've got used to.

Sometimes it 'fine tunes' is what I call it. The ringing will go up real high for a few secs, then return to normal. All good.

Anyway, my main concern now is that 18 months ago, I started hearing what sounded like an alien spaceship hovering at night when I got home from work outside. I'd even look up! I started hearing it inside so thought it was something running but because I house sit a lot and noticed it in just about every house, I clued on after about 3 months that it was coming from me.

I also noticed that it would be worse when I drove anywhere and for however long. As soon as I turn the engine off BOOM there it is all around me but always more on my left side and what's really strange is that if I stick my fingers in my ears, it goes away, but it can start to come back slowly after a few minutes.

I went on an instant anxiety downward spiral thinking I had everything from tumours to aneurysms to HIV to anything you can think of. I have exhausted the medical dictionary 10 times over and have driven myself mad with what it could be. No doc has ever had an explanation or even been able to say anyone has ever presented with this before. Had every test and all clear, hearing, MRI's, scans etc. The only thing ever found was a left anterior sphenoid mild mucosal swelling which they ignored completely.

Last year, almost to the day it started but 1 year later, I left with my bf to go on a road trip which I was dreading due to the driving and it disappeared. That very same day! I didn't get it back until about 3 days before we were due to return but it never came back full force, only for a few days then gone again. That was November last year.

3 days ago, I noticed a slight rumble in my ear/head when I'm in bed watching movies on my laptop and today well it was back like it never left after I drive and now in bed and is worse if I lie back. I am so depressed as I thought it had gone and swore I'd die if it came back. I can deal with the noise...it's the not knowing what it is that kills me as I'm terrified it's something fatal or malignant.

The way driving brings it on big time and the way blocking my ears make it go away if only temporary should give me a clue to what it is and I'm a clever person but this one has me stumped!

On top of that in the last 3 months when it left I started getting acid reflux symptoms, again I thought nothing of it at first but 3 months later it's like wtf is causing it? Same deal......no idea.

So now I get the hum plus get to feel sick with heartburn too, which funny enough seems to feel better if I lie down and sleep, it almost disappears and some days it's not even there.

I feel like my body is attacking me. I am devoid of energy and tired all the time but docs don't seem worried.

Has anyone ever found a definitive answer to this humming? It seems to have a pulsating effect to it but it's not quite to the rhythm of my heart.

I'm at my wits end with this thing......sinuses? Fluid? Eustachian? Arteries? Oh my God it's enough to send you mad and I feel my fear and anxiety coming back over it. Thanks guys

 

I had a humming sound that drove me round the bend.
The only thing that helped me was a utube video easyjet masking.
Love glynis

 

Hi Glynis and thankyou. Yes I can imagine the going crazy. The thing with me is I want to know what it is not so much how to mask it as Im afraid its something serious and masking it wont help it. What did yours turn out to be? Like other people also head movements make it stop until I stop moving my head.....been to many docs who have never even suggested I have fluid or wax....NOTHING!

 

I get a low hum in my right ear. It used to pulse with my heart beat but now is constant when it comes. Luckily for my sanity it shuts up. It developed after acoustic trauma and resultant TTTS and worsening of hyperacusis.

Driving makes it worse and can’t hear it when blocking my ears too. As of this week, if I wobble my head it stops then resumes and goes away when i lay down.

It could be Eustacian or sinus related I guess. Last week I had a different hum that went away after using oxynase. This hum though was unaffected by it.

I had thought for me maybe residual issues with my tensor tympani muscle after TTTS symptoms subside. It is possible your deafness was caused by your middle ear muscles malfunctioning for a long time. They control the little bones that allow sounds to be conducted to your cochlea. Not sure if it would result in total deafness but I do get mild hearing loss when TTTS flares up.
Were you in a stressful period when your sudden deafness happened?

Otherwise it could be vascular/blood flow - maybe vasospasm but I can only speculate as I’m not a doctor. I want to get it checked out but am hesitant about throwing more money away on ENTs without getting any assistance, which seems to be the same experience you have had.

 

Hi and thankyou for replying. I don't recall anything stressful at the time no. I did have a cold the week before which is what all docs honed in on and it was a bad one with a fever which is unusual for me. I was happy to accept it at the time and 11 yrs later I'm ok with it. It's this new hum that gets me real scared. What I find weird but also reassuring is how we can make it stop by blocking our ears or not driving in my case. If I didn't drive anywhere it wouldn't come on at all. Well, I'm guessing that as the longest I've gone without driving is 3 days and I didn't get it until I drove again. This tell me (and I could be wrong) that it's not a tumor or aneurysm or vein related as how could those things react to /driving? Or rustling paper bags or sticking your fingers in your ears? Feels more blockage/muscle spasm/fluid/vibration of sorts but what is the question. I can live with the hum. I can't live with not knowing...

 

Sure, I guess it could be middle ear tympani muscle and/or stapedius muscle related, or some kind of temporary inflammation. I have TTTS so was thinking along those lines. But if you don't have that, then maybe your ears are just sensitive (?). The fact it goes away and is not always constant is also reassuring. I would get it checked out if you are concerned and have a good ENT.

 

Hello again, yeah it is good when it went/goes? I guess I'm just so disappointed it came back after 3 months and for the life of me I don't know what I did. I don't like not knowing why my body does something. There's not muchmore that is distressing than that. But I have seen an ENT for it who did scans and all kinds of tests and said there was nothing. All my hearing is fine, movement of drum, ear to brain fine, MRI nothing...NOTHING. They're all coming at me with stress. I'm happy to say stress might make it worse, it's not what's causing it tho. We'll see I suppose. But I'm reassured I'm not the only one going thru this, yet it seems nobody really knows why it's happened to them either. Would be awesome to hear from anyone who found out what theirs was????

 

Hi Opus,
Sorry to read that you are suffering.
Have you ever looked into ways of improving your symptoms with food? The reason I say this is because of the acid reflux and fatigue you are experiencing. Some natural health practitioners (such as William W Rasmussen M.A.) suggest that correcting metabolic and pH imbalances can improve the functioning of the nerve cells in the ears, but also improve your overall health.
More info about the Alkaline diet: https://draxe.com/alkaline-diet/.
Hang in there! I truly believe that things will improve for you!
Take care,
Maria