My Eardrum Reacts (I Hear/Feel a Contraction/Twitch) to Sudden Noises

I just realized that my right eardrum (or some inner muscle) reacts to moderately loud sudden noises, like fingers snapping or the clang of stoves. I hear/feel a contraction/twitch that lasts a fraction of a second, an heartbeat-type of sound. It's literally provoked by sounds; an identical sound does not provoke any reaction if the ear is plugged. No pain at all, maybe only a light tickle sensation.

I have mild/moderate bilateral tinnitus caused by headphones (that I dropped) usage; I have not been exposed to any loud noise.

At the moment I am on a regime of Magnesium citrate (powder, 1-2 times / day), NAC (750 mg, once per day) and Omega-3 (1g, once per day). I am also taking 10 mg of Ebastine per day (it's an antihistamine for my seasonal allergy).

Never taken any other medications.

Is this psychosomatic? Should I start worrying?

 

That sounds like Tonic Tympani Tensor Syndrome. It can basically disappear, it did for me more or less, but I had to force it.

It took about 10 months in my case, and the improvement happened gradually.

I've read it can be triggered by anxiety. Not sure how true that is.

 

Did it bother you a lot?

I do not notice mine unless I deliberately/accidentally trigger it. I might have had it even before, but today I realized that some noises definitely provoke the muscle contraction.

 

Yes, that's most likely Tonic Tympani Tensor Syndrome (TTTS).

I guess it's related to decreased sound tolerance.

I'm struggling with a pretty bad case myself after my hyperacusis crept back 3 months ago followed by a setback, so now my own voice triggers this spasm in my right ear.

Very annoying.

 

I suppose it's not your eardrum, but one of your middle ear muscles. After onset, my left ear did that too for months to relatively moderate sounds: utensils clanging together, paper or plastic crumpling, my roommate's shrill voice. I also had loudness hyperacusis and some distortions as well. The sound/feeling did not bother me that much, it was not horribly uncomfortable, but I was out of my mind anxious because I thought that it showed that I was doing further damage to my hearing. I don't know whether this is true or not. I read that middle ear muscles are there to provide some protection against loud, sudden noises, but also read info contradicting that, so I don't know.

For a while now, I think, I haven't experienced it or I haven't paid attention, and because I'm pretty much consumed by tinnitus, I guess, it's a good sign that it hasn't crossed my tolerance level lately.

 

Do you remember how many months you had it, approximately?

That's good. Maybe a bit off-topic, but has your hyperacusis improved much?

 

Same!

Same. But it's kinda impossible that I am doing further damage, I am literally sitting in a 30dB room almost 24/7 and I do not even have hyperacusis...

Strangely enough, a continuous loud noise does not trigger it, but a sudden moderately loud does. I started thinking that I always had it and I realized it only today.

 

Around at least 3/4 year, I guess.

Yes, my hyperacusis has greatly improved, but to be honest, it was nowhere near as severe as some of you have it, I think it was only mild, moderate at worst. I have some type of reactivity to moderate sounds still, like vacuuming/car/dog barking/drying my hair with protection still give me hour long spikes, but a huge deal is that shower is spiking me a lot less lately.

 

I have the same thing. And it’s aggravated by certain types of noise. I can be in 100 dB no problem but my kids speaking loudly would set it off. I figured it was a mix of hyperacusis and TTTS and it has gotten better over the last few weeks. I figure I’ve had it for a few months now.

 

Very glad that it got better for you! I wonder what's the weight of the psychological/psychosomatic component here. I feel like the state of alert and stress (I am stressed for other things and tinnitus does not make things easier) in which my body is right now predisposes the muscle to that reaction... hard to explain.

 

Like @Stacken77 said mine also reacts to my voice if I speak, only the left eardrum though, also like yours it only reacts to certain noises and not continuous ones. Mine always thumps whenever I use nail clippers, touch the tragus, put dishes on the table, etc. Hasn't gotten better in years, unfortunately.

 

I understand what you are saying.

I used to get this fluttering which I am sure was driven by anxiety. I can tell you that I stop get a very faint rumble in some positions lying down. Only in the morning or night, I never hear it during the day and for the most part does not bother me.

Now in terms of anxiety causing the hyperacusis or TTTS, I actually believe it might be caused by TMJD. I can’t explain exactly why, but it came on a couple months after my tinnitus and mine was not pose induced. I wasn’t particularly anxious at the time it came on but I believe the s constant stress caused Bruxism and TMJ issues which led toothed issues in the ear. I can’t say for sure but it just feels that way. I am seeing an ENT on Thursday so I’ll let you know his input.

 

Thanks for starting this thread. It wasn’t really bothering me, but I was wondering what it was. Almost feels like the ear flinching a bit in response to sharp sounds. It’s still there a bit but has gotten much better since onset. My pain hyperacusis largely cleared up around the 5 month mark.

 

Although you have had tinnitus for around six months, it is likely to improve over the next 12 to 18 months and beyond, providing you don't do anything that will make it worse. It is quite possible for it to reduce to a very low level where you will hardly notice it and it could completely go away. You might not think this is possible but I assure that it is, since you have said your tinnitus is mild to moderate at the moment.

I suggest that you continue taking the Magnesium citrate for at least two years. Magnesium helps to repair nerves throughout the body. The auditory system consists of many nerves. I was told to take it by a herbalist that knew a lot about noise induced tinnitus 25 years ago and I'm sure it helped. My ENT doctor at the time said this was good advice and is something he advises all his tinnitus patients to take including Ginkgo biloba.

Try doing the things that you like to do and concentrate on the positive things in your life. This will help take away your focus on the tinnitus and will allow the habituation process to take effect. Stress can affect a person's mental and emotional well-being a lot in the early stages of tinnitus which you are still in. This takes time settle, so try not to worry as I feel you are on the right path to making a very good recovery. Please click on the link below and read my post the habituation process.

I wish you well.
Michael

The Habituation Process | Tinnitus Talk Support Forum

 

I had an online chat with an ENT (he did not even charge me) yesterday, I picked him because I saw that he does research at the local university. He was not super knowledgeable in tinnitus, but it was a better experience than the average ENT experience described on here. He said that in his experience such a long lasting bilateral tinnitus in a patient of my age with no history of noise exposure and no bad genetics is quite rare, even more so considering that I did not even have an actual noise insult... and TTTS is even rarer. I wonder what life is preparing for me

 

Thank you for your nice words and your recommendations

I was doing kinda fine, this TTTS thing shook me a bit. I lean to think that I always had it, but now I am aware of it :/

 

You can have a life that is fulfilling and will enable you to do whatever you want to do. I am very serious about this. The only limitations are in your mind. Focus on positivity and don't let tinnitus diminish the light within you.

 

Not before, but now it does, because of a stupid thing I did. It gets triggered by most things now.

 

I've had this too! This started for me even before the onset of my tinnitus. Certain sounds/frequencies would make my right ear twitch/vibrate.

It disappeared by itself though and I haven't had this for quite a while now.

 

Now my whatever-muscle-inside-the-left-ear twitches a bit every now and then, several times per day. This does not react to noise, it is more like an involuntary spasm. I also got random stabbing chest pain, seems like Precordial catch syndrome. I probably just need a break for a couple of weeks.

 

Mine does this sometimes too. Not only does it spasm in response to sound, it can also just go in to a spontaneous spasm where the ear twitches like 5-10 times in a very rapid succession. It's very weird. I believe the nervous system and tensor tympani, or whatever muscle involved, is on edge because of decreased sound tolerance and this causes these unsettling spasms.

 

Same, it might be comorbidities in my case. When I am under huge amount of stress/pressure I develop this type psychosomatic shit. Last year I had UTI-like symptoms, subsided after three weeks on their own.

 

I notice the spasms and fluttering when stressed and have high anxiety. I never had these before tinnitus and only developed them recently. The fluttering happens only very intermittently, maybe once a day, and the reaction to noises is much better over the last two weeks. I believe that in your situation the chest pain and the spasms are being caused by anxiety. The next time you are getting the spasms, try and take some deep breaths. 4 count in and 8 count out, for a couple of minutes. This will activate your parasympathetic nervous system and put your body at rest.

 

For me it wasn't only noise. It was some movements too. Like when I was drinking something out of a can, like a Coca Cola, the movement made my ear twitch/vibrate too. But when I was drinking out of a glass, this didn't happen. Very strange.

 

This happens in a sense to me when I’m chewing certain foods and depending on the side of my mouth. The straw might be because of moving your jaw forward as I’ve read @Greg Sacramento mention this recently.

 

I'm new to this forum and I would like some help. I have had tinnitus basically all my life. I'm 26 now.

I have all my life got thumps and spasm from noises. But it has got worse in the last year not all noises do this to me. If I have a fan or water running, it won't happen. If I speak, after I'm finished speaking, it quickly thumps once.

I notice if I stick my finger in my ear when it's happening, it stops for a couple of seconds.

Can anyone please tell me what's going on? I think it's similar to what you're having but not 100% sure.

 

I thought it would be nice to expand on my recent profile post.

About a month ago, I wrote in this thread;

Now, about a month later, my TTTS spasms from my own voice have completely resolved. This is a significant improvement which I have no doubt about.

About a month ago, I started to work at my new job, following my graduation, which has forced me to use my voice more than before. Of course, during the 3 months following my setback in March, I used my voice, but maybe not enough, which probably was why I didn't see any improvements at all during that time. Now I can talk in my normal speaking voice without discomfort.

One thing to note is that higher frequency sounds still cause violent spasms, so my TTTS symptoms overall has not resolved completely. My guess is that; because I go around in hearing protection all day, protecting myself from most higher frequencies, the dynamic range of my auditory system has been broken. My talking may indeed have increased the tolerance of the lower frequencies, but the higher frequencies remain untouched. I believe this could be resolved by taking off the hearing protection, but as I have very bad reactive tinnitus, this is not really an option since I also spike to most sounds.

Now, don't get the idea that I'm advocating everyone that have TTTS symptoms to go out and expose themselves to uncomfortable sound. Everyone's case is different, and there may be different pathologies behind our symptoms which may or may not be treated in different ways. I'm just sharing my own experience, which may give someone else hope for better days.

I wish you all well, and the speediest of recoveries,
Stacken

 

Okay I’ll join this fantastic club we’re in here! Who knew this shit existed huh?

My twitches are from loud painful noises, harmless noises but only when in silence. Fan music or running water helps, so it’s sudden sharp noises at any dB you could say. Also if I yawn a lot!

I had it before tinnitus, but very very rarely. After tinnitus it has varied a lot how much I have it. What helps is to avoid loud incidents...

 

I had this after my initial acoustic trauma in June and it went away by the end of July.

I had an MRI in August and now it's back, unfortunately.

It gets triggered in my left ear when there is sharp noise, such as coffee beans falling into the grinder's hopper.

 

Have had this for 2 months, since I blew my nose too hard and caused a new ringing in my right ear. It feels like a muscle quickly contracting, I can feel it when it's quiet and there's a sudden sharp noise like a knock on the door or clapping. Good luck with yours, hope we can somehow naturally heal this crap.