Vibrating Hum in Apt

This might be a silly concern. I don't know. It's a low-pitched vibrating hum in my apartment (not in my ear). It's not that loud, but I'm afraid it could be harming my ear because of the vibrating quality.

My DH believes it is coming from another apartment, but considering how sound travels in this building, there's no telling which one. The sound isn't loud enough to bother DH, so he just ignores it. I would just ignore it too (annoying though it is) if only I wasn't concerned that it's harming my ear.

There's no point in calling the super because I already know that it's not loud enough to be illegal, even at night. So even if I knew where it was coming from or what was casuing it, there wouldn't be anything I could do to stop it.

It all began on 3/2/18. At first it started in the early evening and was still going when I fell asleep, but now it's often there in the daytime. So the noise is nearly constant the entire time I'm at home. I can't wear ear muffs the entire time I'm at home. And moving is not finanically possible.

If it's not harming me, at least I can bear it, but I'll only know if it's harming me if more damage becomes apparent ~ and even then I'm trapped here because no one cares about a person in rent-stabilized housing complaining of something that no one believes in.

 

Oh...yes I know the sound well. It is probably someone's appliance like a refrigerator. I noticed the new ones are much more humming than older ones. Especially ours!! It is like my brain picks up on these sounds more.

In fact one example is this. We have issues with pin hole leaks in our home's water supply lines. One day I noticed a hissing sound that no one else heard. Turned out the plumber went under the house and a pipe had sprung a leak. It was a pin hole in the hot water pipe and water was spraying out.

Can you believe that!

 

Yes, it's like having super-hearing. Not the superpower I would have wanted. Super-strength or super-speed maybe. Flying definitely. But super-hearing just super-sucks.

 

Ha! I know. Crazy to hear/feel certain sounds over all the tinnitus racket in our brains.

 

Get a sound meter app or real sound meter and check the lower frequencies.
I would prefer a hum in my house than the one in my head.

 

I hate to say this, but that is exactly what I thought when my T started. It was after dental work and I had all kinds of other issues going on with my health and stayed home from work one day. I thought the neighbor or landlord put in a high frequency sound thing- like maybe for insects or as a prank. When I left home at first, sometimes if I got far enough away from home it stopped. I finally pinpointed this to when I passed a county line. Another two times it was gone when the emergency broadcast and public library internet and fire dept internet was down and just as soon as those came back online, my tinnitus started up. A third time, I went to the library and found that they had internet so it wasn't always the case. I've moved four times since this started. Once was into a different state, another was in a town where I hadn't been able to hear it and then again, and here where in all cases the sound began in a matter of two weeks. Yesterday I had no t most of the day. This morning either the cable internet was down and as soon as that went online my T started ramping up. It is RF, I am certain. Just what and why and why no doctors or dentists will help and it is labeled auditory delusional, I am not sure. Good luck. By the way, my sound meter on my now broken blackberry playbook measured 90db in an otherwise quiet apartment when it first started.

 

Me too. I'm long past being merely annoyed by environmental noises. Now I worry about them damaging my ear.

 

Hi Laurie. My DH hears the noise as well so I know it's not my T. He ignores it, which is what I'm trying to do too. It doesn't seem that loud. I just worry about all kinds of sounds nowadays.

 

I think it’s more like having the super power of obsession to detail. It’s very useful when trying to focus on solving other peoples problems but a real pain when we obsess about things to do with ourselves.

 

Ditto here SugarMagnolia. But after so many years with intrusive tinnitus somewhere down the line I simply lost that fear and didn't realize it! Still though I am able to pick up on sounds no one else can hear. I had to replace my beloved gas double oven with an electric oven. The electric oven has that hummmmmm sound when on. Grrr...
It bothers me but I know those types of noise are not going to cause any inner ear damage.

Actually as weird as this may sound (pardon the pun) maybe someone here knows about electromagnetic energy, but we have places in town where it is known that some type of magnetic type of sound has been disturbing the neighborhood garage doors which will go up and down without being used and the fab key that opens your car doors. They petitioned the local government about the issue. Not sure what happened.

I found this out while parked in the beach village here. I went into a shop to purchase something came out and hit my key and the door would not open. Of course one would first think it was the battery. But it wasn't. The shop owner came out and told me the story and I had the battery fab key checked.

The unfortunate part unrelated to tinnitus is that is when I found out my door key did not open my door. It worked in the ignition but I had never had to use it in the door. So I had to go to the dealership and have a new key made.

Lucky I just live a mile from the area.

Oh forgot to mention since the worry is damage to your ears these sounds pose no ear damage danger at all.

 

Obsession is my middle name. Think of any situation ~ anything! ~ and I'll come up with a way it could cause catastrophic damage to your health.

 

For two years I had T and didn't worry much about it getting worse. I gave up concerts and my ipod, but I didn't jump every time something beeped. Then I sat next to a door that emitted a loud high-pitched beep when it opened. My left ear was literally right next to it.

Ever since then I've developed new symptoms: First, minor ear pain and increased sensitivity to sound, especially high-pitched sounds. Then some minor jaw tension. And finally, clicks when I swallow.

When I first heard that beep, I thought my T went up and I panicked. I think all the symptoms I've developed since then might be related to anxiety and muscle tension. I've read about TTTS. I'm trying to reduce my anxiety in the hope that my muscles will loosen up and the symptoms will go away. Then I'll be back to my usual T.

It's just my dumb luck that this new humming sound started a few days after my ear got 'beeped.' I keep telling myself that it's not hurting me. It's good to know you're familiar with such sounds and that they're not really harmful.

 

I've heard of the garage door mystery- frequency opens them so it has to be a source of RF, I'd think. And the key thing--Ive been dealing with all month. Key wouldn't go into ignition, then it wouldn't turn when it did and now it turns but the engine will not start. I have an older car- saturn, there's no dealer but what's more there's no chip in the key. It operates by passkey and that too can be screwed up with RF. If I had money to take a cab to a key maker - I wouldn't have enough money to make the key. Catch22.