Whenever I yawn I hear a low rumble or drum roll inside my ears. What is it? Has the ghost of John Bonham taken up residence inside my head?
Yep man, you are possesed, although not John Bonham, I believe it to be the living and transient Ringo Star. He is looking for some gigs, and is using your head to get them. Don’t worry, just go to a kareoke bar near you and belt out Yellow Submarine and he will be satisfied, maybe.
If that doesn’t do it, try a rendition of “ob la di ob la da” that should exorcise the demon Ringo right out of you.
It could be related to the eustachian tube, which runs from the back of your throat to the middle ears. Yawning will usually cause the eustachian tubes to open, allowing air to enter the middle ear space and equalize the air pressure in there. This is part of the reason why opening your mouth wide or chewing gum while on an airplane will help relieve the sensation of pressure in your ears.
The rumbling sound you perceive may be the sudden equalization of pressure in your middle ears.
Have you had a cold recently? If you’ve had congestion secondary to a cold or allergies lately, you may have some middle ear fluid in your ears, which can lead to some odd perceptions of sound. I remember last winter I had a very nasty cold, and my middle ears were quite plugged up. Since I have a severe to profound hearing loss, this created a problem for me, since the congestion greatly limited what benefit I could get from hearing aids. But another symptom I noticed was that whenever I listed to amplified sound, I would eventually begin to perceive a loud droning sound, which threatened to overwhelm my ability to perceive anything else.
After the congestion cleared up, the sounds went away.
Atreyu,
I have had this condition ever since I can remember, but it could very well be unique to myself, as I was congenitally deaf. Basically, I was born with a chronic ear infection(media otitis) and my ears were filled with fluid, a result of the infection. The fluid was backed up against the eardrum and it was unable to vibrate. They expelled the fluid by way of a simple operation and I now have close to perfect hearing(I have played drums for several years).
I was always under the impression that everyone heard rumbling whenever they yawn. Yawn for me please, right now, and see if you can hear it. It is probably something you have grown so accustomed to, like dragging your fork across the bottom of your top teeth, that you don’t consciously recognize it.
Am I really the only one that hears the rumbling?
If I may ask something, Sultan?
Does this happen only when you yawn, or can it be reproduced simply by opening your mouth wide?
I get that effect when I clench my eyes and the muscles near my ears… I’m wondering if what you’re hearing is just the muscles attached to the ear, when they tense, tremoring just enough to vibrate your eardrums…
of course, since any other muscles are not attached to your ears, their tremoring wouldn’t be heard…
Glenoled
I hear that kind of noise when I do a really huge yawn, you know, the kind where your face and jaws ache after and your eyes are watering. I always thought it was due to my jaw myscles being tense, my ears being temporarily stopped up while i am yawning, etc etc.
Gawd, now that i experimented on myself by yawning several times, i CAN’T STOP. Oy.
So, it’s probably a common thing. Although I never ever thought about it until it was brought up in this thread. Weird.
Lorie
If I place my finders inside my ears and bend them slightly to open the ear canal, I can hear a rapid fluttering sound. Everyone else I’ve asked to try it has no idea what I’m talking about.
I can “flex” muscles in my ears to produce the roaring sound, even with my mouth closed.
Bet you wish you were me!
Yes, I can reproduce the sound by opening my mouth and squeezing my eyes shut very tightly.
Did I forget to mention that before I yawn there in an intro by Crackle from the famous Snap, Crackle, and Pop trio?