It is possible for me to create the sensation of a “roaring” sound in my head by a technique I can only describe as tensing some muscles (?) that seem to be behind my eyes. This is most easily described to someone as the “sound” you hear when you close your eyes very tightly or yawn. Once you are cognizant of the sensation, it can be commanded with no outwardly apparent change in facial expression. I can only generate the sound for a maximum period of about 25 seconds, whereupon I must “untense” and something in my head “resets”, allowing me to reproduce the sound over and over.
Does this have a name? Or a useful purpose? Can it be detected as an audible sound by someone nearby? I think I once heard the term “entonic tone” used to describe this phenomenon, but that was years ago and I have forgotten the source. Google seems to think I’m looking for “etonic”.
I dunno, but I can do that too. I’d put the muscles involved in my ears though, not behind the eyes. If you stuck a microphone in your ear you could probably record some sound, since it seems to be mechanical in nature, rather than nervous.
This may be the same thing Q.E.D. is talking about but…I can make some soft of a sound in my head as well. I somehow devolped it to un-pop my ears, it’s sort of a clicking sound, but I can also “hold it” which has no become habit to do as I roll up a car window while going at high speeds as that seems to pop my ears. Now that I think about it, it’s the same sound/feel/click that you get when you plug your nose and blow (gently) through it to un pop your ears. Am I making sense?
It sounds like you’re opening up your eustachian tubes, which connect the middle ear to the throat, and are used to equalize the pressure behind your eardrum.
When I do it, it seems to involve only the ears, and I can’t sustain it longer than a second or two. It’s sort of a muffled, rolling sound, like distant thunder.
I can do it for much longer, but I don’t like to. I get this weird feeling in my head that I don’t like. You know when you feel a sneeze coming up, it’s sort of like that…Well more like, when your just about to yawn and your ears get funny, like that. If I do it for to long, I get that yawn feeling stuck in my ears for a few minutes. Then when that happens I can’t talk cuz everything I say echos in my head. I should stop writing this now, it’s late and all this talk about yawning…
I can do it too, but like panache45, only for a few seconds. Could it be the result of muscles in the ear vibrating quickly (when stretched) which could use the fluid behind the ear drum to create the sound? It sounds like it’s sound hitting our eardrum, but from the inside instead of out.
You are describing the “valsalva” maneuver, chiefly used (in my experience) to equalize the pressure on both sides of the eardrums when making large vertical excursions in the atmosphere, such as descending in an airplane or elevator. Ascending usually presents no problem since the pressure automatically equalizes via the eustacian tube(s), resulting in the familiar “pop” when you are going up. Coming down is a different matter and requires some “help” in the form of the valsalva maneuver
You are describing the “valsalva” maneuver, chiefly used (in my experience) to equalize the pressure on both sides of the eardrums when making large vertical excursions in the atmosphere, such as descending in an airplane or elevator. Ascending usually presents no problem since the pressure automatically equalizes via the eustacian tube(s), resulting in the familiar “pop” when you are going up. Coming down is a different matter and requires some “help” in the form of the valsalva maneuver. The sound referred to in the OP has no connection, AFAIK, to valsalva.
I’d wager that it is a byproduct of “clenching” a group of muscles surrounding the otic canal. I think this is some sort of reflexive move to protect your hearing in case of extremely loud noises.
I’ve always assumed that you are hearing blood vessels being brought into mechanical contact with aural structures. The sound is blood rushing through your circulatory system.
I get this too. It is definitely linked to problems I have in my jaw, neck and shoulder. If my physio gives my neck muscles a hard time he can trigger it every time.
Valsalva is straining against a closed glottis – basically what you do when you are constipated and sitting on the pot. Due to a bunch of physiologic things that go on, it causes a mild decrease in blood pressure while you are doing it, followed by a sharp peak. That’s wy people stroke out on the head.
Sounds like you are opening your eustachian tubes as well. You get pretty good at it if you scuba dive. It is useful to be able to do this for equalizing the throat pressures with the middle ear, both when ascending and descending.
For me, it is just a low rumble with a preceding pop as I break through all of that chronic congestion I seem to have floating around up there. Should be easy enough to stimulate, but I don’t know if what you are perceiving is actually a sound so much as making some type of pressure or shape change in the middle ear which is affecting how the inner ear perceives sound. I say this because the sound is always constant; it is not affected by other noises or by blood flow (you can’t hear your heartbeat through it, so it is probably not the sound of blood flowing).
Zenster
You do have muscles which dampen the hearing response: the tensor tympani comes to mind and IIRC there is another one. These are activated by simple things like loud noises (with a relatively small attack – think thunder which is probably the loudest noise we hear in nature regularly) or speaking. My physio professor said that we should hum before firing a gun without ear protection or generating a large sharp noise – activate the tensor tympani and it will protect your hearing somewhat because it won’t have time in a loud sharp noise. These dampening mechanisms don’t seem to change the qualities of hearing like the eustachian tube thing, so I don’t think it is part of that.
The “rumble” in your head is almost certainly caused by muscles near your inner ear. Tensed muscles don’t put out a perfectly smooth force. Just clench your fist tightly and notice the quivering motion.
Also, I notice that my hearing is decreased during the rumble. I don’t think it’s only because the rumbling sound masks the room noise. I’ve heard that there’s a muscle which controls the taughtness of your eardrum, and it tightens to damp out extremely loud noises. I wouldn’t be suprised if the rumble is caused by tensing this muscle under conscious control
I learned conscious control of the “rumble” as a kid, after noticing the rumble sound right at the end of a full yawn. Here’s a bit about it: http://amasci.com/brain/ under the “kaboom” entry.
I find that I can make the “rumble” last much longer if I squeeze my eyes shut and jam my tongue against the roof of my mouth.
I can do it. In fact, I’ve always wanted to ask about it on the Dope, but I could never think of how to phrase it (I can make this really wierd noise, but only I can hear it. It involves tensing muscles that I can’t really feel…)
I don’t even have to try hard to make it last longer. I clicked myself at over a minute before I had to stop to swallow.
I’ve been opening my eustachian tube to equalize small pressure changes ever since I was a kid, though, so I’ve had a lot of practice. I’ve never had my ears pop while flying, because when I feel the pressure building up, I “manually” equalize it.
I know exactly what you guys mean. I’ve been able to do this for years, but I never had any idea how to explain it to people. Thank you guys for solving one of the mysteries of my life…
I always just assumed that it was a flexing of whatever muscle(s) controls the tightness of the eardrum. It certainly makes loud noises more tolerable.
Chalk me up as one of those who has been doing this since early childhood, and who can hold it for an extended period of time. Gets pretty uncomfortable, though.
edwino: Valsalva is straining against a closed glottis.
Agreed. Slight hijack, but this mistake keeps cropping up on SD. The Valsalva maneuver is not just blowing your eustachian tubes (which can be done with chest relaxed and adjusting pressure in the nasopharynx alone) but, as you say, trying forcibly to exhale while closing all air outlets.