# Why does stretching cause my hearing to shut down?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 3, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696 "2001-12-03T21:28:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@waxteeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waxteeth)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2001, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/1 "2001-12-03T21:28:04Z")
Sometimes when I have a good stretch my hearing drops off to 0%. I can’t recreate it intentionally but here is how it looks.
Hands up around the head, fists stretching back behind the ears, shoulder blades moving towards each other, head and neck slightly tilted back. If some conditions (unknown to me) during this stretch are met I loose hearing completely.
This hearing loss will remain in effect for as long as I continue to stretch.
Why is that?
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### Author:  [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2001, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/2 "2001-12-03T21:48:37Z")
I think the stretching compresses the eustachian(sp)tubes in your ears, and probably part of the blood flow and/or ear canal?
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### Author:  [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2001, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/3 "2001-12-03T23:27:44Z")
Well, I’m no ENT, but I have no problem playing one on the SDMB. I believe that the muscular tension you are inducing all around your body is also being transmitted to the tissues around your middle ear - including, most importantly, those supporting the tympanic membrane (right - technically not part of the inner ear - just the gateway). The tension effectively damps the vibrations of the membrane (ear drum) and to a lesser degree the ossicles, giving you the lack of hearing you report. That’s my theory and I’m sticking with it.
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### Author:  [@jackrabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackrabbit)
#### Post date: [December 3, 2001, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/4 "2001-12-03T23:49:32Z")
I experience the same phenomenon, except it’s not when I stretch, it’s when I yawn. And not every time I yawn, only during a really good, prolonged one. But get this, not only does my hearing decrease, the pitch of what I’m hearing is affected! For instance, if there’s music playing, and I have one of those jaw-wrenching yawns that makes my mouth open wide enough to house a 747, the tuning of the song can drop by as much as a semi-tone (which simply means it drops by one note on a piano). Pretty weird stuff. Has anyone else experienced this?
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### Author:  [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2001, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/5 "2001-12-04T00:04:30Z")
Para-otolaryngologist checks in again. I’m thinking that yawning, and maybe even stretching, effectively block air into and out of, and maybe even driving extra air into the eustachian tubes (as also posited by Tedster). What that might do is keep the eardrum from vibrating freely, since the eustachian tube actually opens into the middle ear and permits the free vibrations of the auditory membrane. Of course, another guess would be that for unknown reasons, whenever you yawn or stretch, ALL SOUNDS WITHIN YOUR HEARING RANGE CEASE. I think it’s unlikely, but you have to look far and wide to solve some problems.
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### Author:  [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2001, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/6 "2001-12-04T00:26:31Z")
Well, I can assure you that I’m much less of an authority than CC, but I’m inclined to agree with his/her muscle hypothesis. I can cut off my hearing just by clenching my jaw, and I’m under the impression that the tension I’m putting on my temporalis and company must be doing what he/she described to tissues throughout my head, since that’s where I’m focusing my effort here.
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### Author:  [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2001, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/7 "2001-12-04T02:05:56Z")
jackrabbit, I have had the exact same experience, and I even read a question about this in “The Last Word” on New Scientist magazine’s web site. My non-MD WAG is that it’s deforming the cochlea slightly.
Also, once when I had an ear infection, for one whole day the affected ear was about 1/4 tone lower than the other.
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### Author:  [@waxteeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waxteeth)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-stretching-cause-my-hearing-to-shut-down/96696/8 "2001-12-04T02:47:53Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jackrabbit \*
> \*\*I experience the same phenomenon, except it’s not when I stretch, it’s when I yawn. \*\*
I’ve also had it happen when I yawn. During a BIG yawn I have a slight fluttering inside my ears just before the sound goes out.
> [@](#):
>
> - Originally posted by CC \*
> \*\* Of course, another guess would be that for unknown reasons, whenever you yawn or stretch, ALL SOUNDS WITHIN YOUR HEARING RANGE CEASE. \*\*
😃 😃