'The Hum'

sugarman wrote: »

I have tinnitus and I'd never describe it as a "Hum" nor would anyone else ive met with it. Its more of a high pitch "ringing" thats always there.

A "hum" is low pitch. The fridge and ESB supply board in our house makes a "hum" that can only be heard at night when everything else is silent. Used to do my head in, still does on occasion.

Hum is electronic

It's probably coming from high voltage transmission lines in your area. It's more noticeable when the weather is misty and damp.

It's just the "hum" of AH posters, constant low level warbling away in the background.

I have light bulbs that make a very faint ticking when turned off.I can hear it at night when it's very quiet.

Hi. I have tinnitus for nearly 15 years and my sounds have changed a number of times over the years, unfortunitially usually not for the better. My most constant sound is that usual typical tinnitus constant ringing high pitched sound that some get after a concert or night club.

There are also other types of tinnitus, and sounds, including pulsative tinnitus. That I also have in my left ear for the last 2 years and I find that worse than the constant ringing

Originally , possibly before the ringing started, i used to hear sounds similar to the op. I can remember trying to find its source, thinking the radiator pump was running or that a lorry was running out side the house etc. This was evident at night when other sounds are quieter. I asked my wife about the sound and if she listened she could hear it. But looking back I think that if any of us listen hard enough we will hear something. The more the op listens to the hum the more they hear it.

I blame a particularly loud Christmas party and having a head cold for my tinnitus. after the party my ears were ringing and it just never stopped. A LOT of musicians and people who work in noisey environments have tinnitus.

At one stage, 2 years ago, the hum changed from the low noise to an increasing kind of pulsating sound that eventually got so loud that I had significant loss of hearing in one ear. It was definitively aggravated by low sounds, the kettle, an air conditioner running and being in a room with a lot of voices was a no no so it was difficult to go anywhere. I went to the doctor and even though the ears looked clear he put me on a course of tablets in case it was an internal inflammation and after a few weeks it reduced dramatically. This was probably a type of ear infection.

I say all this so that you know that it could be a number of things (including tinnitus) some reasons could go away with treatment others may linger or change. I hope it is external and that you can just unplug it!

My suggestions.

It might be an external sound or internal reason for what you can hear.

Tonight, listen to the sounds then put in earplugs and listen again. if the sound reduces then it is more likely to be external to you.

If you are worried then talk to a doctor about it, there are things they can help with. But ask them about their experience in dealing with tinnitus. I'm not a doctor but if anybody tells you tinnitus is only one particular type of sound you might need to seek advise elsewhere.

Eliminate *all* caffeine (even chocolate) from your diet for a full month and see if that helps. That is a common issue.

Try to make friends with the sound, this is hard to do. See if you can accept it so that it doesn't do your head in. I was lucky in that I was eventually able to live with my sounds, others have to play music low to hide the sound just so they can sleep.

Even if you find that this is not an internal issue and you find and stop that real humming motor, you now have a bit of experience of what mild(?) hearing issues are like. Remember this feeling and protect your ears from loud sounds (especially Christmas parties) so that it stays just a question you once asked on boards.ie
If I had just gone out to the bar rather than staying near the dance floor .......

Op is a Cylon…

JupiterKid wrote: »

Permanent tinnitus sufferer here too - it’s definitely not a hum. Could it be nearby power wires suspended on pylons?

theoldbreed wrote: »

My husband can hear it but it doesn't seem to bother him.

Since their husband can also hear it, I doubt it's tinnitus.

Also, although must hear a ring, some do just hear a hum.

I know the sound alright. There was a diesel car parked outside on the road last winter idling for 4 hours and it had an extremely low frequency sound that would make the inside of your brain shake. Not nice at all. If I was you, I'd wait till you hear it at night and take a walk around to see if a neighbour is using a diesel run machine because you can hear it from a good distance away, but you might be able to track it down.

Tinnitus is a very high frequency noise and the Hum is an extremly low frequency noise, so both are completely different.

There are a lot of fake video's out there as well though.

I wonder does the OP live near an industrial complex, as pipes can cause this hum as well if there is a decent breeze, and the sound can travel a good distance. A piping place that stocks plastic or metal pipes ?.

In the spring of 2012, when I was living near the coastal village of Sechelt, on British Columbia’s picturesque Sunshine Coast, I began hearing a humming sound, which I thought were float planes.

The noise usually started later at night, between 10 and 11 p.m. My first clue that something unusual was happening came with the realization that the sound didn’t fade away, like plane noises typically do. And the slightest ambient noise – exhaling audibly, even turning my head quickly – caused it to momentarily stop. One night after the sound started I stepped outside the house. Nothing.

I was the only person in the house who could hear it; my family said they didn’t know what I was talking about.

Naturally, I assumed something in the house was the culprit, and I searched for the source in vain. I even ended up cutting the power to the entire house. The sound got louder.

While I couldn’t hear the sound outdoors, I could still hear it in my car at night with the windows closed and the ignition off. I drove for miles in every direction, and it was still there in the background when I stopped the car. I was able to rule out obvious sources: industrial activity, marine traffic, electric substations and highway noise.

When I searched on the internet for “unusual low-frequency humming noise,” I soon realized that others had conducted the same search. I was part of the small fraction of people who can hear what is called the “Worldwide Hum” or, simply, the “Hum.”

The questions motivating me and thousands of others were the same: “What’s causing this? Can it be stopped?”

http://theconversation.com/cracking-the-mystery-of-the-worldwide-hum-60296

At that hour of the morning i'd doubt it, but there again its quite possible

I also wonder if a neighbour near-side uses a diesel powered generator, you have to take all this into concideration to rule it out, but the hum in my opinion is more likely to be coming from some machine that is run on diesel.

Also check your home plumbing pipes incase there is air being released/leaked.