"The HUM", a persistent Low Frequency Noise

I have had noises like that for several decades. Most of the time I can ignore it. Hopefully down the line the cochlear implant will take care of the tinnitus - one can only hope!

Thank you so much for this information. I will definitely see and ent and an audiologist and seek out as much information as I can from the American Tinnitus Association 🙂

Hi Julie, please let us know how you like the cochlear implant and whether it helps your tinnitus.

At the moment the normal tinnitus that I've had for ages seems to be the same, although I have the feeling it is coming more from the HA side rather than the CI side (at least this morning). At first there were a lot of really weird sounds after the surgery in the CI side but that seems to have cleared up a lot. Now I mostly get them when the TV is on (picking up the electronic emissions?). Some of the sounds that were loud I've identified, like the freezer and refrigerator, and they seem much less than before the surgery! I could never pinpoint them before and I used to search the house to see if something was running. Bill has a habit of hitting switches like fans, and I could hear them but again not pinpoint them. Yesterday I walked into the bedroom and immediately heard the fan on in the bathroom.

So even within the two weeks of activation my life has gotten easier on hearing things. The first day of activation, driving home, I actually not only heard sirens (which I hadn't for past few years) but also picked up which direction they were coming from so managed to stay out of their way (before I would have been in the middle of the intersection before seeing the flashing lights).

I presume I'm doing as well since I have the AB implant and coordinated Phonak HA that 'talk' to each other. If I'm only using the CI sound is not as good or volume as loud. Music isn't nearly as good - can make out the words but they sound funny and no idea who is doing the singing. With both the music is pretty normal. Some voice tones are much easier to understand. I had a phone call (it streams into my ears) the other day and the caller was a telemarketer woman with a heavy accent and no way could I understand her! Men's voices are much easier. It was wonderful listening to Palacio Domingo! Sounded like always.

I've read where it can take up to a hear to get the full value from the implant and everyone goes at a different rate. I notice if I'm tired or at the end of a long day it is more 'work' hearing.

I do hope that eventually the tinnitus vanishes - but it does at least seem less at the moment.

Male. Southeast United Kingdom. Mid 40s in age. I recently moved from one side of the town in which I live to the other, and I now hear the HUM. It comes on only at night when I am in bed trying to sleep and it is driving me almost to tears with its persistence. At first, like many others who I have read about online, I attributed it to a nearby truck idling its engine at the nearby industrial complex overnight for heating in the cab, but after reading this and other aritcles I now believe it to be the HUM. I have actually considered moving back across to the other side of town to get away from any industry in the hopes that this will help.

I lived in the San Diego, CA area for 15 years, and never heard the HUM there, but now that I am back in my home town in the UK I hear it 3-4 nights per week no matter the weather conditions. Opening the window helps as it introduces outside noises which cancel out the HUM frequency, but when it's below freezing overnight it's not practical to have the window open.

I have found articles going back as far as 1994, and other references to reports going back to the 1970s, so my question is this. Is it possible to avoid the HUM all together and escape it, or am I doomed to sleepless nights for the rest of my life no matter where I move to?

Does a cancelling frequency from a speaker such as a tablet device or mobile phone help?

Dave: I was about your age when the HUM started for me....very similar to what you are experiencing....I would notice it if I was taking a short nap in my bedroom and I too looked out the window thinking it was a truck or vehicle parked outside! I am not sure if you have any hearing loss but it progressively got worse for me as I aged.Now being 63 I have profound hearing loss and hear the HUM all the time. Mine gets worse with noise. When I wake up in the morning it is probably the quietest but as the day progresses it get worse. I have been to tinnitus specialists and they recommend sound therapy which I can now do through my hearing aids. I use a mix of brown noise and river streams...that seems to relax me and makes it less noticeable. Have you worked in loud environments? One thing I notice is since I have been retired the HUM reminds me of the environment I was in...I had an office above the utilities area and perceive the running motors and compressors as the HUM I hear now! Strange! I have found out that everyone experiences something a little different from person to person....hope this makes sense!
Scott

I live in central fla. wear hearing aids. I have been hearing hum (low rumble , like motor running) for years too. I live near lots of swimming pools & suspect I hear low frequency pool pumps. once that gets triggered, tinnitus kicks in & rumble/hum continues on on well after pumps shut down. suspect it has to do with infrasound triggering tinnitus, just my theory. ent guy no help.

further comment. I would like to know more about measuring/recording potential infrsounds in my home area. possibly someone with sound engineering expertise might answer these questions.
where can I find equipment that might record /identify infrasound ?
as I understand it, its all about the right microphone. is it possible to hook up a infrsound mike (or mikes) to a smart phone & get accurate data? Any better way to do this?
how would you go about this without breaking the bank?
I guess if this hum business is ever going to be solved, its going to take a do it yourself approach.

I too have what I call an extension of sound. Meaning after the actual sound has been eliminated I hear it for awhile. It’s like the brain has registered the sound and doesn’t get the correct message from the ears that the sound has in actual fact stopped, so it keeps generating the sound in our consciousness. Like you I also hear a low hum that sounds like an engine running. The way I determine if there is an actual motor running that I am hearing or if it’s just in my head is to block both ears with my fingers. If I am still hearing the engine running at the same volume or louder even, then I know it’s just being self generated and that it is my tinnitus that I am hearing.

Scott: Thanks for replying. I got a hearing test last week and have some hearing loss in the 250Hz range, but not enough to need hearing aids yet. The hum I hear at night is down around 60Hz. I did used to work in computer datacentres with the comnstant shrieking of fans going all the time, but no longer.

I tried a brown noise program on my iPad and it is amazing. I can sleep again, so thank you very much for that recommendation.