i'm not an expert, but i believe this problem is related to conductance

what is going on in the room when this happens? is there a band playing?

if there is, it's possible that something is hitting the resonant frequency of a bone in your head.. possibly the stapes bones in your ear or your jaw, and the frequency is being conducted in to your inner ear.

if you take a tuning fork and stick it on your forehead, you might experience a similar phenomenon.

no, not some kinda sympathetic resonance or nothin, this typically happens in a rather quiet room with no apparent provocation. the last time my ears were exposed to loud noise was saturday night. the phenom described here happened totally out of the blue, two days later.

I learned about this phenomenon in school. I don't remember the explanation for it but I do remember that it is neither a symptom of hearing loss nor does it cause hearing loss. It's just one of those things - like getting the chills when you pee.

yeah, i too get this on occassion for no apparent reason. i haven't subjected myself to loud noise without first putting in ear plugs in years now, and still, for no seemingly no reason at all "piiiiinnnnngggggg" will happen in my right ear (sometimes left, but moreoften the right) completely out of the blue.

You may be referring to an otoacoustic emission, a completely normal phenomenon where sound is generated from somwhere in the cochlea and can be measured by an outside source. Many people confuse this with tinitus, but it is usually a single sine-wave like tone and tinitus is usually a combination of tones, buzzes, and hums.

rocco wrote:You may be referring to an otoacoustic emission, a completely normal phenomenon where sound is generated from somwhere in the cochlea and can be measured by an outside source. Many people confuse this with tinitus, but it is usually a single sine-wave like tone and tinitus is usually a combination of tones, buzzes, and hums.

that's not true. otoacoustic emissions are generally only used during assessment to measure hearing loss, especially in newborn babies. otoacoustic emissions are deliberately provoked by an external sound source (a pop or a click), for the cochlea to respond to - the sound is briefly "echoed" by the cochlea. This echo is the otoacoustic emission which, as you say, can be measured by an outside source. the lack of this echo indicates a problem with hearing, not its presence. i doubt whether what toomanyhelicopters described in the opening to this thread could be measured by an external source.

also, despite what someone said above, and given the symptoms described, i'd say that it's a sensorineural problem, not a conductive problem. if it was a dead fly in the ear (or whatever foreign body), too much infected ear wax or a broken ear drum, then i think it would qualify as conductive.

i still think you are experiencing transient tinnitus. think about it like those other odd uncontrollable body things that happen - an itch, cramp in your leg, a twitching nerve in your eyelid, a sudden sneeze. transient tinnitus is that kind of activity for your inner ear.

floog wrote:that's not true. otoacoustic emissions are generally only used during assessment to measure hearing loss, especially in newborn babies.

No, that's an otoacoustic emission test. Otoacoustic emissions are the sign of a healthy cochlea and for testing purposes an emission is induced the way you described. It can be spontaneous or evoked.

i have permenant ringing in my ears. i can hear it above a computer fan. is this bad? i've now started to wear ear plugs at gigs, though not yet at band practices as my amp is fucked and i can't really hear myself through the ear plugs otherwise (they're sup-dooper-powerful ones! )
i wish i'd listened, all those years ago (when i were a lad etc. etc.) when people told me to wear ear plugs to gigs.
ah well.

"hey, wear ear plugs to gigs, chump!"

rocco wrote:No, that's an otoacoustic emission test. Otoacoustic emissions are the sign of a healthy cochlea and for testing purposes an emission is induced the way you described. It can be spontaneous or evoked.

fair enough. i still doubt whether the sounds that toomanyhelicopters described could be measured externally, therefore not otoacoustic emissions. tinnitus can be any permanently present sound from pure tones to hums, buzzes and white noise.

Chill out guys about the hearing loss thing. Ihave been getting those since I was a little tacker. I don't know the scientific explaination but I think a few of the last posts have hit the nail on the head. I have and always thought it was just a momentary spasm in the ear.

Just asked the PE teacher at my work and he said it has a special name and has nothing to do with hearing loss.

I get a ringing in my ears sometimes from my wisdom teeth I've had it for 5 yrs or so and I have had my ears tested and they are fine

That said after going to one mastering engineers studio and hearing the volume he masters at (not constantly but for a significant amount of time) and the fact he has mastered 6000+ records for lots of artists we know. I have no worries about my hearing.

I also have a theory, that like monitor speakers, you can listen through any abnormalities you might have in your hearing. Just a theory but I know engineers who have significant losses but still turn out lovely mixes.

the question is: Can you still here the high pitched whine of the TV when it's on (16000K I think). I can hear it from rooms away and want to keep it that way

Cheers,

Luke.