Yes, I am going to go to the doctor, but I just switched to an HSA so I'm waiting to get my account set up before I do so in the meantime, help mah.

When I lie down for the night and it gets relatively quiet, I often hear a high pitched noise in my left ear. There are actually two pitches that alternate at random. It almost sounds like a part of that dial-up modem sound from the 90's. It's only when I lie down and if I plug my ear with say, my finger, it goes away. I don't feel dizzy or anything so I don't know if that would be inner ear infection or what.

Any ideas?

3/10/2008 8:53:14 PM

this happens to me


i don't know what it's from, though.

3/10/2008 9:05:29 PM

cancer

3/10/2008 9:06:52 PM

happens to me too

3/10/2008 9:07:31 PM

natural background noise, barring any infections.

3/10/2008 9:10:44 PM

Try chewing some gum. Ringing can also be caused by retracted ear drums or fluid behind the ear drums without an infection. Allergies and other problems can cause the eustacian tubes that run from the ears to the throat to become blocked and it can cause problems with the pressure in your ears or fluid draining from your ears. Chewing gum can help equalize the pressure and the fluid drain.

I have this problem several times a year and chewing gum can help, but I usually end up on steroids to get rid of it.

3/10/2008 9:23:40 PM

i stopped chewing gum years ago because my jaws pop if i eat something that requires a lot of chewing, like thick crust pizza or gum, and my dentist told me to stop. but, if it will make the sound go away i will put up with the jaw popping so i can get some sleep. this noise has been going on for a couple of months and i am now borderline insomniac because of it.

3/10/2008 9:47:54 PM

if putting your finger in the ear helps, maybe try simple ear plugs until the HSA kicks in?

3/10/2008 10:59:03 PM

my jaws pop too. i supposedly have TMJ(?) or something like that, which is some kind of muscle condition in the neck and face muscles or something.

it doesnt hurt when it starts popping, but it sure is weird. just started recently, i need to get it checked out and make sure nothing crazy is going on. but it sounds "normal"

i guess. its not like they can do anything about it

3/10/2008 11:36:19 PM

my sternum cracks and its gotten worse, like now i can do it pretty much whenever i try instead of by accident

i would see a doc but i dont know what to say or who to see. It snaps really loud though, ive had friends turn aound and say what the fuck at that and look at me like im fuckin nuts

3/10/2008 11:40:33 PM

my ears have always rung

i don't notice it unless i consciously think about it

but it's the same pitch as the first tone when a dialup modem first connects

3/10/2008 11:42:58 PM

you gotta stop letting boys lay on top of you.

[Edited on March 10, 2008 at 11:43 PM. Reason : ^2600hz]

3/10/2008 11:43:16 PM

well i also hear a different noise of much higher pitch in the absence of ambient sounds, but this is much more noticeable and is only in one ear, which is why i'm concerned.

ear plugs are a good idea, i was just in lowes today i should have got some.

also i'd like to point out that Mellon has a shitty HSA account. interest rate is 1.375% and there is a $3.50 / month charge for an average balance of less than $1000. it's what BCBSNC set me up with by default but my bank (SECU) offers one with no minimum balance and 4.x%. in short, fuck Mellon.

3/10/2008 11:49:41 PM

my fan drowns out all sound... in silence i hear ringing too

3/10/2008 11:51:57 PM

i can't sleep w/o this. my ears ring in silence too. if the noise is being made in your head, ear plugs won't help. i imagine it would make it worse.

i don't know that the two have anything to do w/ each other, but i have tmj too. i sleep w/ a nightguard (which is really more just to protect my teeth).

3/11/2008 7:15:06 AM

Quote :

"my sternum cracks"

how? ... just cartilage extensions of your ribs so i suppose it could be some sort of gas build up at the manubrium/demifactes/gladiolus/2nd ribs or manubrium/clavical joint but it would still be very odd

does it 'pop' high or low feeling? (near your head/throat or farther down?

3/11/2008 8:22:26 AM

my sternum cracks too, but i had a trans-sternal thymectomy and still have 6 titantium twist ties, and when i move just right the skin/muscle moves over one and makes a popping sound.

3/11/2008 8:26:25 AM

yeah no surgery, no trama. It makes and feels just like when your back pops, accept its a bit louder and it happens particualrly when i roll my sholders back and stand very strait

if this is the chest...



I can feel it "pull apart" and pop in my sternum rougly between ribs 3 and 4. Basically from bout 2 inches above my collar bone but no lower then rib 5 but it distinctly feels like the breastbone, not my ribs. ITS WEIRD!

3/11/2008 1:25:37 PM

My sternum used to crack too, but then I somehow separated it in my sleep one night. After it healed, it doesn't crack anymore.

3/11/2008 1:31:25 PM

Quote :

"when i roll my sholders back and stand very strait"

it's coming from your collar bone - sternum joint then, popping just like your vertebral/phalanges joints do, most of your thoracic cavity is empty air volume anyways, can cause the popping to feel deeper and more widely

the others aren't really joints, no fluid really between them, cartilage flexes some but it has no real 'joint area' from which anything can 'pop' or even flex really

Quote :

"2 inches above my collar bone but no lower then rib 5"

your sternum is entirely below your collar bones. your sternum is one fused bone, like most of your skull, it was separate bones but they have long since fused. if you ever 'break' it, rest assured the last thing you'd be doing is anything but screaming in pain

[Edited on March 11, 2008 at 1:42 PM. Reason : f]

3/11/2008 1:38:23 PM

Sternum cracking may also be related to tight pectoral muscles and/or weak lats/back in general.

3/11/2008 7:04:55 PM

Quote :

"It snaps really loud though, ive had friends turn aound and say what the fuck at that and look at me like im fuckin nuts "

Yup mine does that too...kinda creeps people out

3/11/2008 7:09:42 PM