3 ms·
Ultra low frequencies are my problem. When it is quiet (at night), if there is anything generating low frequency waves anywhere around, I may hear it. It feel
by blunte 9y ago
Ultra low frequencies are my problem. When it is quiet (at night), if there is anything generating low frequency waves anywhere around, I may hear it. It feels like an incredibly subtle repeating gentle puff of air entering the ear (which makes sense, given that it's a pressure wave). And unfortunately, one ear is more sensitive to it than the other, which gives me a feeling of uneven pressure from one side of my head to the other.
There is no cure for this, as far as I know, because it is an external sound. And it's nearly impossible to identify the source for many reasons (difficulty in detecting/recording, ease of transmission through solid objects (such as the ground), and long waves which can carry very far).
It just takes a little ambient noise to mask it. The sound isn't painful, per se, because it's very low amplitude. But when there is nothing else to distract, it feels like having your head inside a washing machine.
Sources can include large engines (locomotive, truck, ship, whatever.), heavy equipment (particularly at factories), and my favorite - wind over a mountain ridge. The last one can carry for miles!
- IAmGraydon 9y agoWhat you're describing is spasming of the tensor tempani muscle.
- blunte 9y agoWhat I'm describing is very location dependent, just as sound waves will be louder depending on your proximity to their half or full wavelength. I don't doubt there can be internal explanations for some sounds, but what I experience is often dependent on location within a few feet, with some spots being much louder than others. Also, I'm not always the only person who hears it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum
- davidzweig 9y agoI get that a bit late at night, I think from the noise of the fridge compressor motor that reverberates against the wall. If I put in an earplug it stops.
- blunte 9y agoFor low frequency sounds, earplugs make it worse - they reduce higher frequency sounds much much more than they reduce the vlf sounds. The result is a more acute awareness of the annoying low freq sound. But hey, if it works for you, great!