Is there a woodpecker in my ear?

[jo-jo]

Hi folks

Having read that quite a few people get ringing in their ears, I wondered if anyone has experienced what I can only describe as a 'knocking' sound in my ears. I'm not sure if this is anxiety related or not but it only happens at night and only in the ear that is on my pillow - if I lift my head up it stops. Its not really frightening but it is REALLY annoying, I'm sure there's a little man in there with a hammer.and I keep thinking that I'm going mad because I can't find a good reason to explain it :).

Best wishes
Jo

[sarah]

hiya

could it be that you can hear your heartbeat??? i used to feel this a lot!!

love sarah
xx

we arent mad, just the next stage of evolution :)

[nomorepanic]

Hiya

I had to go and see an ENT doctor cos I had weird noises in my ears lol.

It turned out to be nothing but I know what you mean. Don't we get some peculiar symptoms?

Nicola

[jo-jo]

Hi there

Thanks so much for your reassurance.

Sarah, I don't think its my heartbeat as its way to fast, kind of like a really fast drum roll.

Nicola - don't we indeed get some funny symptoms ;) at least its not painful or scary, just stops me getting off to sleep sometimes.

Love Jo xxx

[Rennie1989]

jo

it isnt sum1 doin DIY or knockin on sumot, could be anythin. but i do think it is ur heart beat, they can be fast



Scooter Girl

if i wa hungry would u feed me, if i fell u you help me up, if i was crying would brush away my tears

[EMMA]

I get it too. I've had it for years on and off and wonder whether it was stress related. A bit like when your eye twitches when you're stressed.

I tried explaining it to my other half and he looked at me gone out!

[jo-jo]

Hi Scoot and Emma

Thanks for your help - as always its good to know I'm not alone in having such funny symptoms and that you guys are there for support.

Love Jo xxx

[twister]

I get it too sometimes usually when i am stuffed up. Of course it could be a little spider dancing away in there........

Emily

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit
Understanding is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad

[HB]

I only get a knocking when i am lying down but it wont go away til i sit up which doesnt help when i am trying to sleep!!!

H

[Jan]

Hi Jo

This did make me laugh. i thought that I was the only one that got that strange knocking sound!! I assume that it is my pulse. Absolutely drives me nuts. As you say H, doesnt help when you are trying to sleep. What a funny lot we are.

Take care
xx

Janine

[lin]

hiya

i get that sometimes and the ringing in my ears it must b part of it and yes it is annoying i don't worry about that so much but i worry about all the other symptoms i get.

lin

[seh1980]

hello Jo,

I get that as well every once in a while - just another symptom of anxiety..

Sarah :D

[sal]

Hi Jo

How are you getting on hun


Love Sal xx


Dont mess up the best things in your life, just because at present you are unsure who you are.

[HollyBerry]

I think I know what you're talking about. I get a very similar whirring/vibrating/woodpecker type noise in one ear sometimes. (This next bit makes me sound completely bonkers but it makes me giggle when I think about it)...

The story goes.. I had a house mate with a very poorly goldfish. I was so worried about the poor fella and one day he was floating on his back and I thought he'd kicked the bucket. I approached slowly with caution (I'm not very good with dead/injured things).. and as I got closer the whirring/knocking sound in my ear appeared. I was no more than 2 foot away and there was silence.. and then I would put my head toward the fishbowl and this whirring in my ear would get louder, the closer I put my head.
(I'll continue, but would like to mention at this point, I've been too worried about appearing crazy, to tell anyone this story and am happy to be getting it off my chest)

I thought no more of it and thought it must've been something to do with the way in which I was straining my head.
Anyway - the same thing happened with a rabbit.. i peered to see if he was dead.. and the whirring in my ear grew louder.. and as i backed off it would get quieter!

I summarised that this whirring/woodpecker sound must be something to do with my anxiety.. as I've now realised that seeing animals/anything in pain really makes me tense.. and the more tense I get the more I can hear this sound. - The closer I get to the animal, the louder it gets.
But why only when looking at poorly animals/people? - and its EVERY time, without fail!

is it 6th sense? or sheer madness?:wacko:
xx

[Dying_Swan]

Yep I get it too. I remember another post about this a while ago, so it's not just us!

I only get it in my left ear, when it's against the pillow. It's not my pulse....like some random, beatless tapping. Really weird!

I'm afraid I have no suggestions, but just thought I'd let you know you're not alone!

xxx :flowers:

[Dying_Swan]

HollyBerry - your ears sound a bit like a Geiger Counter for Radioactivity!

How Bizarre! I think you must be right though - it is something to do with tension. Thanks for the story!

xxx :flowers:

[sagey]

Holly berry made me think she was picking up sonic waves, but when it comes to the rabbit, I can't think of an explanation apart from anxiety. i get bad "ear-worm"- you know what it is to get music stuck going round and round in your head. Worst thing for me is the BBC news music which pulses in my head all day long.

[seeker]

sometimes I think you can hear the blood flow thorugh your ears - this has definitely happened to me! Ears are funny things.

[susiegoo]

I used to hear noises too, sounded like tiny men at work in the pillow. It took me a long time to realise that it was the noise that the feathers made as I moved my head about on the pillow lol. The bed seems to channel noises through the pillow too, so that if your heating is knocking or someone in another room is tapping etc. it is carried through the bed until it reaches your ear. Now my hearing is becoming poor I don't hear half what I used to lol.

[looking4answers]

I have to admit.. This makes me giggle a little..although 3 percent of the world has this and there is no cure...I have first hand experience with it so I chose to reply here.

Instead of going into a lot of mumbo jumbo about it I will just copy and paste a few web pages that I have just been browsing to see if maybe it helps you understand it.

I have been told it could be caused from anxiety but im sure its not since I really don't suffer from anxiety to any extent anymore. Im pretty sure mine is caused mostly by allergies and benign but Im a year into hearing it and well...it doesnt seem to go away. But there is hope lol.. Below I hope that these pages will help you understand whats possibly going on but if I had to guess its probably not anxiety..nothing really underlying or serious but very annoying.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=pulsatile+tinnitus&spell=1

http://ezinearticles.com/?Pulsatile-Tinnitus---What-Causes-This-Tinnitus-Type?&id=442557

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070622223049AA9OQGP

http://www.steadyhealth.com/FEELING_HEARTBEAT_IN_MY_EAR___-t130451-0-asc-10.html

The last page.. not very reassuring in someways but at least you know the lady has had this for 56 year yeee gaddsss but she is still alive and kicking lol..hope this helps

[Fadi]

Hi Jo, I think your woodpecker had just moved inside my head!

I think I understand exactly what you're going through. Just two days back, I started to get this hammering/drum-like sound in my right ear only when pressed in a certain way against the pillow. The sound is basically like my own heartbeats but it's way quicker. It's like five to 7 times the speed of a regular heartbeat. The sound immediately goes away when I lift up my ear off the pillow.

The other thing worth mentioning here is that I have had little-to-mild allergic reaction for the past 3 months or so, however, lately my allergic reaction has increased a lot after having consumed kidney beans which I never knew I was allergic to (I am allergic to soya which comes from soybeans). I also started experiencing joint pains in different locations, and this only means one thing; inflammation!

Inflammation is one of our body's defense mechanisms through which it speeds up the healing process, just like the swelling you get on wounds or after injuring yourself. However, when inflammation stays for a while, it begins creating countless other problems in the body including cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The reason I'm telling you this is because I am a healthy person, I eat VERY WELL and exercise on regular basis (3-5 times a week at the gym). Therefore I feel there's a very high chance this has got to do with my food allergy.

I never take medicine or go to see doctors simply because I do not believe in the whole pharmaceutical industry, while I do believe in the body's own ability to heal when provided with the right tools and a healthy lifestyle. I rarely catch cold or flue, but when I do, I heal myself through natural remedies, thanks to the magic of garlic and ginger :)

It maybe well worth mentioning that I haven't been getting enough sleep lately (sometimes 3-4hrs) and my sleeping pattern has been irregular due to some personal matters.

I hope this helps, I'll monitor myself for some time and post an update here when things go back to normal. Let me know if you suspect inflammation is involved in your case, and if your woodpecker had finally departed :)

[Tessar]

I totally agree with this......


I get it too. I've had it for years on and off and wonder whether it was stress related. A bit like when your eye twitches when you're stressed.

I tried explaining it to my other half and he looked at me gone out!

It sounds to me like your ear drum vibrating, a muscle is twitching very fast.
I get this in my left ear. At first I was quite concerned as it was disturbing & I have had some ear problems over the years. I did read up about it and I came to the same conclusion as Emma that it is like an eye twitch thing. I am 100% certain it is muscular & nothing sinister at all.
In my case if I am irritated then it does it, such as I am trying to listen to something and if someone is on the phone talking loudly ... I get annoyed because I can't hear. The number if times it happens when I am annoyed like this.
I notice tension in my jaw, maybe I have my teeth clenched and off it goes. I can't seem to make it do it deliberately though so it has a mind if its own & its rather random but the number of times it happens when I am trying not to let noisy people taking when I had been relaxed prior to that.....