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Comment by hyperbovine | Hacker News Reader

I have this weird muscle in my ears I can flex to block out (or at least lessen) loud noises. I've never been able to explain it adequately to anyone, or find out what is going on, but it's absolutely real and not just, wait for it, .. in my head :-)

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That's absolutely real. It sounds like you are describing the Tensor tympani muscle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_tympani_muscle

In modern cars when the vehicle detects an impending collision it floods the cabin with pink noise to trigger a reflexive contraction of this muscle to protect the passenger's hearing from the even louder sounds of the collision and the airbags.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/pink-noise-says-prepare-for-impact

I can do the same and also didn't know how to explain it until I stumbled upon this subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/earrumblersassemble/

So apparently we can control our tensor tympani muscle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_tympani_muscle

If I do that, I hear a rumbling. I never used it to block out sound.

Same. Wonder how common this is.

Same here, I hear a rumbling. I do occasionally use this to block or lower very loud (potentially hearing-damaging) sounds if there are no other means available.

I can do the rumbling too. And a clicking too. I can even make someone else hear my ear clicking by having them press their ear to mine. I wonder if that's causes by the same thing.

> And a clicking too.

You should get a check-up, when I heard clicking I had some wax accumulation.

According to the Wikipedia article it may be involuntary.

Sounds like you might have conscious control over your tensor tympani muscle[0].

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensor_tympani_muscle

I tried explaining this to my wife and she thought I was crazy. Turns out she was right, but not for this reason.

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