It's not blood but the vibrations of the tensor tympani muscle. I learned to control it voluntarily and can make my ears rumble whenever I want. It's a pretty useless talent. Many people hear it when yawning.

There was an HN post a few weeks ago about Mercedes putting something in their car that activate the reflex just before an accident. To protect against hearing loss from the loud crash of an accident.

> I learned to control it voluntarily and can make my ears rumble whenever I want.

I always assumed everyone could do that - I've been able to do it for as long as I can remember, and can (to a minor extent) vary the intensity between ears.

Completely the same for me, never questioned if this was some hidden talent.

I often get the same experience when say on a train on a summers day. It's like an on/off switch, rumbles in the light, quiet in the shade.

If it's the same thing I can do, it's very useful. I can "pop" my ears voluntarily, which is nice when freediving.

... and when flying! (normally, I mean)

Just thinking about it now ... I kinda pull my jaw back a bit and push my tongue against the back of my throat, like the first half second of a swallowing action. It's enough to make a little 'click' in my hearing, even when I've not changed altitude.

I can pop my ears by plugging my nose and making a "k" or "g" sound. Comes in handy since my Eustachian tubes are essentially useless.

What I described above is called a BTV. This sounds like a Frenzel, which is the one most experienced freedivers use. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_clearing

Huh, I thought this was the val salva maneuver.

From Wikipedia: "in humans, the acoustic reflex only involves the contraction of the stapedius muscle -not the tensor tympani."

lol I do something like this with a beat... it makes for wicked bass when mentally/internally running a tune.

Not the same as the rumbling sound, but doing some sort of opening in the ear internally does give some wicked bass. I do that when in the shower as opposed to singing.

> I learned to control it voluntarily

How did you learn this?

Pinch your nostrils, and blow through your nose gently. The blocked air will build pressure in your ear and you will trigger the mechanism.

Do it slowly, but at one point, you'll need to force a little to trigger it.

Then the ear will go back to it's original state.

Do it several times. At one point you won't be able to do it anymore. The ear will stay like that for some time. Rest a bit.

Then practice again.

Once you got it, force yourself to yawn, and try to reproduce the effect while yawning.

The once you can do that, try to do it without yawning.

In the end, it's not a useless skill. It's very useful when you take the plane a lot, go skying in hight altitude or dive in deep water. It let you release the pressure from your ears at will.

We should teach it to all children. You often see them crying in planes because their ears hurting while the pressure changes. If you encounter that, ask them to do the first exercise (blow with the nostrils blocked). If they can't (sometime it's too late, the pressure is too high and that would hurt), make them chew something.

wtf. After reading this comment my ears started to rumble. So that's weird.

Ditto, but after your comment. Odd.

I read the article and both of your comments but it didn't happen for me. I feel left out now.

Doctor of audiology here. I think you are mistaken. The acoustic reflex cannot be triggered in this way. The reflex is triggered only after being exposed to a very loud sound.

I too can make a rumbling sound at will since I was a child.

What is responsible for this?

I don't know how I discovered how to do this but it always seemed natural.

Sounds like voluntary opening of the eustachian tubes, also called BTV in freediving. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_clearing

Oh, Thanks. When I was a child I asked all the adults around about this, but they looked at me like I were a lunatic, so eventually I just stopped talking about it.... :) Glad to have an answer now.

I learned to do this as a child because I always had issues with feelings of pressure in my ears. I was so sensitive that riding up or down a hill that was big enough would cause discomfort.

I could imagine a visual form of it being a conditioned reflex. The stapedius reflex is also triggered by vocalization, so clearly some level of top-down modulation is possible.

How do you know?

"Doctor of audiology"?

I am loling, but I think perhaps parent meant to ask "how is it known [... to doctors of audiology]". I.e. how did people determine thay fact. Or maybe he was just being a smartass.

On being a smartass - did you just assume my gender?

</straightface>

Is precisely the person I would hope can explain. Especially given the confidence placed into the negative assertion.

Now I know the name of this phenomenon. This happens to my ears between songs when I'm wearing headphones.

I don't know - that might be your ears ringing because the volume was too loud? Kind of like the ringing in your ears after you've been at a loud live music event?

Yes, I experience that when stopping a loudish song when wearing headphones. Who would have thought that sudden silence would cause an uncomfortable reaction.