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Voluntary ability to tense muscle in ear which extremely amplifies hearing

Posted , 3 users are following.

liam14256
liam14256

Hi all,

I'll try and break up my story:

  1. Myself:

    My name is Liam, 15. I am curious about something i have been able to do at will for many years, which is tense/flex a muscle inside my ear (which is what i assume it is).

  2. Backstory:

    I think it must have started when my grandad taught me to wiggle my ears, which i know is a fairly common ability. However it was through trying to do this that i think i found out my "ability".

  3. Explanation:

    While i tense this muscle, everything from breathing, chewing, humming is made much louder than normal. This includes my heartbeat, which i am usually able to hear at will by tensing this muscle in my ear. Strange, right! Quick Note: would like to point out that humming makes a far louder noise than anything else, (used this to my advantage to block out chewing sounds, very sure i have misophonia).

Anyways, I was wondering if this is actually anything strange, or i am just exaggerating the situation. Looking forward to all replies!

Thanks again!

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • Marina_Dee
    Marina_Dee liam14256

    Posted

    You have just discovered a quirky thing about your body . We all discover some quirky thing about ourselves as we grow up and young teenagers are especially adept at finding them

    Dont worry about it as long as you dont have any pain or problem with normal hearing.

    Do chewing sounds annoy you?They annoy a lot of people but it doesnt mean you have misophonia.

  • JBR
    JBR liam14256

    Posted

    I have a similar situation and, yes, it is related to making your ears move!

    I have a little knowledge of anatomy and suspect that it is the tensing of a muscle connected to one of the ossicles.

    I assume that this may have developed in humans (over millions of years) as a protective feature against sudden loud sounds.

    Contrary to your experiences, when I consciously tense those muscles the effect is to attenuate the loudness of sounds I can hear.

    I'd be very interested to hear if others have similar experiences and if a medically qualified authority can confirm my suppositions.

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