Have you heard 'the Hum'?

BBC ^ | May 19th, 2009

[TaraP]

For decades, hundreds of people worldwide have been plagued by an elusive buzzing noise known as "the Hum". Some have blamed gas pipes or power lines, others think their ears are faulty. A few even think sinister forces could be at work. "It's a kind of torture, sometimes you just want to scream," exclaims retired head teacher Katie Jacques. Sitting in the living room of her home in the suburbs of Leeds, the 69-year-old grandmother describes the dull drone she says is making her life a misery. Most visitors hear nothing, but to Katie the noise is painful, vivid and constant. "It has a rhythm to it - it goes up and down. It sounds almost like a diesel car idling in the distance and you want to go and ask somebody to switch the engine off - and you can't." Katie says she no longer has any quiet moments and getting a good night's sleep has become impossible. "It's worst at night. It's hard to get off to sleep because I hear this throbbing sound in the background and you know what it's like when you can't get to sleep and you're tossing and turning and you get more and more agitated about it."

[Marie2]

She says it’s only when she’s in her house.

[Born to Conserve]

I get that when I fail to correctly operate whipped cream dispensors.

[swatbuznik]

I hear the hum, too, and sometimes “it” knows the words, too.

[puppypusher]

Electrical Transformers will hum pretty loudly when they are under a heavy load.Maybe they should check that out.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

I’m used to urban environments so I wouldn’t notice that, but I do occasionally get a high-pitched note that lasts maybe ten seconds, with a distinct start and end, no difference of tone or note or volume in it. Sounds very much like a radio or electronic thing, as if someone’s tuning in, then going off. You’d almost want to say — hello? But I never do. :)

Speaking of weird sounds, though...ever try listening to water trickling in the next room? In the right amount and force it sounds just like people talking, only you can’t make out what they’re saying.

Well, time for my thorazine... ;)

[Bender2]

Gadzooks, there is a hum... in my left ear!

Whoa! Now it is in... my right ear!

Now back... to my left ear!

There is only... one thing to do!

Lubricate... Lubricate... Lubricate... Lubricate!

[goodnesswins]

I take Levothyroxine for low thyroid....it GIVES you tinnitis....but, you get used to it. Never goes away...just can hear it more when there is less ambient noise.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Crickets, now...they sound exactly like sleigh bells to me.

[surely_you_jest]

I used to have a girlfriend who could hum “The Flight of the Bumblebee”.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[knarf]

"My background noise sounds exactly like the static produced by a switched on television when nothing is being broadcast."

Yeah .. it could be ... I've always associated it with the 7 yr. locust noise in the trees.

[Judith Anne]

I hear the hum from electric lines. Inside the house, I can hear the outside yard light when it comes on, for three years it’s made a noise. And I have good insulation, it’s just the pitch that makes the difference.

But under it all, I have tinnitus. At night, I leave the radio on softly in the background, just to where it covers the tinnitus and the yard light.

*sigh*

One day, before an earthquake (little one, around a 3-3.5 here in MO, I heard a deep hum. Piezoelectric effect, I guess.

[Viking2002]

Yeah, and whenever I pass through Marfa, Texas, I keep seeing spots in front of my eyes.......

[SatinDoll]

Only in the house...well, so is mine most of the time. My grandparents used to have a large, noisy grandfather clock in the main hallway. Never did I have any tinnitus problems at their place. Tinnitus is most agravating for me when in bed, at night.

Outside of the house one is preoccupied with the immediate environment, filled with other sounds.

[GladesGuru]

What she is hearing is a sound echoing down the halls of time - muted by time and distance, it is the collective OMMMMMmmmm of Woodstock Nation contemplating their navels.

[antceecee]

Hmmm... sound only heard by Eloi... perhaps it’s the siren call of the Morlocks???

[bigbob]

two words: Monica Lewinsky

[nothingnew]

Have you heard 'the Hum'?

I'm deaf in one ear, so I just hear a "mmm".

FMCDH(BITS)

[lilylangtree]

Tinnitus! There’s a constant drone of bees, humming and even a pop every now & then in my ears.

[phredo53]

Sometimes I hear an extra tone of a different pitch, but it typically fades away after a while.

Same for me. I took some lipo-flavinoids and ginko supplements. The high pitch tones have really decreased in recurrences, a blessed relief. If only something would work for the constant "locusts" buzz in the left ear.

[kalee]

The hum we often hear is an industrial fan at a factory a few miles from our house. Very annoying, especially at nights when you would like to have the window open in the bedroom.