Nobody has a precise figure for how many people can control this muscle, but surveys that ask about “ear rumbling” find somewhere between about 4 in 10 and more than 8 in 10 people say yes. That is far more common than its reputation in medical writing suggests. The sound comes from deliberately tightening one of the two tiny muscles inside the middle ear, which most of us use automatically without ever noticing.
How Common Ear Rumbling Really Is
In one online survey of 192 people, 43% said they could make their ears rumble on purpose.1Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. EarRumble: Discreet Hands- and Eyes-Free Input by Voluntary Tensor Tympani Muscle Contraction Another survey of the general population found 85% who said they could rumble their ears.2PubMed Central. Exploring the ’EarSwitch’ concept: a novel ear based control method for assistive technology In that same survey, 65% said they could do it on its own, without also clenching the jaw, closing the eyes or moving other muscles.3PubMed Central. Exploring the ’EarSwitch’ concept: a novel ear based control method for assistive technology Among people with neurological conditions, 70% could rumble and 55% could do it in isolation.4PubMed Central. Exploring the ’EarSwitch’ concept: a novel ear based control method for assistive technology
The numbers differ so much partly because both come from people judging themselves, not from ear measurements. One person may count a rumble that only happens during a yawn or a jaw clench, while another would not. The wording of the question and who chooses to answer an online survey also shift the result.
Older ear-medicine papers, meanwhile, describe voluntary control of this muscle as an extremely rare event.5PubMed. Voluntary contraction of the tensor tympani muscle and its audiometric effects Researchers have often struggled to recruit testers, with one hearing study finding only five people who could do it.6PubMed Central. Audiometric findings with voluntary tensor tympani contraction Those studies needed people who could hold the contraction steadily for a long time, which is much less common than a brief rumble.7PubMed Central. The function of the tensor tympani muscle: a comprehensive review of the literature
“Control” itself can mean different things. A quick flick of the muscle is different from holding it tight for many seconds. Being able to start and stop it at will is what researchers call voluntary control, and many people have a weaker or less reliable version of the skill. Why some people can control it and others cannot is unexplained.
To check whether you can do it, note that most people describe the effort as tensing something behind the ears, like the start of a yawn. You hear a low rumble, a bit like distant thunder, that stops the instant you relax. If you can do it without moving your jaw or squinting, that is the “in isolation” version the surveys ask about. Some people can manage it in only one ear.
What Happens Inside Your Ear When It Rumbles
The tensor tympani is the largest muscle in the middle ear, the air-filled space just behind the eardrum.8PubMed. Voluntary contraction of the tensor tympani muscle and its audiometric effects When it tightens, it pulls the hammer-shaped first ear bone inward, which stretches the eardrum taut.9PubMed. Tensor tympani muscle The eardrum and the chain of tiny ear bones then vibrate less freely, so less sound passes through.10PubMed. Tensor Tympani Syndrome
The muscle lies deep inside the skull, so you cannot see it or feel it with your fingers. People who can rumble usually describe the effort as a vague sense of tightening deep in the head rather than any muscle they can point to.
The rumble may be the noise of the muscle contracting, or a rise in fluid pressure in the inner ear as the bones shift.11The Hearing Journal. Case Report: Diagnostic Indicators of a Contracted Tensor Tympani Muscle When the muscle tightens on purpose, pressure in the outer ear canal tends to drop, which can feel like a slight pull or fullness.12PubMed. Contraction of the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles explored by tympanometry and pressure measurement in the external auditory canal
People compare the sound to distant thunder, wind or a waterfall. It lasts only as long as you hold the muscle, and it is louder in a quiet room because nothing masks it.
The ear has a second tiny muscle, the stapedius, attached to the smallest ear bone. It mostly fires automatically in response to loud sound. Ear pressure measurements suggest the deliberate rumble comes from the tensor tympani and the automatic reflex from the stapedius, so the rumble you control is a different muscle from your built-in loud-noise reflex.
It is easy to confuse rumbling with popping your ears. Popping is the tube from the throat to the middle ear opening to equalize pressure. Rumbling is a muscle tightening and does not equalize anything. You can rumble without any pop, and pop without any rumble.
What Rumbling Does to Your Hearing
Hearing tests during a deliberate rumble show a temporary drop in hearing for low-pitched sounds.13The Journal of Laryngology & Otology. Voluntary contraction of the tensor tympani muscle and its audiometric effects At a deep tone like a low hum, sounds had to be about 22 decibels louder to be heard.14PubMed Central. Audiometric findings with voluntary tensor tympani contraction The rumble itself can also drown out quiet sounds, adding to the muffling.15The Hearing Journal. Case Report: Diagnostic Indicators of a Contracted Tensor Tympani Muscle The figure applies to a deep tone, and the amount of muffling varies from person to person and with how hard the muscle is tightened.
You can try this with everyday sounds. Rumble while a fridge, fan or car engine hums and notice it fade. Speech mostly stays clear because voices sit higher in pitch.
The effect reverses as soon as the muscle relaxes.16PubMed. Tensor Tympani Syndrome There is no sign that casual rumbling damages hearing. The muffling is also mostly for bass: in animal ear experiments, middle pitches changed little or were even slightly boosted.17PubMed Central. Time-domain and frequency-domain effects of tensor tympani contraction on middle ear sound transmission in gerbil
Rumbling is not a reliable way to protect yourself from loud noise. The muscle reduces low sounds only modestly and only while you hold it, and it does not block loud high-pitched noise well. The automatic stapedius reflex gives more of this damping than the tensor tympani. Earplugs or ear defenders remain the real protection at concerts or work.
If you have a hearing test, rumbling can make low tones seem harder to hear. Mention the ability and keep the muscle relaxed during the test. The pressure test of the eardrum can also pick up the contraction.
Why We Have This Muscle at All
The muscle tightens during chewing, helping damp the loud crunch that travels through your jaw and skull.18PubMed. Tensor tympani muscle Chewing sends vibrations straight to the ear, bypassing the eardrum, so they can seem very loud. Softening that sound helps you keep hearing the world around you while you eat. It also activates when you shout or make other loud sounds yourself, softening them a little.19PubMed. Tensor tympani muscle Researchers have suggested it may quiet other low body sounds during moments of alertness, though this is unproven.20Medical Hypotheses. A common trigeminal framework for jaw clenching and tensor tympani activation: an evolutionary and testable hypothesis for bruxism
The muscle shares its nerve supply with the chewing muscles. That is why many people first notice the rumble during a big yawn or clench, and why learning to rumble without moving the jaw means separating two linked movements.
Despite a common belief, contraction during swallowing did not raise middle ear pressure or help open the ear’s pressure-equalizing tube.21PubMed. Role of the tensor tympani muscle in eustachian tube function It is unlikely to be the reason your ears pop on a plane.
When Ear Rumbling or Fluttering Is a Problem
In some people the muscle tightens too easily on its own, causing frequent spasms, a condition often linked to anxiety and stress.22PubMed. Tonic tensor tympani syndrome in tinnitus and hyperacusis patients: a multi-clinic prevalence study This can cause ear fullness, a fluttering feeling, pain around the ear, and changes in how the middle ear holds air.23PubMed. Tonic tensor tympani syndrome in tinnitus and hyperacusis patients: a multi-clinic prevalence study It is most often found in people who already have tinnitus, meaning ringing or other sounds in the ear with no outside source.24The Journal of Laryngology & Otology. Prevalence and management outcomes of tonic tensor tympani syndrome in an ENT audiology tinnitus clinic in Singapore Ear examinations in these people usually look normal.25The Journal of Laryngology & Otology. Prevalence and management outcomes of tonic tensor tympani syndrome in an ENT audiology tinnitus clinic in Singapore
Tension and anxiety make the muscle quicker to tighten, and fluttering often eases when stress and sensitivity to loud sound are managed. Habitual rumbling has not been shown to cause these conditions.
A rare condition causes the middle ear muscles to twitch repeatedly in a rhythm.26The Journal of Laryngology & Otology. Management of middle ear myoclonus It produces clicking or buzzing that you cannot control, often in just one ear.27The Journal of Laryngology & Otology. Management of middle ear myoclonus A sound you can switch off at will is very different from one that keeps going by itself.
That is the main way to tell a harmless rumble from a symptom. Voluntary rumbling starts and stops instantly when you choose, and it may work in one ear or both. Spasms arrive unbidden, often in bursts, sometimes triggered by sudden sounds. They tend to feel like a flutter, thump or fullness, and pain around the ear alongside the flutter is not part of ordinary rumbling. A rhythmic click that keeps going needs checking.
See a doctor or hearing specialist if fluttering, clicking or rumbling happens without your control, persists, or comes with pain, dizziness or hearing loss. Describe whether you can start and stop it, which ear it affects and what triggers it. A specialist will look at the eardrum and may run a hearing test, and a pressure test of the eardrum can show the muscle twitching. Since exams often look normal, your description matters most.
Can You Learn It, and Is It Useful
Because the muscle can be tightened silently and invisibly, researchers are testing it as a hands-free, eyes-free way to control phones and earbuds.28Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. EarRumble: Discreet Hands- and Eyes-Free Input by Voluntary Tensor Tympani Muscle Contraction The ear is already where earbuds sit, so sensing it there is a natural fit. Sensors in earphones can detect the contraction through pressure changes in the ear canal.29PubMed. Contraction of the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles explored by tympanometry and pressure measurement in the external auditory canal Chewing, talking and swallowing also change pressure, so the device has to be taught what a deliberate rumble looks like. A short rumble repeated a set way would help avoid accidental commands. Day to day, a quick rumble could pause music or answer a call, and brief contractions avoid tiring the muscle.
Another project is testing it as a switch for people with severe disabilities who struggle to use their hands.30PubMed Central. Exploring the ’EarSwitch’ concept: a novel ear based control method for assistive technology That is plausible because most people with neurological conditions in one survey still reported the ability.31PubMed Central. Exploring the ’EarSwitch’ concept: a novel ear based control method for assistive technology
To try finding it yourself, start with a slow yawn and notice the rumble at its peak, then try to repeat that feeling without opening your mouth. Practice in a quiet room so the rumble is easy to hear. Gently clenching your back teeth can help you feel for it, and you can then gradually reduce the jaw movement until only the rumble remains. It may take days or weeks for some people. Stop if you feel pain or develop ringing that does not go away. If you cannot do it, that says nothing about your hearing health.