• slingstone
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    1 month ago

    I do this thing where I pop my ears (like when pressure changes from altitude) and then it’s like I’m hearing my breathing inside of my sinuses or something. When I breathe this way, it effectively blocks conversations I don’t want to overhear. Do other people do this, or am I odd?

    • @[email protected]
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      51 month ago

      I can do this. If I’m in a really quiet area, I like to take in a deeper breath and then exhale as slowly as possible while doing it, which then allows me to hear my heartbeat. Super nifty.

      I can also use my soft pallet to block airflow from my throat to my nose. Can you do that too?

      • slingstone
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        11 month ago

        I can’t block my nose in that way. I tried when your comment came in, but I can’t conceive of how to do it.

        With the ear popping thing, I just hear the rushing of my breath. I can see how you might be able to hear your heart. I might be making this up in my head, but I feel like maybe I could hear it when I was younger.

        • @[email protected]
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          21 month ago

          The trick is that while you hold your ears ‘open’, you have your lungs try to not breath out but you don’t close your mouth. This lets the heart beating against your lungs be what pushes air in and out and then you hear the sounds of the air pulses as it moves past your eustachian tubes in your throat. Making sure your lungs are as full as possible is required so the lungs push against the heart.

    • @[email protected]
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      31 month ago

      I can do this! I forget the name for it but I can rumble my ears, and then I can also ‘pop’ them if I go a little further. I’m so grateful for it if I ever go through a pressure change, I can’t imagine how people cope without being able to do it.

      • slingstone
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        31 month ago

        Wait a minute. If I hold my jaw right, I do get a very short rumbling apart from my breath. Is that what you guys mean?

        • @[email protected]
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          21 month ago

          Sounds about right. I would connect this action to my jaw, not anything with my eyes like some others have said. When you say short, do you mean the sound doesn’t last very long? I can keep it going more or less as long as I want.

          • slingstone
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            11 month ago

            As long as I tense my jaw, I guess, but it’s kinda awkward for me. I kinda have to pop my jaw down and hold it. I feel I’m making a silly face when I do it, so I’m not holding it long.

            • @[email protected]
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              21 month ago

              I guess there’s multiple ways to hit it. I feel it in my jaw but it’s the same process as wiggling my ears (though I don’t have to do that at the same time if I don’t want to).

    • @[email protected]
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      21 month ago

      Came here looking for the tensor tympani rumble cause I know it well; not sure what your thing is! If I notice sounds going quiet on a flight I’ll pinch the nostrils shut and make an exhalation effort till I hear a pop in each ear, then sounds are normal. Almost like the reverse of yours.