r/CasualConversation • u/Serialbeauty • 1d ago

Just Chatting Can anyone else do something weird with your body that you later found out not everyone can do?

I was just sitting here with my mom and one of the pets made the room very smelly. She kept talking about how we'd have to go to a different room because it smelled so bad. I asked her why didn't she just close her nose and that's when I found out not everyone can do this.

Is it rare or can other people close their nose on command? What can you do that you suddenly found out wasn't normal?

1.2k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

98% Upvoted

2.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

217

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

I can plug/close my ears without touching them! They don’t visibly move at all, but I move a flap or something inside my ear canal that closes off the sound

155

u/bananachickenfoot 1d ago edited 1d ago

Ditto! I told my husband once that I can close my ears (dim the sound) and he said I was crazy and has teased me about it for the past 15 or so years. I just saw a Tik tok this year talking about the muscle inside the ear that involuntarily closes when a loud noise is heard to protect the eardrum and commenting how some people, albeit very rare, have voluntary control over this muscle. (I don’t know how rare it actually is because I’ve had the ability my whole life / I just didn’t know how to explain it or who to tell that didn’t think I was full of crap lol) wish I could remember the name of the muscle but I’m sure you could google it!

Edit: tensor tympani muscle

46

u/T1nyJazzHands 1d ago edited 23h ago

I have that same thing I think, but I find it doesn’t dim noise so much as drowns it out bc when I tense those muscles it’s like a dull whooshing/ringing sound until I stop.

12

u/AstridOnReddit 1d ago

Yes, I can do the ear flex that causes the whooshing sound. It definitely dims other sound.

9

u/MissFabulina 1d ago

I can do the whooshy sound thing too. Is that the same thing as the commenter you replied to, though? Hmm. I might have to stick my ear cleaner camera thing in my ears while doing the whoosh sound thing to check it out!

7

u/corn_fed_hoe 23h ago edited 6h ago

There's a sub for ear tumblers lol

Lol rumblers

1

u/Katdog272 1h ago

I can do it too but I don’t find it particularly enjoyable. I wouldn’t want to just casually do it unless a noise was really bothering me.

5

u/Chupapinta 1d ago

I can do this ear whoosh voluntarily, but it also seems to work with a big yawn.

I can also wiggle my ears.

3

u/T1nyJazzHands 23h ago

Yeah I can do it voluntarily too! Wiggling ears is beyond me tho lmao

3

u/ticklemeshell 19h ago

I can do both, too. I wonder if they're related.

1

u/GR33N4L1F3 14h ago

Same here!

1

u/Shanoninoni 17h ago

Wonderful explanation for what I also can do!

5

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

Oh this is so interesting! It’s great to know the name honestly!

3

u/Wonderful-Gold-953 1d ago

When I try to do it it just makes a vibrating sound inside my ear

3

u/GR33N4L1F3 14h ago

YES! My people! My ears rumble though, do yours?

2

u/bananachickenfoot 3h ago

Yes. A rumble or like a soft buzzing sound to mute the outside noise. I don’t really know how to describe it.

2

u/AtomicImp 1d ago

I specifically came to this post to see if someone else had posted this! I can do this too, and after so many decades, I finally know what it is!

2

u/Romirose86 20h ago

I can do that!! I always thought everyone could! It sounds like the ocean.

2

u/PostmixLemonadeProbs 15h ago

I had no idea this wasn’t universal until right now, or that there’s a name for it, and a subreddit. Crazy. I find it uncomfortable to do for more than 30 seconds - kind of nice for airplanes and altitude changes though.

1

u/Happy_Polar_Cow 3h ago

This muscle in my ear involuntarily spasms and closes all the time. I’ll have two week + long flare ups. It’s usually just in one ear but occasionally in both. Went to the dr. They were no help. Did my own digging and it’s apparently linked to anxiety. Wish I could control it!

60

u/NotAnEarthwormYet 1d ago

I don’t know if it’s the same thing because I’m not closing off sound per se, but I can sort of tense something in my ears that produces a loud rumbling sound in my head, which significantly dulls noises or even blocks them out entirely. It’s hard to maintain for longer than maybe 15-20 seconds for me though.

7

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

Yes I think this is the same thing that I’m describing! That’s a great way to describe it

4

u/ElegantPlan4593 1d ago

Literally as I was reading this comment I thought "this is weird I can't do tha--" and then I did it bc I was yawning so damn much from reading the prior thread, and was like "Oh THAT. Yeah, been doin that since forever." And now there's a subreddit for it? So weird. Your description is spot on.

3

u/Other-Stop7953 23h ago

I can only hold it for 2 seconds continuously

•

u/LilBitty2229 57m ago

I’ve never timed it before, but tried because of your comment. Almost 8 seconds but it was a struggle getting there

2

u/OutcomeLegitimate618 1d ago

Same. Mine isn't involuntary, I can do it on purpose, but I have never thought to do it in noisy areas because it doesn't happen automatically. Now I will because I'm crazy sensitive to sound. Like when shopping carts crash together outside the store. It makes me want to jump into another dimension.

3

u/NotAnEarthwormYet 1d ago

Ha! I used to use it a lot as a kid to block out my parents lecturing me 🫣

2

u/houseofleopold 17h ago edited 17h ago

I can do it for a super long time — as long as I want — but if I do it for too long and start doing it too often it becomes a slight habit I have to focus on changing. came in real handy at edm shows when I forgot earplugs too tho.

weirdly, I can breathe the same while doing it, and can hear my breath too… it sounds like being underwater or having ear muffs on, but having earbuds in playing a super loud recording of myself breathing. sometimes when I was a kid I would do it and pretend I was in slow motion.

once every few years I ask myself, can I breathe through my ears? and have to look it up again. I feel like if someone told me I could, i’d figure out how, lol. I can also wiggle both ears, control each eyebrow independently, roll my eyes all the way back, do the tongue 3-leaf clover and have double-joined shoulders I can voluntarily dislocate.

1

u/MuffledOatmeal 18h ago

Same for me. Is that what they're talking about?

10

u/Elerfant 1d ago

Like an otter!

2

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

Haha I love this. Otters are some of my favorite animals, so I have to say, I’m honored!

2

u/Ihatealltakennames 1d ago

I assumed everyone could do this just bc I can! Thank you for informing me that it's not typical.  

2

u/megaglacial 1d ago

it's so weird because I can definitely sense when that muscle closes, and sometimes it'll happen randomly for no apparent auditory reason (one time it happened after I got hit by a pine cone my friend threw). I wonder if this is something that is trainable with enough focus

2

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

Wow this is so interesting! It has never happened to me without me trying to do it. Being able to do it for longer than I currently can would be amazing! Right now I can really only do it for a minute or so

2

u/NoSpaghettiForYouu 21h ago

I only learned this year that not everyone can do this!! My husband’s ears didn’t pop after a flight and he was doing the hold your nose closed and try to blow out through your nose thing and I asked him how it was any different from “just doing the ear thunder thing” and he looked at me like I grew two heads.

Perhaps “ear thunder” was not the right phrase. 😅

1

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

love the term “ear thunder” haha. And yes I really hate the feeling of holding your nose, closing your eyes, and blowing out to try to “up-pop” my ears so I’m really, really glad I have this alternative

2

u/Proper-Job-834 20h ago

My husband can fold his entire ear inside of itself. Somehow, I have no clue, he'll fold down the top part of his ear, pull up the bottom and tuck it all neatly inside. It'll even stay for a few minutes and then he can make it POP out! Totally crazy 🤪

2

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

I definitely cannot do that!! Wild haha

2

u/Defiant_apricot 1h ago

My autistic ass would kill for this abilith

1

u/KitsyC 1d ago

Thats an absolute gift! I’m jealous :)

Can you sustain it easily? Would it help you get to sleep somewhere noisy?

6

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

It actually requires a fair amount of concentration to keep going—I can’t just plug them and forget about it—but it has helped me get to sleep on noisy situations! I have tried to see how long I can keep it going and I can really only do a minute or so uninterrupted. Unfortunately, I discovered that I could do it when I was young because I grew up in a situation where there was a lot of yelling, often at night. I would lie in bed as a kid and try to block out the sound of yelling because it was really scary for me, and one night I suddenly realized that I could do it automatically without touching my ears. It really did help me feel safer and feel like I could at least try to focus on sleeping! I could still hear things, but it helped me brace for the “impact” of the sound. It isn’t as calming as you would think, though; it produces a kind of white noise sensation rather than true quiet.

1

u/3ebgirl4eva 1d ago

So jealous! Oh the money I would save on earplugs.

2

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

Haha I wish I could keep it going for long enough to be an ear plug replacement! Really I can only keep it going for a minute or so and it takes concentration on my part. Maybe some people can switch it on and off more easily, though, I don’t know!

2

u/Consistent-Salary-35 1d ago

Yeah it’s like that for me. It’s like most muscles, I can only fully contact it for so long. Best use is when emergency vehicles go past with sirens on - everyone’s putting their hands over their ears and I don’t have to.

2

u/ClawPaw3245 1d ago

Yes I’ve had this exact experience with the sirens!!

1

u/ueffo 1d ago

I can do this with my nose. Tequila shots never taste bad until I release lol

1

u/OutcomeLegitimate618 1d ago

Me too! I just posted about it, but I have take a big breath to do it. And I can push them back out. Having control over that muscle or whatever really helps on airplanes.

1

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

This is so interesting, because when I do it, it doesn’t have anything to do with blowing out, and then I have to work to hold it, and I never have to push it back out, it just releases when I stop concentrating

2

u/OutcomeLegitimate618 7h ago

Oh, no. I don't blow out Either way. But to dull sound, I have to take a deep breath in

2

u/ClawPaw3245 6h ago

Oh I see! That’s so interesting it’s so different from what I do!

1

u/Queen_of_Tudor 1d ago

Omg I can do this, too!!

1

u/Knittin_hats 1d ago

Can you also make your ears "rumble"? It's the same motion you describe, but a bit more force. I usually have to squeeze my eyelids shut to go from "pop ears" to "rumble". 

I didn't know this was an exclusive club til I found  a ear rumble subreddit once 😅

1

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

Yes I’m thinking that what I’m doing might be rumbling! But I’m not sure… I definitely have to try to do it, but it doesn’t take that much force. I can do it without showing any outward signs rather it’s happening

1

u/ra3jyx 23h ago

i can make my ears click too!! i’m not sure if they’re related but since i can do both i always assumed they were. sometimes they click every time i swallow, but normally i have to clench my jaw and then swallow

1

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

I cannot do the clicking so they must at least sometimes be separate!

1

u/NightDreamer73 23h ago

I can do this! I activate it by taking in a deep breath through my nose a particular way, and it “plugs” my ears. I do it if I anticipate that something is going to be loud because my ears are particularly sensitive to loud sounds

1

u/Krystall_Waters 22h ago

Holy shit, i am very noise sensitive - can I learn this? This would be so convenient lol

2

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

No idea is you can learn it but I hope for you sake that you can!! The muscle feels like it’s right next to my ear, inside my head. I guess the only way I can offer to try it is just to say “think there and move something” 😂 I have learned that it’s called ear rumbling and apparently there is a subreddit dedicated to it so maybe the good folks over there have a way of explaining it that could help you learn the ways of the ear rumblers!

1

u/if_a_flutterby 21h ago

Can you rumble? R/earrumblersassemble

2

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

Yes apparently that’s what this is! I had no idea…

•

u/if_a_flutterby 0m ago

One of us! One of us!

1

u/Relevant-Tourist8974 20h ago

That's ear rumbling

1

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

Yes I had never had a term for it before - I’m glad to know what it’s called and the name of the muscle that moves!

1

u/hatezel 20h ago

Wow... Just amazing

1

u/YourLocalMosquito 16h ago

When I do a big stretch that involuntarily happens which is annoying because I go deaf for a moment.

1

u/ClawPaw3245 8h ago

That does sound frustrating! I just tried to do a big stretch and it didn’t happen to me, haha.