When you use them, you can hear and feel a “rumbling” noise that sounds like it is coming from inside your brain.
What is the actual purpose of these muscles and why do we have them?
In: Biology
Thats likely not muscles. What you’re hearing is probably blood being forced through blood vessels close to your ear. I assume you’re hearing this vibrating noise when your head is on your pillow?
That is the tensor tympani. Not everybody can voluntarily contact it which might be why the first responder doesn’t know what you’re talking about. But I am fellow ear rumbler
Your ear has a drum with a round surface like the instrument drum. When you hit a drum (instrument) it’s very loud. If you put one hand on the drum and then hit the drum, the sound is quieter. The tensor tympani dampens loud sound going through your ear drum
The big muscles that power your jaw run up the side of your head, just in front of your ears.
They are pretty mighty, and depending on how your head is positioned, it can definitely feel/sound like a rumble.
Is that the right area?
When I was a little kid, I’d call call it “making storms.” I’d also stare at a long, incandescent bulb filament for a few seconds and then blink quickly while I rumbled so there’d be lightning, too.
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