How come holding your ears completely doesn’t stop you from still hearing noise?

Question

I understand that the ear drum vibrates to create sound, but when your ears are 100% plugged, how can sound waves vibrate the drum? And I’m not talking about not hearing a jet engine, I’m talking about things more along the lines of everyday noise.

In: 11

Answer 1

Bones and soft tissues can also conduct vibrations. Induction headphones are a good axample of this, where they work by sending vibrations into the tissues surrounding the ears rather than into the ear canals themselves.