Fizzing sound in neck

[Jonw1983]

Hi, for about a year now i have had this fizzing sound in my neck that occurs randomly, usually when i am just laying down. It doesnt occur when i am moving my head or anything, its usually just when i sitting still or laying down. It sounds like it is coming directly from the back of my neck and is starting to worry me. I also experience these weird pains in my head that come for about a second and then go and come back again every 10minutes or so. These pains are in 1 area in the back of my head in about a 1 square inch area.. Any ideas???

[Carol in PA]

Hi, I've had this ever since I was a child.
It's random, and I notice it when I'm lying down.
To me, it sounds like a small stream of bubbles traveling up the spinal column in my neck.

In the several years that I've been frequenting health boards, I've seen other people with this symptom, although I've never seen an explanation.

Wishing you the best,
Carol

[Jonw1983]

Hi carol, thanks for your input. I like how you explained the sound it makes, it describes it perfectly, and i wasnt too worried about it until the weird "headaches" started. I am hoping its nothing, ive done plenty of research on this myself and i couldnt really find an explanation for it as well. That is why i made a post here, hoping a doctor would read my post and give me some input.

[Quixotic1]

It is so interesting to hear a "bizarre" symptom and have other people jump in to say they've experienced the same thing!  I haven't a clue what could be causing the sensation you are describing.  

I have a symptom that I have been telling neurologists about for more than twenty years.  It is actually my most disabling problem, and they just look at me like I grew a new head.  Finally, reading these forums I found someone complaining of the same thing (I think).  It was reassuring, but he didn't know what it was either.

You seem to be describing what is called "ice pick" headaches.  These are stabbing or piercing pains that usually happen in about the same spot and last only seconds, but can be frightfully painful.  They are benign.  But I should ask if the scalp on that one inch area is very painful and tender to the touch.  Hee's a link on Icepick Headaches:

http://headaches.about.com/od/otherheadpain/a/ice_picks.htm

Quix

[Jester04]

Hello, I actually have the same problem except it seems like the traveling bubbles are in my brain. My family thinks I am crazy, but every now and then (more often here recently) I feel or hear these little bubbles in my brain??? So am I crazy or could there be something wrong?

[tds74]

I feel this too.  It's like a fizzing sensation in the middle of my brain, almost like the foam on top of soda.  Happens most often when I am waking up in the mornings.  I have miagraines often and wonder if it might be related some way.  I'm usually not having a headache during these sensations though.

[waitamin06]

i also have that fizzing in the back of my neck i get it when iam really hungry

[zipsled]

I can't believe I found other people with this problem.  I have had this fizzing sound in the back of my neck for about a year.  It almost only happens when I am lying down.  I can also feel a very mild sensation when it happens, but this is difficult to describe.  It only lasts for about 5 to 10 seconds and then stops, and then it will happen again in maybe 15 minutes.  I have not had any headaches, but I have had a lot of upper back pain recently and I am worried that something is wrong.  

[Shashi11962]

Wow, I thought I was the only one who experienced this. I'd try to tell other people or my neurologist about it, and they'd just look at me funny.

I've had the same fizzing sound which runs up the back of my spine right in the neck area.  It sounds (and feels) like tiny bubbles fizzing up through there.

I've had some other neurological problems going on similar to MS, and wasn't sure if the tiny bubbles were a new symptom or what.  I guess it's not, but I wish I know what it was and what caused it.  

[Melbourneborn]

Hello I have had the same problem as you for about 20 years I'm now 33 it's at the back of my neck often when I'm really hungry or have a stomach rumble.. it sounds like a little bit of gravel going down the back of your neck for maybe a couple of cm...i wish a doctor could have this problem as they would have the recourses and knowledge to study this more it's a really weird thing that I don't even bother to tell people because no one ever understands I don't think it's life threatening and will probably have this for life  would love to get to the bottom of this

[CHales]

It happens to me as well.  Only while I'm sleeping.  It's usually followed by hunger pains in my stomach.  It's the most annoying thing and completely interrupts my sleep.  Which is why I'm on the internet at 5am trying to figure out whats wrong with me.  

It has happened in the past, but has been more intense over the last few months.  Told my PCP (Primary Care Physician)  He didn't seem to concerned over it.  Plus I've had X-Rays of my spine (not for this reason), and they said everything looked fine.

[DanielSM]

Have you found any lead about this yet?
I have the same problem.

[murseindallas]

Wow.  I have had this EXACT issue for about two years now.  I can't believe other people on here are experiencing this.  I am having neck pain also that is causing headaches...but this always occurs in the morning while lying in bed or just changing positions, etc.  It is exactly like a very muted soda fizzing traveling up my spine into my neck.  It even tapers off in volume like a soda would towards the end of the pressure realease.  It lasts for 5-10 seconds and then it may happen one or two more times, depending on how long I lie there.  I went to a neck surgeon and explained this to him and he looked at me as though I was on something.  To know others are experiencing this is very helpful, but where are the docs to help out?  I keep worrying it is something with my cerebrospinal fluid leaking out or something crazy...

[LittleHoneybee18]

Wow, I thought I was completely losing it.  I have heard and can actually feel little air bubbles running up my cervical spinal cord for the past 2 years or so.  For about a year and a half it was only when I lay down at night, but as of late, I can hear and feel it randomly during the day too.  I have a history of migraines and severe headaches and thought maybe they were connected, but that is not the case.  I have worked in the medical field for 11 years and have never heard of this symptom from patients.  I am actually embarrassed to talk to a doctor about this because I am afraid they will look at me like I am crazy.  Any suggestions?  Has anyone received any type of answer or suggested diagnosis for this?  Please help!

[Dillydorama]

I too get the fizzing sensation in the back of the neck, its not very often but it has happened since I was a child, the reason i'm looking here is that yesterday I had the fizzing in the top of my scalp, not unpleasant or painful but weird! I was hoping to find an explaination. I have always suffered with my ears, a mouth breather since childhood, I think I should have had my adenoids (sp) out, after a cold I am usually left 'bunged up' and half deaf (like when your ears pop during a flight but dont pop back' So i've been no help to anyone one else, but so good to know I am not the only one with an effervesant noggin!

[wdiz]

I have that fizz at the base of my skull too, I remember having it in my teen years but I never told anyone, I thought they'd think I was nuts. It's mostly when I lay down. The past week or so though it's every 5-10 minutes when I'm laying down and occasionally when I'm standing up. I also get migraines and have problems with my spine, degeneration and stenosis, recent spinal surgeries, MRIs and no mention of anything abnormal other than the spine, no mention by the docs to me about, hey have you had fizzy brain? I never said anything to them but was hoping with the MRI they might see something and finally explain what this is.
I wish someone would know. It was a little creepy in the beginning but it's happened for so long that when I go a day or so without it that is when I worry.
If anyone gets an answer please post. Thanks in advance!

[7of9]

i get this too..but have been diagnosed with ME so thought it was just part of the many weird and not very wonderful symptoms that it throws up

[dogger]

I have been fizzing in the back of my neck for 4 years now, this usually occurs when im hungry and comes along side a hunger growl. People dont understand what im talking about when i try and explain. ive just got used to it now but would love to know whats causing it

its like someone is opening a bottle of pop at the base of my skull where my neck is

[Melbourneborn]

Hello I have had the same problem as you for about 20 years I'm now 33 it's at the back of my neck often when I'm really hungry or have a stomach rumble.. it sounds like a little bit of gravel going down the back of your neck for maybe a couple of cm...i wish a doctor could have this problem as they would have the recourses and knowledge to study this more it's a really weird thing that I don't even bother to tell people because no one ever understands I don't think it's life threatening and will probably have this for life  would love to get to the bottom of this

[arrian000]

I have had this sensation as well for my twenties and thirties (I am 30 now).  Like everyone else it ususally happens when I am laying down but not always.  Sometimes when I am upright it happens.  What I have noticed is that it seems to occur the most when my stomach growls.  

My theory, and this is just a wild guess, is that a gland that works with or in the stomach is in close proximity to the spine in some folks, and when it goes to work the sound of it releasing acids (or doing whatever it is doing) actually travels up the spinal cord by conduction and your ears pick it up when the sound gets closer to your inner ear - ie, the neck region.  What's weird is that the vibration / fizzing is so intense sometimes that it really does sound like my neck is the origin of the fizzing but since it happens almost everytime in tandem with a stomach growl, I have to like my theory.  

One time I got really worried about it and so I intentionally became hungry (as to elicit the stomach growling) and I laid in bed in silence to see if I could create the fizzing.  I indeed was able to replicate it by doing this and thus I have tied the two together in a cause/effect sense.

Please post more or let me know what you think about this in addition to your own observations.

Good health, everyone.

[Billy_bb]

I think you may right that your spine is conducting the sound. Starting in my mid 20s a few times when near a fan or something clicking at a certain frequency, I could feel it resonating in the back of my neck. It's a strange feeling that I never told anyone about. I'm 31 now. I only started getting the fizzing in like the last 3 years but just Googled it today since it's happened alot in the last week but I have been hungry since haven't been eating much.

[missyl]

I call it rainstick noise. People look at me like I am crazy when I describe it, I am glad to see I am not alone, please post any new findings mine is in my neck

[Ashbenadum]

Omg that's what I call it the same thing everyone looks at me crazy

[missyl]

I have related this to hunger as well. Also I get it more so when stressed. It is like a rainstick noise, soda pop, or sand running down a tube in my neck. It happens most while lying down but now I hear when going down steps. Has anyone found a doc who understands what this is yet? My doc said try physical therapy has anyone tried this and does it work? On last thing my c7 neck vertabrae is slightly inflammed according to a  pt.  THANKS

[naperil]

Mine started about a year ago, and it happens mutliple times a day (mostly when I'm hungry)... I've talked to my doctor about it and he said that I may have to go see a gastro-intestinologist (sp).. but have yet to go. It's really hard to explain to anyone, and rather embarassing when in a quite room with others (like a meeting or whatever). It's definitly audible and others can hear it. Some people describe it as a clicking sound.. I hope somebody knows what this is and how to get it to go away.. I can't think of anything that changed a year ago that would cause this.

I do know, however, that I have diverticulosis or Diverticulitis, I forget.. (I found out when I was in high school and had a kidney stone-- 9 years ago). I don't know if this has anything to do with it.

[hnyburg]

Missy, I have the fizzy noise as well and have mentioned it to several doctors, a neurologist, a primary care doc and an ENT and none of them know what it is. I have also mentioned it to my physical therapist and he has never heard of it either. I get mine mostly when laying down. The way you describe it as a rain stick sound is exactly how mine sounds. I had been trying to pinpoint the best sound to describe it and rain stick is really accurate. I have had this for a few months now. It is simillar to the sound my stomach makes when hungry but I get the sensation in my neck when not hungry as well. I think they are just similar sounds but maybe not related.

[Shilobrite]

I have had this for a few years and I even kinda liked the sensation running up my neck because usually that meant my neck didn't hurt at that time, it was never when I was hungry, but I do have allot of gastro porblems.  It was always when I was lying watching tv with my neck propped forward up on a pillow.  I do crack my neck and have tension all of the time, it seems that when this happens it is when I am relaxed and it makes me think it is pent up ...energry if you could call it that releasing finally.

[Alaura]

I am so glad that I am not insane.  I have had this since I was kid, always when I first wake up, but now more recently I get it at random times during the day.  I have also noticed that when I walk I will hear it in time with the steps I take.  That kinda got me worried.  It does sound like gas fizzing though, so maybe the stomach explination is a good theory.  

[Paul_Jonas]

Do any of you have an illness or disease that you know of that could be causing this? Perhaps we all have something in common. I've been experiencing this sensation off and on, usually at night for about a month now. I'd be interested to hear more from you all.

[Zebolt]

Wow, that's just wild. I had a lot of the fizzing last night and got up early to look it up online. I could never really even describe the sound so I was not expecting to find anything on the Internet about it. So I am now blown away by seeing that other people experience it as well.

For me it's like fizzing and bubbles being released in the base of my skull, in the neck somewhere. I can't really place how long I've had this, but it's been many years and I mostly don't pay attention to it. What I have noticed about it is that it always stops immediately if I move my head at all, just to start again if I am lying down. I get it while driving too, but I just move my head a little (like fixing a crick in my neck) and it's gone.

I'm not sure what to make of the hunger theory. I have never considered that connection. What makes it unlikely for me is that I tend to eat pretty late at night, so I shouldn't be getting hungry when I go to lie down. I wouldn't discount this possible connection, though. So far, for all I know, it's the only guess anyone's made - it doesn't seem like neurologists or GPs are really familiar with this "symptom" at all.

It is certainly possible that all of us have something in common, other than the fizzing sound, but in terms of medical problems. I myself have hypertension, sleep apnea, some mild back problems, migraines, and am battling with being overweight.

I am glad to see I am not alone with this weird sound in my head. I would not have even known how to try and describe it, should I ever have come up with the nerve to ask a physician about it.