The sound of your voice that you hear in your ear when you talk is called bone conduction. It's a natural phenomenon that happens because sound vibrations travel through your bones to your inner ear, along with the sound waves traveling through the air.
How Does Bone Conduction Work?
- Sound Waves: When you speak, sound waves travel through the air and reach your eardrum.
- Vibrations: These sound waves cause your eardrum to vibrate.
- Middle Ear: The vibrations are then transferred to the tiny bones in your middle ear (malleus, incus, and stapes).
- Inner Ear: The stapes vibrates against the oval window, a membrane in your inner ear, sending vibrations into the fluid-filled cochlea.
- Bone Conduction: Simultaneously, the vibrations from your vocal cords also travel through the bones in your skull and jaw to your inner ear.
Why Do You Hear Your Voice Differently?
- Air Conduction: The sound that reaches your ear through air conduction is what others hear.
- Bone Conduction: The sound that reaches your ear through bone conduction is what you hear.
- Differences: The sound you hear through bone conduction is slightly different from the sound others hear because of the way the vibrations travel through your bones.
Factors Affecting Bone Conduction:
- Loudness: The louder you speak, the stronger the vibrations, and the more likely you are to hear your voice in your ear.
- Environment: In quiet environments, you might hear your voice more clearly because there are fewer competing sounds.
Is It Normal?
Yes, hearing your voice in your ear when you talk is perfectly normal and a natural part of how sound travels through your body.
