Pulsatile Tinnitus

[ErinKC]

Hello all - I am sitting in bed reading for school. I turned my head to the left and heard a whooshing sound. I thought it was coming from the pillow I was leaning on - It sounded like air pushing out of something. I turned to the right and couldn't hear it. I went back and forth trying to figure out where it was coming from until I realized it was coming from IN MY EAR.

I felt my pulse and it was moving along with it. I stood up and it got faster with my heart beat. I wiggled my jaw around, manipulated my ear a bit and it stopped. But it really freaked me out! I've never had this ever in my life.

This is my left ear that has all kinds of issues because I have TMJ. My ear does feel a bit full. So, hoping it's just from some fluid in my eustachian tube. But, I've had fluid in my eustachian tube for many, many years and I've never once had pulsatile tinnitus from it.

This one is throwing me for a loop!

Has anyone else had this come on suddenly out of nowhere, last a minute and go away? And then - hopefully - never come back? Do I need let me doctor know?

[kyllikki]

I have had pulsatile tinnitus (mostly just in my left ear but sometimes both) that is positional (meaning it only appears when I am holding my head in certain positions, like turned to the side.) I had it on an off my entire life and then last summer it was happening every single evening, pretty loudly, when sitting. I actually saw an ENT about it, because I was also having vision issues and jaw pain and headaches. He sighed and ordered an MRI/MRA plus a full hearing test and told me it was likely due to grinding my teeth + Eustachian tube issues, both of which plague me at least once every few months. Anyway, long story short, I learned I have a "normal variant" on the typical brain arterial structure, and pretty good hearing for someone my age, and... that was it. Did I still stress about it? Well... am I a registered member of a HA forum? :P Of course I still worried, but in that dangerous "loose worrying" way, and as a result my HA grabbed hold of something even worse, which I won't detail to you, except to say that alongside it, I grew ANOTHER type of tinnitus, an even worse one that produced a terrible bass sound every time I tried to sleep. Eventually that other tinnitus eclipsed the whooshing, so I worried about THAT instead. But now they're both gone.

A year later I hope I am mostly off the merry go round for now, and so I will tell you: it was 100% stress. That's "all." It was just stress so bad I was tensing ALL my facial and neck muscles ALL the time, and that was freaking out my ear. Not helping matters is that I did eventually find out what was causing the headaches/they were really eye aches, vision issues, raging anxiety, and a lot of other stuff, and it was... autoimmune thyroid issues! Not connected to anything arterial at all! Amazing how we get locked into a view and exclude other realities.

If this really is new for you, though, and bothering you, go ahead and see someone if it will make you feel better. But my understanding as a non-medical professional is that if you are on the younger end, don't smoke, and have decent cardiac health -- this is truly a "check it once then forget it for a LONG while" sort of thing. An ENT would be best person to see if you can self-refer, as the 20cm or so between the ears and esophagus is their specialty. Go once, ask them about it and tell them it freaks you out, and then when they tell you that you are fine, take their word for it, and run :)

[ErinKC]

Thank you so much for that thorough response! I have TMJ and my jaw and left ear are always messed up. But, this is new. So, while I feel like it's got to be related to my already existing ear issues (they my ear feels full/I can feel fluid draining now), my HA was definitely kicked up a notch!

I called my doctor (she just switched to a concierge model and has an after hours cell phone - a blessing and a curse for me!) and she doesn't think it's anything urgent. She suggested I take an Advil and a Zyrtec to reduce inflammation in my jaw and dry up some of the fluid in my ear and then call and make an appointment with an ENT just to have it looked at. So, I'll do it tomorrow.

It's been almost 2 hours now and it hasn't come back, so that's reassuring. I also just had my annual physical on Thursday and one of the things she checked was the blood flow in my neck arteries on both sides and nothing seemed out of sorts. I've had all the blood work done, including cardiac health markers and inflammation. So, that does make me feel better, too. But, any new symptom - especially in my head! - makes for a nice anxiety spike.

[glassgirlw]

Hey Erin - Just wanted to say that I had this for about three days off and on, about two weeks after I’d recovered from Covid. Weirdest thing ever. The pulsatile tinnitus stopped, and I had two days of the loud ringing type of tinnitus, and a couple days of vertigo. I’m fine now, but it was definitely odd. I can’t say for sure it was a result of Covid, but I did a pretty deep dive into some Covid recovery forums and there are a considerable number of people that have had these random ear issues. Kind of interesting.

[ErinKC]

I hadn’t even thought about Covid. That could certain be a cause!

[ErinKC]

Update: I just saw the ENT. He told me that because the blood vessels pass right through the ear sometimes we just perceive the sound of the blood rushing through and there’s no other cause. Especially in a case like mine where it was fleeting. He did a hearing test and my hearing was perfect, another reason that I may happen to have heard it momentarily. He said when it becomes persistent, it very load, is affecting quality of life, etc. that is when he’s do further imaging to check for a more serious underlying cause - and even then it’s usually nothing. So, good to know!

[Lana]

ErinKC

It happens to me, especially just before I fall asleep, in the night. For some weird reason (LOL), I did not worry about it. But yes, it is familiar to me too.

[kyllikki]

Hooray, Erin!! Now put it out of your head and don't let it bother you ever again! :)

[Speranza]

Ah, this is brilliant, thank you! I've been fighting a nice little bout of HA - I am extremely tired after becoming a Granny again, it was the first anniversary of my brother's death AND his birthday this month, and I usually have tinnitus in lots of different forms - but this month it's been pulsatile. Of course as I also get a stiff neck I was slowly convincing myself it could be some serious issues. However given that it's intermittent I'm going to follow your doctor's advice. :)