Pulsatile Tinnitus

This is a thread for Pulsatile Tinnitus (I'd like to keep it seperate from normal tinnitus, which is a different cause). Recently developed it in one ear, lasted for a few weeks. Now it comes whenever my heart rate goes up. Really annoying. Has anyone had the surgery for this?

 

I have had this for years. I told my GP and also a neurologist about it, but they wouldn't even believe that I have it. I don't know why i even bother speaking to these people.

 

I have had it - when my ears were rather blocked - but it went away - when I finally unblocked my ears, I think.

 

I've definitely experienced this at times. For me, it's more or less of a "whooshing" sound that might suggest turbulent blood flow. Some believe that it is caused by high blood pressure in the carotid arteries, perhaps due to plaque buildup there - but I've heard this kind of thing, intermittently, going back to my youth. It could be a blood pressure thing, but, as @MeSci said, it often seems related to congestion. I also wonder if it could be a fairly local blood pressure thing. If, say, you had vasoconstriction in the inner ear, might you "hear" the constricted flow there? Such vasoconstriction was a possible explanation an otologist gave me from my constant dizziness in the years following the onset of ME.

 

I posted this article on another thread. It says that a doctor may be able to see/hear that you have pulsatile tinnitus, by just putting a stethoscope to your ear, so they can hear it too.

This guy was told repeatedly to just learn to live with it, until he found a doctor who was prepared to "listen."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/06/AR2009070602919.html?noredirect=on

From article;

"Sismanis suspected that the cause of the noise was a dissecting left carotid artery. The large vessel that brings blood to the brain had somehow torn, causing the area to fill with blood and resulting in a dangerous narrowing of the artery, which placed Luchs at high risk for stroke."

"Sismanis said he believes Luchs suddenly hyperextended his neck while vomiting, tearing the artery. The neck pain he reported to the ER physician is characteristic of such an injury, as is pulsatile tinnitus."

 

Yikes, I don't know if I have the energy for another medical odyssey to figure out the exact cause.