A Vein Crawling Up My Neck

About three months ago, my tinnitus started. Around the same time I came down with a cold, and I noticed a vein crawling up my neck to my left ear where the tinnitus occurs. The vein persisted for sometime after the cold symptoms went away along with a dryness of the throat that wouldn't go away. I ended up quitting running as it seemed to make the symptoms worse, and eventually the pressure in the vein disappeared along with the perpetually dry throat.

I recently learned about pulsatile tinnitus on a forum. (No thanks to my ENT.) Apparently turbulent flow in the veins around the ear can cause pulsatile tinnitus. I imagine the pressure could have been indicative of a disturbance in my blood flow causing tinnitus. I haven't been to the doctor about this yet because I'm worried about money and not sure where to go. Any thoughts?