Can Pulsatile Tinnitus Go Away on Its Own?

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing okay I've had pulsatile tinnitus for around a month. I suspect it's has something to do with neck issues. Because I also have tinnitus and severe hyperacusis I can't really investigate the causes of PT further or seek treatment for it.

PT is quite bothersome, it's worse in my left ear but its usually in both, and sometimes in the back of the head too. When my hyperacusis is really bad I feel like PT hurts me. Which definitely isn't good since my noise tolerance is is really bad.

Is it possible for the PT to go away on its own?

 

Yes, it's possible. That isn't always a good thing though. Mine was a symptom of a dural arteriovenous fistula. I had PT, and then it went away. The reason it stopped is because the vein shut down completely, which forced the blood flow to go backwards into the veins of my brain, which would have then at some point ruptured and blood, leaving me with a massive stroke, and I had relatively mild symptoms. Moral of the story, get it checked out by a legitimate doctor. My surgeon explained to me when the PT stops, that's can be a very bad sign.

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/thread...d-to-do-to-get-answers-and-a-diagnosis.36645/

http://neuroangio.org/diagnosis-and-treatment-of-pulsatile-tinnitus/

 

@Greg Sacramento I heard you know a lot about PT? Do you have any ideas what I could try to do to alleviate it?

My PT is 24/7. It sounds like thumping, but there's also a high pitch tone which comes and goes. I experience this strange vibration feeling in the left side where its worse as well. Weirdly enough, while I chew the PT disappears and i can only hear my normal tinnitus, after stopping eating it comes back.

I can't get it checked by a doctor, because of my severe hyperacusis. I'd really love to get it diagnosed and treated, but my ears are too fragile to handle that - it would do more harm than good. If you need extra information about it please let me know. I'd be so grateful if you had any advice for me!

 

You aren't going to find answers or a solution on a forum, but you will find advice on how you possibly can. You should see a doctor that is qualified to evaluate this. Otherwise you will go in circles with guesses and speculation. No one here can diagnose you. PT can be benign and you can have symptoms. You can also have PT and it's a symptom of a life threatening condition. You won't know unless you have it evaluated.

 

@arctic loon - I won't use any medical terms and descriptions - only simple words. When PT with thumping being 24/7 and disappears only when chewing, it's usually the carotid artery and that can also associate to jaw processes, although in very rare cases it could be something else. The process to carotid/jaw can not be seen well on a MRI. MRA, MRV and CTA also have drawbacks for this. If you have heart problems then these tests are needed. A color ultrasound would indicate a carotid problem and this test is not loud. Wear noise blocking headphones anyways.

Being older, if you smoke or eat a lot of junk food would indicate carotid with heart associations more so than a vein/artery problem from an injury such as being the vertebral artery from whiplash. Hypertension And PT has no limitations.

Besides this - what vitamins that you take and foods eaten can associate to increasing PT, eye problems with floater and hypertension. I found out that NAC can cause or increase eye problems and headaches with having hyperactive PT of a carotid nature. Vitamin A - 3 cups of sliced watermelon or 1 cup of other melons daily for a few months can as well. I found several internet hidden very serious professional medical PT articles on this. If you also have other facial, neck, head or eyes discomfort then also get complete blood work that includes a complete vitamin panel and D-dimer.

Need to determine if you have heart problems. If so a beta blocker may help such as Levobunolol, Nebivolol and Sotalol. These are the safest ones with tinnitus.

When there's thumping - maybe also with a pattern motor generator sound, then the carotid artery has more blockage than normal. An ultrasound is the best test to note how much blockage.

So many articles on discussion above and other possible PT concerns, where a few mentions of words are very helpful, but most content may not apply to a particular person. Many professional articles also state different thoughts and it takes a lot of research time to get to real concerns, real answers and proper treatments.

 

Wow thank you so much! This gave me a lot of hope!

I've been suspecting it might have something to do with my carotid arteries, because of my neck injury. The fact that MRI wouldn't be a good scan to see this issue is a huge relief. I definitely can't ever have an MRI, I'd lose the last of my sound tolerance.

I'm in my early 20's, so I doubt it's due to heart issues, since I've been relatively healthy and have never smoked.

Maybe in a couple year's my sound tolerance has gotten good enough to get an ultrasound. Do you know what type of procedure is usually done to eliminate PT if it's caused by this issue? I'll definitely do my own research on this as well.

I'm really grateful for reply, now I have some hope I could maybe get rid of it some day.

 

I know, you're absolutely correct! But because of my hyperacusis I can't even handle a trip to the hospital let alone do much testing. If I didn't have this severe hyperacusis, then I'd absolutely go to a specialist. But right now it's not an option.

 

@arctic loon I'm I correct in that we can rude out all health problems including headaches and any noticed physical conditions beside a neck injury ?

Can you tell me about your neck injury. Any relationship to whiplash or forward head posture?
Have someone use a stethoscope over your carotid artery to see if a bruit can be heard.

PT thumping related to possible neck injury. >>>> Many different issues are possible, but most common is cervical artery dissection where the vertebral or carotid arteries were injured from a car accident or whiplash. Most of the time, a vertebral injury causes high pitched somatic tinnitus - not PT. Since you don't have any other physical issues, it's possible that a carotid tear may have happened, which is not dangerous, but the clot forming to heal can cross the arterial wall and become thickened. With this, blood flow may be slowed causing thumping PT. Ultrasound is used to see if there's a clot. Ultrasound sound is whisper level. With headphones, it can not be heard.

If this is the case, your PT can be cured by thrombolytics or heparin or warfarin. Aspirin may do it, let I would not use it with tinnitus.

 

Then I guess there isn't much that can be done and you're taking a risk.

 

@tiniturtle I have to choose with lesser of two evils. Getting it checked would be a huge risk as well... I could get permanent setback to my hyperacusis which already is very difficult. It's too big of a risk.

 

@Greg Sacramento it's a theory of course, but if that were the case, it would be really cool!

 

I guess I'll answer your original question. Yes, it can go away on its own. Is that a good thing, not always. In my case, when my PT disappeared, that indicated a serious life threatening issue. Once they detected that, I had to have surgery within a week or two. I didn't hear it anymore because the vein shut down completely and forced blood flow to go in reverse into my brain. I had few symptoms but I was on the verge of a catastrophic brain bleed. Sometimes PT is the only warning you get about an issue. If you choose not to get a medical evaluation, that's your prerogative, but be aware you might be taking some risks.

Also, the surgery cured the issue as well as the PT.

 

Agree. PT can be a sign of something very serious like >.

Rare - Giant cell arteritis is an inflammation of the lining of your arteries. Intracranial means inside the skull and hypertension means high fluid pressure. Intracranial hypertension means that the pressure of the fluid that surrounds the brain (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF) is too high. Elevated CSF pressure can cause two problems, severe headache and visual loss.

Not so rare - Then with deeper study comes stuff like an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Abdominal aortic branch occlusion is blockage or narrowing of one of the large arteries in the abdomen that come off of the aorta. All of this causes thumping.

I now believe that total bloodwork CBC with all infection - ESR and CRP and vitamin levels need to be examined. After that ultrasounds of the entire body really might be needed. Not really joking, but specialists of all sorts are needed. In most case study, PT is caused from one does - foods eaten, vitamins, stress and smoking. Too much calcium and potassium can block valves. Too much vitamin A can cause intercranial hypertension, vision loss, floaters and spikers, too much fun food can block arteries - and the list goes on. ​

 

I totally understand it would be good to get it examined. My hyperacusis would worsen if I got my PT examined, it's a difficult situation. Especially when it seems the PT is getting progressively louder.

Thank you a lot for both of you @tiniturtle and @Greg Sacramento for your advice, I really appreciate it.