Hello, Hello! I've Got a Question

First, a couple things... I'm 29, and have been experiencing tinnitus for a long time now. My hearing is fine. My tinnitus is more ringing than anything else, although I do have a weird morse code once in a while.

More recently though, the ringing in my left ear (and sometimes even my right) follows my heartbeat.
It is NOT a pounding like sensation in my ear. It sounds like the ringing gets louder as my heart pumps and then more quiet in between. As if I have become sensitive to hearing the blood rushing through my skull.

Sometimes if I stand up quickly - and most likely with bad posture, my head pounds and the noise gets really loud until my body adjusts to the change in gravity.

I am a bit worried, and have an appointment set for February with an ENT. The thing is, I don't think it would bother me that much if I knew it was nothing.

I'm just wondering if anyone else's (ringing) tinnitus has a tendency to follow their heartbeat as I have described.

 

Sounds like you have what's called pulsatile tinnitus. I am thinking this is also the case with @Karen, a long time and very helpful TT member? Also, if you look at the main Tinnitus Talk page, you will see forums specifically for pulsatile. I can't help much here but hope others can. And welcome!

 

Thanks! I'll definitely share what my ENT has to say.

 

Hey Karen,
I've got both going on right now.. It's manageable - barely though at night. It seems like when I try and sleep my tinnitus just takes over my head. Anxiety disorders run in my family so I think there is a big chunk of what I'm going through that can be blamed on anxiety as well as maybe a bit of physiological changes in my body.
I also think I have some eustachian tube problems.
Anyways, I'll definitely have a big post to share after I am all done with the ENT.

 

Hi @Geoffman,

It's good to hear that your condition is manageable. The symptoms you describe are the same as mine - the ringing (high-pitched frequency, really) that grows louder with each heart beat and softer in between. Sometimes, it's extremely subtle and the pulsatile nature is almost not at all noticeable. @Karen and I have been exchanging notes on this for some time, hypothesizing that an ototoxic drug might be to blame (though this doesn't yet appear to be the situation in my case).

I'd be very curious in learning what your ENT says. I agree with Karen that most ENT's really do not understand tinnitus in general, much less pulsatile tinnitus. I'm considering consulting with a neurologist soon to explore identifying what this condition is and whether or not there is a treatment for it. The good news, generally speaking, is that pulsatile tinnitus is by and large curable -- but it is extremely difficult to identify the cause.