Hello

My name is Teresa and my tinnitus journey started in 1993 when I had an operation on the mastoid bone behind my left ear. It left me with 40% hearing in that ear and a high pitched tinnitus which, over the years has subsided to a buzz (similar to the buzz made by some fluorescent lights).

I wore (adult) braces for 5 years and that caused TMJ problems which created tinnitus in my right ear.

The steady buzz changed to pulsatile about 4 years ago when I started having (unrelated) palpitations, and even though they are mostly under control, the pulsatile continues.

This means that I can hear my heart in my ears and when I'm having palpitations I can hear and feel them. As if that is not enough, a couple of days ago I started hearing a 'surge' just as I'm about to fall asleep. It seems to be more on the left side of the head but sometimes sounds like it travels from one ear to the other. I can't sleep because the surge is loud enough to wake me.

I'm seeing my doctor this afternoon, but based on previous experience, I'm not expecting too much help.

I wonder if it might be tight muscles in my neck and shoulders as I have a history of that too?

Maybe trigger points that became active?

Does anyone have any advice?

How does one sleep though this?

 

Pulsatile tinnitus can be helped by a small beta blocker or hearing aid for some people so might be worth looking into it.
Love glynis

 

Welcome to the forum

Hope your doc visit goes well...

 

@TCR Hi Teresa!
Thank you for sharing what's going on. This is so helpful as I've been having the surges at night too. When I mentioned them to my ENT he suggested I see a neurologist if they continued. But I swear they're related to my T in my left ear. I'll get a loud surge and sometimes it feels like it travels to the right ear, just like you said. Last night I feel asleep on the couch, this time lying on my left ear (I lay on my right ear when I sleep in bed) and I got a pretty powerful jolt that woke me up and really rattled me. I forced myself to get up and meditate, talked to my husband about it, cried a little, took a .25 Xanax and went to bed. No more surges last night.

But it's funny you mention the neck/shoulders because my husband who has shoulder pain mentioned maybe I do too and I said are you crazy it's in my ear! But maybe he's on to something. Anyway, wanted you to know you're not alone. Let us know how you're doing! xoxo Rosemary

 

Rosemary, I don't know how I missed seeing your reply from July 2017. I was very interested to hear about the surges. I still remember the first time I experienced it. It sounded like a loud bang/crack inside my head. Very scary. Mine come and go. If the surges are bad, I massage the Sternocleidomastoid muscles at the front of my neck. Those are usually painful to the touch and makes me think there is a connection. I recently started physical therapy for my neck and shoulders. It is too early to report on whether it helps or not. I am asking the therapists a lot of questions and hoping something they tell me will set me on the path to discover what causes the surges. I'm also hopeful the therapy will quieten my tinnitus. Sometimes the surges go away for days, even weeks. I have to play detective because my doctors don't know what to do to help. When the surges are frequent, I try the massage on my neck and shoulders, or move my pillow so my head and upper body are more elevated, or, sometimes just sleeping on the other side helps. I have noticed that I only get these when I am lying down. Lying on my left side is the worse. Occasionally I hear the surge when on my right side, but very rarely. Maybe it's the carotid artery pressing against muscle or the other way around? (still trying to work that out) Again, that makes me think it has something to do with neck muscles and the pressure they exert when in a certain position.

My doctor offered to send me to a neurologist but warned me that neurologist will want to inject dye to and scan neck and head and to be aware of what that might do to my ears/head. Right now, I'm doing my own detective work and keeping a list of when the surges occur and what helps. I too have Xanax which I reserve for really bad times. Sometimes even taking ibuprofen or aspirin help with the surges but they make my tinnitus louder for about 6-8 hours. When I told my doctor, she said that if the pain meds help with the surges and I can deal with the louder tinnitus for a few hours then she did not feel it would do any harm.