I Hear Thumping / Twitching / Fluttering — But I Can Feel It Too!

[Lauren86]

Since October 2020, I've been experiencing random thumping in my left ear. It used to happen once a week but now it's at least twice a week. It's like a thumping, fluttering, or twitching sound and not only can I hear it, I can feel it too!

It drives me insane. I have no idea why it started in the first place and when it starts, it literally starts out of nowhere. I can't find any rhyme or reason on what triggers it. It usually last for hours and the thumping is very sporadic, like one single "thump!" and then 20 seconds later "thump, thump!"

I've read about pulsatile tinnitus and when the thumping occurs, I'll put my finger on my wrist to check if the thumping is in sync with my pulse. Sometimes the thump is the same time as my pulse and sometimes it's not.

I went to my doctor and he looked in my ears and said they looked fine and kind of brushed my symptoms off knowing that I have health anxiety. I worry he doesn't take me seriously anymore and that I could be suffering from something serious like a brain tumor or aneurysm.

Can anyone help because I'm going nuts??!

 

[Lurius]

I had the exact same thing about 2-3 weeks ago. At first I got really scared that it was going to be a permanent thing, but it went away after 2-3 hours and I haven't experienced it again since then. It was in my right ear only.

 

[Lukee]

@Lauren86, this is either MEM or TTTS. Usually induced by increased anxiety.

 

[Ben Winders]

That certainly does not sound like pulsatile tinnitus, sounds more like (inner) ear spasms triggered by god knows what. I have them too. (I had acoustic trauma though.) I have them both inside my ear — feels like middle ear — and behind the ear too, more on the surface... ear twitching. I have them less than sporadically though and not necessarily triggered by anything (loud noise or anxiety or whatever).

When it's more located in the middle ear it sounds like a dull thud/rumble noise for a couple of seconds. In fact, I only get 2 or 3 twitches/rumbles and then it stops again. I get them once every month now, on average. If there is such a thing as "average" when it comes to tinnitus.

Do you have any other symptoms like electric buzz/hiss/buzzing of the head?

DO NOT plug your ears too often to look for sounds, because remember EVERYONE hears something in a totally quiet room... You don't want your brain to start picking up on things it shouldn't be putting focus on.