Struggling with Pulsatile Tinnitus (PT) and Eustachian Tube Dysfunction (ETD)

Hi,

Back in the summer I got my ear irrigated as I had a build up of wax, after I had this done I noticed when I swallow my ear clicked and I kept having to try pop my ear. I was going on holidays in a few days so I went to a out of hours weekend doctor and he said there is still some wax in the ear but he said he could see my eardrum, no sign of infection. I was just concerned about making my flight, so he prescribed a mild ear steroid antibiotic (gentamicin) and penicillin. He said the other ear was full of wax but I didn't want to risk getting that irrigated so soon before my flight.

The clicking never went but it wasn't too bad and i still needed to try pop my ear quite a but. Recently I noticed however the same ear when I burp/belch but don't open my mouth so keep my mouth closed i can feel the pressure of that in the ear and it hurts, it feels like the air is trying to come out of ear but it can't if that makes sense.

Now on to the most annoying part I also now have developed this extremely annoying whooshing sound when lying down at night which i think is pulsatile tinnitus, but I'm pretty sure it's only when lying down. I can make it stop by sitting back up but its making sleeping quite impossible even with headphones in the same ear.

Sounds exactly like this -

Pulsatile Tinnitus sound

So my thinking is i have some type of eustachian tube dysfunction that caused the pulsatile tinnitus? Is that possible? Thoughts?

I also have a very sore neck and trapezius muslces from sitting awkwardly in work, been feeling lightheadedness and dizzy the last while (been checked by cardiologist - nothing serious on the heart side of things AFAIK) - just listing other things that might could be possible causing it.

 

@ryoukii

The sternocleidomastoid muscles are the neck muscles most likely to cause lightheadedness and dizziness. A sinus or ET problem could be increased by extreme sternocleidomastoid tension causing PT, but it's unlikely that this muscle caused PT alone.

I would say PT is from ear irrigation. I had slight PT to the pillow when I had ear syringing as being first tinnitus onset. It took a month or so before it developed. It went away, but any ear damage other than hair cell death was never found. I now have PT again and that's a long story.

 

@Greg Sacramento you are just awesome, love reading your informational posts

 

@annV Thank you Ann. I love how you can accurately assess situations and you got a great memory for details. You are very gifted with lots of resourceful, insightful and enterprising thoughts. And you got humour.

 

Thanks for your reply Greg. I had lightheadness and dizziness before the neck pain, the lightheadness and dizziness also comes with some bad blood vessels in my eyes at night time and intermediate chest pain, i always thought it was related to my heart but have had multiple heart tests with cardiologist and nothing ever found.

Seems that ear irrigation caused both ETD and pulsative tinnitus, how long did it take for your PT to go? I'm afraid to get that ear irrigated again (there is still wax left in it)

 

Thanks for the added information including eyes and chest pain. This information could complicate matters. Maybe an autoimmune disorder which can also associate to any fluid that accumulates in the middle ear due to infection or injury - irrigation, causing inflammation. Eustachian tube dysfunction and pulsatile tinnitus can result from that. Hopefully that's all. Your statement above may point to an autoimmune disorder and this can cause an eustachian tube disorder. Intercranial Hypertension may also have input.

Your statement above could also point to thyroid. It can also point to a vein/artery of neck such as the internal jugular vein, subclavian artery or a cranial nerve. Direct Science has an article series that discusses all that we have mentioned and there can be all types of cause, associations and reasons. Neck muscles - the sternocleidomastoid can relate to your statement above, even though light head and dizziness came before neck pain. You may had a previous neck/head injury.

Have you had blood work - a CBC and urine?
You may need testing - a MRI, MRA, or CT. It's hard to say which testing would be best, not knowing all that may be involved.

 

Thanks for your reply. A bit of background about me I am 26 years old and general healthy. The order of my
symptoms were as follows

Late 2018 - Back upper back neck pain in work - eventually got a new chair in work and this pain subsided
Feb 2019 - Extreme panic attack after drug use ended up in hospital.
Feb - April 2019 - never felt right after episode in hospital - this caused constant lightheadness, dizziness chest pain, blood watery eyes blood vessels in eyes, had ECG, holter, echocardiogram over a period of few months , all clear bar frequent etopic beats.
April - July 2019 - feeling better, no issues.
July 2019 - ear irrigation - ETD symptoms
August 2019 - panic attack after drug use again (heart going crazy), lightheadness, dizziness chest pain, blood watery eyes blood vessels in eyes, still ETD symptoms
October (present) - sore upper back and neck again, ETD symtoms, PT and lightheadness, dizziness chest pain, blood watery eyes blood vessels in eyes

Not sure if any of these things are anyway interrelated but i've read that PT is generally vascular in origin and the fact I have cardiac symptoms i suspected could be related somehow. I only get the PT when lying down in bed and this can also cause the dilated blood vessels in the eyes i described, some sort of blood flow to the head issue I don't know.

I have had full blood test done in september, all normal ranges.

 

Thanks for time event details. This is needed.

It may be all that you mention associates to intercranial hypertension.

 

You have PT, which is head related, but you've had no evaluations of the blood vessels in your head? Am I understanding correctly? If you haven't, you should as soon as you can. It's possible you've been paying attention to the wrong things. Imaging of your head can also uncover non-vascular causes.

 

Wow, this is how it started for me. DIY irrigation! It set off an incredible 6 years of ongoing issues (I've posted this elsewhere).

Because I was largely a vestibular patient, I focussed less on the tinnitus, it was the least of my problems. But most of that stuff has gone away and the tinnitus remains.

Just incredible the body is not able to cope with an apparently mild upset at this point in the anatomy!

Thanks for helping me confirm what I already thought! Cheers Greg!