I work in a clinic that sees patients with pulsatile tinnitus and other underlying conditions that may cause it as well.
I obviously can’t give any medical advice or go into too many details for privacy reasons, but if anyone has general questions about it, I can try to help based on what I already know from working in this clinic specifically.
hey, i don’t quite understand my pulsetile tinnitus yet, so i’m wondering whether anyone has had it extreme at night, like the sound of your eardrum basically being sucked in, and then ok briefly in the morning?
I'm just curious. Please share your experience. Sometimes my ears ring, other times it sounds like a heartbeat. Some days it sounds like woooooo whoosh.
So I've just come back from the doctor and will soon be off to an ENT followed by imaging etc. After waking up a week ago I had a pulsing sensation in my left ear only. No other symptoms. I wanted to ask you guys if this sounds like what you've experienced or something else (just so I know what to prioritise moving forward - it takes time in this country)
I'm a male, mid thirties, athletic and don't smoke or drink. Blood tests show that I've had low hemoglobin and MCHC for three straight years but ferritin is fine. I'm assuming I may have that trait that under utilises iron.
My ear sounds like it has water in it but it's totally clear. The pulse is faint. At first it was worse when laying down. But I think it's been gradually getting more faint. If I yawn then the pulsing stops and it becomes like a constant whoosh. Even after exercise I struggle to tell whether it's actually in line with my heartbeat or not. I can't stop the sound no matter where I try to compress around the ear. It also has stopped for 10 seconds on two occasions while sitting in bed. But it started soon after. My hearing sounds mildly muffled. It's definitely pulsing but from what I've read my case seems quiet in comparison.
I would guess this is an ear problem based on my low risk for vascular issues but I'm gonna get it all done either way.
Thanks for any insight you can provide and sorry for the info dump
Recent diagnosis for my wife, and we’re trying to sort things out as she seems to have symptom crossover with some other possible problems. I wanted to find out if anyone has or had similar symptoms and patters to hers that are 100% caused by hypermobility, specifically in the neck.
She wakes up feeling completely fine. 30 to 45 minutes into being upright, standing or sitting, the symptoms start. Occipital neuralgia, some facial neuralgia, brain fog, tinnitus, head in a fishbowl feeling, and pressure feelings in the ears, eyes, and face. Confusion at times, like floaty dissociation, facial neuralgia at times, neck pain, shoulder pain, upper back pain, and a feeling of a heavy “rolly” head. These change in severity but do not go away unless she lays down flat for an extended period of time, often based on how long she was up and what activities she’s done. It may take an hour or it may take 4 for her to feel some symptom relief. She gets up, and the same pattern starts again.
A neurologist floated the idea of ligament laxity in the neck, causing the skull to settle down onto the structures below it like nerves and spinal cord etc. (They have also floated the idea of a CSF leak which we are also researching). This neurologist is in over his head and unfamiliar and isn’t really helpful beyond tossing out ideas.
So I’m asking if anyone else presented like that and had these issues and symptoms. If so, what were they and what was it like. What helped and what made it go away. Did any of it totally disappear? Who and how did it get diagnosed as a hypermobility issue for sure and not something else?
Any help is greatly greatly appreciated.
i am not necessarily looking for medical advice because i know most people here are not doctors but i guess i just need some reassurance to calm my health anxiety
i started dealing with PT roughly 3 years ago, started at either the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023. currently i am 26, F, and considered obese. i'm including that because i know it can be a factor in PT but i obviously don't know the cause.
in 2023 i saw an ENT and he really wasn't much help besides saying i'd need an MRI to determine the cause, which i know is true. i never went to get one because i was afraid and am still afraid. i've got a lot of anxiety related to my health and to medical procedures. the only surgery i've had is my wisdom teeth removal and that resulted in a horrible panic attack.
i, like many other people posting about PT, have a lot of anxiety regarding it but don't know what to do. it started in my left ear, coming and going in sync with my heartbeat. it gets worse when i'm dealing with a lot of anxiety/stress and it doesn't go away when pressing on my neck. i really only notice it now when i'm lying down to go to sleep or in deep silence.
a few weeks ago i began to notice a whooshing in my right ear but only when tilting my head certain ways or bending down or standing up fast and it isn't rhythmic with my pulse. i've gotten the whooshing before when bending down. one the right side it does go away when pressing on my neck. i noticed it after starting to smoke weed again after stopping for a few months while job hunting but i'm not sure if it's related or not because i can't remember exactly when it started. i live in a state where it is only legal medically and i use it for some chronic pain and for my anxiety. every now and then my hearing in the right ear will muffle with a slight ringing for a few seconds and then it will go away and occasionally will feel a kind of pressure in that ear but not necessarily pain so i don't know if they're related. this hasn't happened in awhile. a couple weeks at least since i started limiting how often i wear my airpods in the right ear. i also will hear a fluttering in my right ear when i wear an airpod in the left ear or hold a phone to the left. i think the reasoning for that is because i was wearing my airpod in my right ear a lot at work.
i want to treat this so it will go away but i am so scared. my mind automatically goes to worst case scenarios.
i do get headaches and neck pain but nothing more than i used to and they're not anymore severe. with my job i'm sitting a majority of the day and will be looking at a computer screen or down at my desk so i know that's partly the cause of the pain.
thank you for the responses and help.
I’ve been dealing with pulsatile tinnitus for 3 years. Started when I was around 7 months pregnant. I noticed about a week ago that it just kind of stopped. Has anyone had that happen, where the whooshing just stops? I’m not complaining. I’m actually overjoyed but worried that it’s too good to be true.
Three days ago, my right ear became clogged. It was a pressure sensation, as if I couldn’t pop my ear despite being on land.
Two days into it, I heard a whoosh after stretching. I didn’t pay attention to it as I sometimes heard it after exercise.
However, the following night became a nightmare. Whooshing was constant in my clogged right ear, with no relief. I tossed and turned until 6 AM, to no avail.
Tonight is the same story. It’s even louder than yesterday and I can’t sleep. Again, only in my right ear.
I recently had an ENT evaluation and they told me my middle ear looks good as well as my hearing (audio). I also had basic MRI done a year ago and everything was within norms.
I’m extremely scared and exhausted. I cannot sleep or focus. Lying on my side is impossible right now, it’s that loud.
Any ideas to cope? Or sleep better? I will probably stay wide awake once again, but if this is truly forever, I cannot not sleep.
My right ear started whooshing with my heartbeat about three months ago. It sometimes goes away when I add pressure on my neck or right under my ear. When I lay down at night it feels like there’s pressure all around my neck, jaw, and ears.
So I went to Urgent Care and she said I had a double ear infection (she only looked in my ears for about 2 seconds each) I was prescribed Zyrtec, Ibuprofen, and an antibiotic. She told me to take the allergy meds for a month and if nothing got better to come back.
A month later I came back and a different doctor checked me out. She said there were no signs of an ear infection and asked me if I wanted to be referred to an ENT and to get a hearing test. The hearing test said my hearing was perfect but there was just a little bit of pressure in my right ear. The audiologist said it could be a failed eustachian tube
While waiting for the ENT appointment I set up an appointment with my primary care doctor and she said that it could be seasonal allergy’s causing fluid in my inner ear so she prescribed me nasal spray and muscle relaxers on top of Zyrtec. Non of which has helped the problem. She also said that the pressure around my head when I sleep could be because I’m overweight. I have been overweight all of my life and have never felt pressure around those spots until this started to happen.
Finally I got to my appointment with the ENT a few days ago and I just feel like I was skipped by very fast. He only looked in my ears, my nose, mouth, and felt my jaw. He said that he believes 100% that it’s because I have TMJ and I really get that because I’ve had it since I was a teen (I’m 24) but it’s making me nervous that he didn’t do anything else. I asked him about further testing because I see people on TikTok and on here say it could be something very serious and he basically told me that it was pointless because he believes he’s right. He said he has never seen it being anything other than TMJ in women because he treats hundreds of women a month with the same problem because “women aren’t wired like men and it’s proven that they stress and clench their jaw at night unlike men who are sounds asleep.” He said either figure out a way to end the stress or get a bite blocker. He referred me to a TMJ specialist and told me to go to the dentist to get a bite blocker. (To add he also said urgent care workers are not really doctors and that no one should go to them. I thought he was very arrogant and I did not like him)
I just feel like he ignored my worries just because I was another woman with the same issue. I feel like a number more than a patient. Now here I am waiting yet again for a call to set up an appointment months away and still no relief. I’m really scared I could have something really wrong with me and they just kind of shooed me on my way. I’m sorry if this post is all over the place I really hope it makes sense. I’m just very anxious and honestly exhausted because I can’t seem to find a break with this. I don’t know what else to do.
Hello PT Reddit! Not a group any of us want to be in but here we are. I (36F) started experiencing PT in right ear the end ago. Went to ER, they gave me a priority referral for an ENT. ENT took it super seriously, ordered an MRI. MRI came back positive for potential carotid artery dissection.ENT got neuro involved. Expedited CT scan the next day. Scan also came back abnormal. Drs disagreed initially on what they saw, but further imaging confirmed a carotid artery dissection. Started on low dose aspirin daily. At risk for stroke. It may heal on its own or they may decide to put in a stent. No other symptoms or risk factors present and no it was not the result of trauma. Thankful to have doctors that are taking it seriously and to be in a big city with great endovascular neurology services.
Questio: if you had this, did yours heal? How many months?
Question: what things haven't I thought of to help keep me safe in the meantime? I'm educating my coworkers about the signs of a stroke and what to do if I show symptoms. I'm not watching my younger kids alone. I've told my older kids what to do/how to call 911 if need be, etc.
Already dealt with things like having a will and life insurance and my affairs in order for unfortunate events back when I had preeclampsia (twice) so relieved that's not something I need to worry about right now.
Feeling hopeful, I guess. Totally sucks, but at least I'm not dead yet and the CT scan didn't show any other potentially fatal conditions.
Hello,
I have had pulsatile tinnitus for a couple of years now. Had scans and whatnot. I have asked a surgeon today regarding sigmoid sinus wall reconstruction, he told me to not mess with the area at all and to basically live with it. He said he has known one person who had a surgery for PT and is now permanently unable to move their muscles in their face. Please has anyone got any way of improving it? Has anyone here had sigmoid sinus wall reconstruction? Apparently only around 1000 people have had it worldwide. I will accept any tips or tricks!! Please tell me there is hope.
Suffering with Pulsatile tinnitus from past two years, couldn’t find the cure so far, been to every doctor and heard the same story that you are fine!! I am losing hope it seems like i am dying slowly and nobody is bothered.
Hi all, I had a migraine a few days ago and I’m not sure if my PT has been worse because of it or if it has actually just gotten worse. Has anyone else had this? I haven’t been able to sleep, usually if I lay on my right side to compress the vessels then the sound goes away but this trick hasn’t worked recently. Just constantly roaring! Any people who have had a flare up has it gone back to normal after a few days (not gone just quieter)?
It’s getting out of hand can’t hear myself think! Please help.
Wrote a post previously of when I caught the flu and my PT disappeared.. gutted to say now im recovering from flu i can hear it coming back slightly now :(
Got an ENT appointment next month and im really hoping something comes from that and they won't just fob me off ( im from UK btw ) if ENT can't do nothing what are my options with the NHS?
Thanks all
Hi there
I’ve had PT since August 2025 when I was 7 months pregnant and now I’m 5 months post partum. It hasn’t gotten any better and sometimes if worse paritcukaldy at night
I’m having an MRI at the end of the month and reading this sub I’m really worried about potential causes. I had put it aside despite it impacting substantially my quality of life (particularly at night) because having a baby has been crazy
Do any of you who had it while pregnant know what are the typical reasons it appears with pregnancy? Any feedback?
I’m spiralling a little bit after reading this sub and doing research and wanted to hear your experience
I just cannot wait for this appointment to rule out the worst. With a small baby, I can’t imagine life not taking care of him