{"id":632,"date":"2020-07-18T15:07:07","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T15:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/?p=632"},"modified":"2020-07-18T15:07:07","modified_gmt":"2020-07-18T15:07:07","slug":"ask-the-doctor-is-it-worrisome-to-hear-a-pulse-in-my-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/ask-the-doctor-is-it-worrisome-to-hear-a-pulse-in-my-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the doctor: Is it worrisome to hear a pulse in my ear?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Q.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0One morning last week I woke up hearing my heartbeat in my left ear. I hear it most clearly when I am in bed or sitting quietly. My health is good, and I was told after a recent cardiac workup that my heart was &#8220;perfect.&#8221; Should I be worried that I can hear the rhythmic pattern of my heart from inside my left ear?<\/p><div class=\"wuhfy6509dd57eb146\" ><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8209967072221559\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"2673331731\"><\/ins>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.wuhfy6509dd57eb146 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.wuhfy6509dd57eb146 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.wuhfy6509dd57eb146 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.wuhfy6509dd57eb146 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.wuhfy6509dd57eb146 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<p><strong><em>A.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0What you describe sounds like\u00a0pulsatile tinnitus\u00a0(pronounced TIN-nih-tus or tin-NITE-us). It is a type of rhythmic thumping, pulsing, throbbing, or whooshing only you can hear that is often in time with the heartbeat. Most people with pulsatile tinnitus hear the sound in one ear, though some hear it in both. The sound is the result of turbulent flow in blood vessels in the neck or head. The most common causes of pulsatile tinnitus include the following:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Conductive hearing loss.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0This is usually caused by an infection or\u00a0inflammation\u00a0of the middle ear or the accumulation of fluid there. Sometimes it is caused by problems with the ossicles (small bones involved in hearing). This type of\u00a0hearing loss\u00a0intensifies internal head noises \u2014 sounds like breathing, chewing, and blood flowing through the ear. A conductive hearing loss also makes it easier to hear blood flowing through two large vessels that travel through each ear, the carotid artery and the jugular vein, which circulate blood to and from the brain.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Carotid artery disease.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0The accumulation of fatty plaque inside the carotid arteries can create the kind of turbulent blood flow that resounds as pulsatile tinnitus.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>High blood pressure.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0When blood pressure is high, blood flow through the carotid artery is more likely to be turbulent and thus cause a pulsating sound.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Blood vessel disorders.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0A variety of malformations and disorders are occasionally the source of pulsatile tinnitus. These include a blood vessel with a weakened, bulging patch (aneurysm), an abnormal connection between an artery and vein (arteriovenous malformation), twisted arteries, or a benign blood vessel tumor (glomus tumor) behind the eardrum.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/newsletter\/images\/H1109k-1.jpg\" alt=\"illustration of the anatomy of the ear\" width=\"337\" height=\"258\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If you were my patient, I would take a careful history (a patient&#8217;s story often holds important clues), and then examine your ears. I would also use a stethoscope to listen to the blood flow through the arteries in your neck. If I did not find any obvious cause for your symptoms, I would likely recommend some additional testing, including a hearing test. If I heard a bruit (BROO-ee) \u2014 the unusual sound that blood makes when it rushes past an obstruction \u2014 in one or both carotid arteries, I would suggest you have a test to look for a narrowing in the carotid arteries or other malformations.<\/p>\n<p>Most of the time, pulsatile tinnitus is nothing to worry about. If it doesn&#8217;t go away on its own after a few weeks or becomes really bothersome,\u00a0talk with your doctor about it.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David M. Vernick, M.D.<br \/>\nAssistant Clinical Professor of Otology and Laryngology<br \/>\nHarvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center<\/p><div class=\"xvcbt6509dd57eb189\" ><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-8209967072221559\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"2673331731\"><\/ins>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 1201px) {\r\n.xvcbt6509dd57eb189 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 993px) and (max-width: 1200px) {\r\n.xvcbt6509dd57eb189 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 769px) and (max-width: 992px) {\r\n.xvcbt6509dd57eb189 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 768px) {\r\n.xvcbt6509dd57eb189 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {\r\n.xvcbt6509dd57eb189 {\r\ndisplay: block;\r\n}\r\n}\r\n<\/style>\r\n\n<p>Source:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/diseases-and-conditions\/is-it-worrisome-to-hear-a-pulse-in-my-ear\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u00a0health.harvard.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q.\u00a0One morning last week I woke up hearing my heartbeat in my left ear. I hear it most clearly when&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[2400,2418,2420,2398,2430,2440,2441,2403,2401,2423,2422,2406,2405,2435,2424,2429,2426,2439,2409,2410,2412,2421,2437,2425,2434,2415,2416,2419,2436,2399,2443,2445,2427,2413,2428,2414,2411,2407,2417,2397,2408,2402,2442,2444,2431,2432,2438,2404,2433,2396],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632\/revisions\/634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stremon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}