Why does my ear keep pulsing

Tympanometry examines the condition and function of the middle ear and the mobility of the eardrum. Doctors sometimes describe MEM as idiopathic, which means that there is no identifiable cause. In other cases, a person may develop MEM after trauma, involuntary facial muscle spasms, or essential tremor of the soft palate.

Limited evidence supports the use of drug therapy for MEM. Tympanectomy, a procedure that detaches the muscles from the middle ear, can provide relief for some people. Dysfunctions in the eustachian tube from swelling or an inability to open and close properly can cause:. Sometimes, people develop eustachian tube dysfunction following an upper respiratory tract infection or allergies.

Tumors and injuries to the ear can also cause eustachian tube dysfunction. Learn more about eustachian tube dysfunction here. Symptoms may resolve after a few days. Swallowing, yawning, chewing, and forced exhalation can all help equalize pressure across the middle ear and resolve the symptoms. Doctors may suggest one of the following nonsurgical approaches, but to date, limited evidence supports their use:.

Some surgical procedures may also relieve symptoms of eustachian tube dysfunction. The most common procedure is the insertion of a pressure-equalizing tube. Patulous eustachian tube is a type of dysfunction wherein the tube stays open most of the time. Typically, the tube stays closed and only opens to equalize air pressure between the middle ear and the outside environment.

Some symptoms of patulous eustachian tube include:. Doctors are unsure of the cause of patulous eustachian tube.

In some cases, weight loss and pregnancy may predispose a person to this condition. When these interventions are not sufficient to reduce symptoms, however, a person may require surgery. The most common symptom of pulsatile tinnitus is regularly hearing a steady beat or whooshing sound. When their heart rate increases, the beat or sound will become faster; when it decreases, the beat or sound will slow.

While it is common for people to hear their heartbeats if their heart is pounding hard, people with pulsatile tinnitus often hear it even when they have not exerted themselves. The beat or sound may come and go, or it may be constant. Many patients with pulsatile tinnitus find their symptoms to be distracting and loud, and interfere with their daily lives. Plaque builds up inside the arteries in people with atherosclerosis. When plaque hardens, it narrows the arteries and limits the flow of blood to the body, including in your ears, neck or head.

This may cause you to hear the characteristic rhythmic thumping or whooshing sound of pulsatile tinnitus in one or both of your ears. Pulsatile tinnitus is often caused by disorders or malformations in the blood vessels and arteries, especially those near the ears. These abnormalities or disorders — including aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations — can cause a change in the blood flow through the affected blood vessels.

Superior semicircular canal is one of three canals found in the vestibular apparatus of the inner ear. Patients with superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome, a condition in which part of the temporal bone that overlies the superior semicircular canal is abnormally thin or missing, often experience pulsatile tinnitus. Thinning or missing bone overlying the main arteries and veins running near the ear can also lead a patient to hear their heartbeat.

When blood pressure is high, your blood flow through the carotid artery is more likely to be turbulent, causing a pulsating sound. Glomus tumors of the head and neck are benign but locally invasive tumors that arise from glomus cells. Glomus tumors may grow into the middle ear and brain. When these tumors press on the blood vessels in the head or neck, they can cause pulsatile tinnitus and other symptoms. Glomus tumors are highly vascular and can cause also pulsatile tinnitus just by being in close proximity to the ear.

This is a health condition caused by elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure around the brain. This elevated pressure presents with symptoms like headaches, double vision, pain behind the eye and pulsatile tinnitus. Although hearing cells are destroyed with hearing loss, the nerves deeper in the brain are not always lost. These nerves no longer receive stimulation, and begin to create signals on their own. Because these signals are not generated from the outside world, we perceive sound that no one else does.

Tinnitus, therefore, is a sign that hearing loss has occurred. It often occurs after a loud concert, sports event, or work experience. Tinnitus that occurs in only one ear or occurs with episodes of dizziness is more concerning than tinnitus that occurs in both ears over many years. Some tinnitus sounds like whooshing and occurs with your heart beat. This is called pulsatile tinnitus. Normally our ear is protected from hearing internal blood flow. Medical conditions may decrease the shielding of our ear from internal sounds.

Hearing your pulse only on your pillow, however, is not abnormal. Wax or fluid in the ear may increase the resonance of blood flow making it audible. Weight loss may leave the Eustachian tube stuck open causing audible breathing sounds and heart sounds. Other conditions increase the blood flow above normal levels. Head trauma may result in aneurysm or fistula of blood vessels near the ear. Pulsatile tinnitus is usually due to a small blood vessel that is coupled by fluid to your ear drum.

It is usually nothing serious and also untreatable. Rarely pulsatile tinnitus can be caused by more serious problems -- aneurysms, increased pressure in the head hydrocephalus , and hardening of the arteries. A vascular tumor such as a " glomus " may fill the middle ear, or a vein similar to a varicose vein may make enough noise to be heard. Inner ear disorders that increase hearing sensitivity such as SCD can cause pulsatile tinnitus.

As this condition can be corrected surgically, it is one of the few "fixable" causes of pulsatile tinnitus.

In the few patients we have encountered, the sound was not a "swishing" sound. There are some very large blood vessels -- the carotid artery and the jugular vein -- that are very close to the inner ear see diagram above.

Noise in those blood vessels can be conducted into the inner ear. Accordingly, other possibilities for vascular tinnitus include dehiscence missing bone of the jugular bulb -- an area in the skull which contains the jugular vein, and an aberrantly located carotid artery. An enlarged jugular bulb on the involved side is common in persons with venous type pulsatile tinnitus.

Anything that increases blood flow or turbulence such as hyperthyroidism, low blood viscosity e. Testing for pulsatile tinnitus: It is common for persons with pulsatile tinnitus to have some sort of procedure done in the Radiology department, looking for something that can be fixed.

According to Branstetter and Weissman who are radiologists, and of course emphasize Xray or MRI evaluation , entities that can cause unilateral pulsatile tinnitus include: Aberrant internal artery congenital Dehiscent internal carotid artery Aberrant anterior inferior cerebellar artery that loops into the ICA High riding jugular bulb.