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Pulsatile tinnitus and hearing loss

Welliboots93

Hi!

I am just asking on here if anyone has any info around pulsatile tinnitus and hearing loss!

For a while I can hear my heartbeat in my ear, sometimes it gets louder. Every now and then I hear ringing too.
I struggle to hear people if there is background noise and it sounds like people are mumbling!
Anyways, I had my hearing test last week and he said my hearing is mild-moderate and I have premature hearing loss which is unusual for someone my age to have hearing loss (27) it's also noted possible pulsatile tinnitus and I've been refereed to ENT.

Well, I doubt I'll have an appointment this year and because of my anxiety I'm worried as Im not sure on what these conditions means, possible treatments I'll be offered etc and I have no idea what to expect in a ENT appointment!

Am I likely to be offered hearing aids? Or does hearing loss get cured?

If anyone doesn't mind sharing info based on experiences that would be great! Thank you

Jade

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Comments

leeCal

I’ve had tinnitus for around five years. It came on over a few weeks. It’s not pulsatile it’s a constant white noise whooshing sound, very loud. I saw my doctor about it and he arranged for me to have a scan to see if I had a tumour or anything. That came back clear and I saw a specialist at ENT who told me that it was incurable.

However, as I say it wasn’t pulsatile, so possibly there may be something which can be done about yours @Welliboots93, I do hope so. All the best ?

Tori_Scope

Hi @Welliboots93! I had a look to see if I could find any information on treatment of pulsatile tinnitus.

The British Tinnitus Association say:

If a specific cause is found, this may point to a specific solution. For example, anaemia can be treated with medication or blood transfusion, glue ear can be treated with grommets, perforations can be closed with grafts and narrowed segments of artery can be repaired.

Some causes are less amenable to treatment: if the pulsatile tinnitus is due to a specific blood vessel, these may not be treatable, depending on location.

For those people with pulsatile tinnitus who have no demonstrable abnormality, there are a variety of methods to manage the tinnitus which people find helpful. These include techniques such as sound therapy, relaxation therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), counselling, mindfulness meditation, or Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT).

Boots Hearing Care say:

Most of the time, pulsatile tinnitus is treated by addressing the underlying cause.
For instance, if it’s being brought on by high blood pressure or a vein or artery condition, pulsatile tinnitus can go away with a combination of medication and lifestyle changes. These may include:

Regular exercise

Quitting smoking

Reducing stress

Switching to a low-sodium diet

And reiterate that talking therapies and mindfulness techniques can help people with pulsatile tinnitus to manage their condition.

As for what you can expect from an ENT appointment, I found these resources that might help to put your mind at ease a little?

What happens when you come to ENT Outpatients? (it's by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, but I assume it's probably quite standard)
Information on referral to an ENT clinic, including a form with the types of questions you might be asked

I hope this helps a bit? Give us a shout if you need any more information or support

janer1967

Hi and welcome I hope you find all the information helpful and your appointment hoes well when you finally get one

greenman

Hi, ENT will likely look in your ears to see if there's anything signs of something wrong. They will be looking for signs of infection and abnormalities.
I have had tinitis all my life. I have occasional pulsitate which is a disturbing experience. It's often a sign of an underlying problem, but sometimes nothing to serious to worry about. To find what is causing it requires MRI scans and a very experieced consultant who will dedicate their timr, and even then it's often not possible to say why you are getting it.
I would not worry about it for now as it may well be something not to serious.

Welliboots93

Thank you everyone for your response!

Can you still have hearing aids with tinnitus? I have moderate hearing loss but the audiologists just referred me to ENT

Tori_Scope

You might live to give this article on the British Tinnitus Association's website a read @Welliboots93.

Some studies have looked at the effect of hearing aids on every-day life for the tinnitus patient e.g. how a hearing aid may help reduce tinnitus and improve quality of life. Other studies have more strongly suggested that for a significant number of people, hearing aids do reduce the effect of tinnitus. Bilateral hearing aids (one on each ear) have been shown to be more beneficial than using only one aid.

Since the introduction of digital hearing aids there can be more accurate tailoring of hearing aids to an individual and this has brought about an increase in the beneficial effect of hearing aids for tinnitus.

So yes, it looks like it can work for some people. It'd probably be worth asking about this in your appointment though

Welliboots93

Thank you! I spent ages trying to find some stuff!

Tori_Scope

No problem at all @Welliboots93! If I find any other resources I think would be useful I'll send them your way

Dragonslayer

I have tinnitus, and have been told my chemo treatment and the drug they use can be the cause. It is a constant 24/7 loud buzzing. It does sometimes ease after eating breakfast. I have no idea how, just thankful for it. Maybe chewing? But later it comes back. It is there when I awake even in the middle of the night, or if I fall asleep in the chair, which I do a lot because of lack of sleep from the buzzing.
Now and then I have one or two Burbon whiskies with coke. (Jim Beam) One time after sipping this drink the buzzing stopped and went away! But It does come back when I fall asleep.
I tried this (Accidental cure) again and again it stopped. I do not get drunk, but the alcohol must be why.
I am not encouraging anyone to try this, but thought it might be interesting to some. (Not sure.)
I hope I have not offended anyone by this, I just wanted to share.

Hakanx

Type your commentWelliboots93 said:

Hi!

I am just asking on here if anyone has any info around pulsatile tinnitus and hearing loss!

For a while I can hear my heartbeat in my ear, sometimes it gets louder. Every now and then I hear ringing too.
I struggle to hear people if there is background noise and it sounds like people are mumbling!
Anyways, I had my hearing test last week and he said my hearing is mild-moderate and I have premature hearing loss which is unusual for someone my age to have hearing loss (27) it's also noted possible pulsatile tinnitus and I've been refereed to ENT

Well, I doubt I'll have an appointment this year and because of my anxiety I'm worried as Im not sure on what these conditions means, possible treatments I'll be offered etc and I have no idea what to expect in a ENT appointment!

Am I likely to be offered hearing aids? Or does hearing loss get cured?

If anyone doesn't mind sharing info based on experiences that would be great! Thank you

Jade

Hello. Unfortunately, I also had a pulsatile tinnitus problem after covid 19. I tried all tinnitus treatments and couldn't find a solution. It's so annoying. Has your tinnitus gone?

Cartini

Welliboots93 said:

Hi!

I am just asking on here if anyone has any info around pulsatile tinnitus and hearing loss!

Hi @Well@Welliboots93,

I have bilateral tinnitus and have suffered it for over 20 years. My left ear is louder than my right ear and both have a constant, high pitched, tone but the left one also has a lower pitched warbling tone.

I also have bilateral noise induced hearing loss (the specialists blame the ear defenders I used in the Royal Navy when firing rifles, machine guns and pistols). Sometimes it can be quite debilitating; it feels as though it`s that loud it makes me feel dizzy and nauseous - fortunately that doesn`t happen too often.

In December I was also prescribed 30mg Amitriptyline to be taken at night; coincidence or not, I can`t say, but since then I can hear my pulse and it`s usually in the morning as I`m waking / getting up.

I don`t wear my hearing aids every day; I don`t need to because there`s only me in the house and I`d hate having to listen to my scathing voice

Being serious again, I don`t wear them all the time because they sometimes make my ears quite itchy. I wouldn`t say the aids are clearing my tinnitus, but what happens with me is that because the aids are amplifying sounds in the room, the tinnitus isn`t as obvious. Unfortunately it works the other way when I remove the aids - the tinnitus seems louder.

I pity anyone who has tinnitus.

Andy

Jo_2022

Hi @Welliboots93! How are you? I hope you are well!

Did you manage to get a hearing test with the ENT specialist? Hopefully your hearing is better now?

I am so so sorry to hear about your tinnitus, that must be really difficult to live with, especially with the heartbeat sound in your ear. I have a cousin that wears a hearing aid and sometimes he takes it off at school as he was getting bullied.

susany

Iam replying to Jade who made the original post but the info may help many others. I have had tinnitus myself for 20-plus years. It doesn't go away but you can learn to manage it. Unfortunately, like many health-related conditions, there are always too many ready to sell you the miracle cure. There isn't one but with good management you can live a good life with tinnitus. Theres lots of GOOD free info out there but you need to take some advice with a big pinch of salt. I found a lot of good info and enjoy the Dr Berg Channel and the English guy can remember his channel but the websites got lots of good articles to help livingtinnitus I did find that if iam stessed my tinnitus gets much worse so I always use meditation now. I never though about meditation before tinnitus but it has made a huge difference its not about chanting and making weird noises ( it can be if you want) to me its just calming and relaxing bringing inner peace and calm with tinnitus fading away.