Pulsatile Tinnitus – A Rythmic Tinnitus With A Potentially Ominous Source
Tinnitus is a not uncommon health condition. Often listed as a disease, tinnitus is more specifically a symptom of underlying bodily distress. Tinnitus is often described as ringing sound in one or both of your ears. However, it can occur in other forms of sound as well, such as buzzing, whooshing, or hissing. Whatever type of sound tinnitus sufferer hear, there is no external source for that noise. The noise is produced within his or her body and usually the sufferer is the only person who can hear it.
Tinnitus is often the result of inner ear distress. Loud noises in the immediate environment, particularly constant ongoing loud noises, can cause tinnitus. Falls, and other forms of trauma, as well as ear infections, are also frequent culprits. However, tinnitus causes can also be slightly more ominous too.
Pulsatile tinnitus is a rarer type of tinnitus that usually seems to go along with the sufferer’s heartbeat. Often the noise pulsates which has lead to name “pulsatile tinnitus”. The sound in this type of tinnitus is often whooshing or similar quality.
Another name for this type of tinnitus is vascular tinnitus. It usually occurs in one ear at a time and only about 5% of all tinnitus cases are diagnosed as vascular tinnitus.
While inner air distress is often the cause of other types of tinnitus, this is usually not the case with pulsatile tinnitus. However, ear infections or eustachian tube blockage can cause also this form of tinnitus.
Some tinnitus causes, such as inner ear fluid, can lead to all forms of tinnitus. The most common cause of pulsatile tinnitus is increased blood flow near ear origins. The flow is so intense that the patient actually hears the blood flowing next to his or her ear.
Anemia is one typical cause of pulsatile tinnitus. This is especially true if you are pregnant. Along with hyperthyroidism also hard physical training can cause increased blood turbulence near the ear.
However, the characteristic whooshing and throbbing that mark this variant form of tinnitus is quite often due to blood flow constriction. In such a case, the variability of the irregular blood flow creates the noises the sufferer hears.
Physical conditions or diseases that may lead to blood vessel constriction, in turn leading to pulsatile tinnitus, include hypertension and arteriosclerosis. Many times they go hand in hand. Besides these two conditions, also some tumors and heart murmurs can lead to similar effects.
Pulsatile tinnitus is the type of the condition that should be taken seriously. Even though the symptom itself is not dangerous, it can be the sign of some very hazardous condition. For example, constriction in the neck or cranial vessels causes a real risk of stroke. That is why it is always wise to turn into a doctor if you experience vascular tinnitus symptoms.
Filed under Health and Fitness by on Jun 3rd, 2011. 