Pulsatile Tinnitus - What Does It Mean If Tinnitus Sounds Are Heard By Others?

By Alvin Hopkinson

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Pulsatile tinnitus is different from the ordinary tinnitus experienced by most sufferers. The sound being heard are not considered as phantom sounds because others can hear what the tinnitus patient is suffering from.

Medical studies have determined that the pulsatile tinnitus sounds emanate from the person’s rhythmic heartbeats. They occur in exact consonance with the blood pumping activity. It is said that only 3% of the known tinnitus patients are suffering from pulsatile tinnitus.

The sounds related to this type of tinnitus can be described as having different characteristics. They can be low but booming or thumping in the form of blowing sounds which rhythmically coincides with the person’s respiratory movements.

In some cases,it can be high pitched but still rhythmic. It is accounted for as the rapid clicking sounds produced in the middle ear area in relation to the blood flow activity.

In fact, the cause of pulsatile tinnitus is directly related to blood flow when certain changes affect the blood circulation process occurring around the ear area.

Blood flow is said to increase near the neck or the base of the skull usually due to the existence of narrowing veins where some blood being circulated cannot pass through. Hence, the veins near the neck will be affected as the un-received blood builds-up.

It is explained that the turmoil caused by the increasing blood supply will cause the veins to click as it tries to deal with the amount of blood being supplied.

Although tinnitus is considered as non-life threatening, the sound it produces is related to another disorder which is considered as critical to the individual’s health. Hence, the cause of the pulsatile tinnitus if it remains untreated can be considered as life-endangering.

It is important therefore, that the tinnitus sufferer should undergo proper medical treatment. This is in order to cure the root cause of tinnitus.

As medical examination takes place, the physician will be able to determine whether the sufferer has pulsatile tinnitus. While the non-pulsatile tinnitus types are more difficult to treat, the former will manifest a clearer direction as to what medical actions should be taken.

The causes in the changes of blood flow will be carefully examined by the medical practitioner, particularly if there are no perceivable abnormalities in the vital signs of the patient. The presence of cancer growths or tumors will not be discounted as a possibility and this may require the use of modern scanning equipment.

Hence, to properly determine the possible causes of pulsatile tinnitus, the use of CT scan, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), or MRA (magnetic resonance angiogram) or ultrasound will be employed.

At least with pulstatile tinnitus, the identification and treatment of the cause can give hope that the incessant but regular rhythmic sounds will disappear.