Pulsatile tinnitus is defined by the perception of some kind of noise in the ear as accompanying the heart beat, the pulse. The blood flow in the head area is responsible for the sound, and in order to get rid of it, you need professional diagnosis and treatment.
Causes of pulsatile tinnitus
Ear infections with the retention of fluid in the ear tubes represent a predominant cause for ringing tinnitus. The diagnosis is not difficult, and with some antibiotic treatment, the echo of your heart beat or pulse will go away.
Sinus health problems treated with antibiotics extensively could cause a thickening of the mucous in the inner ear. When this mucous gets too thick to drain, it may cause tinnitus.
Hyperthyroidism is also indirectly responsible for the pulsating sound in the ears: this thyroid dysfunction accelerates the heart beat, which then leads to the pulsating noise.
Stress, ear tumors and some drugs could also cause tinnitus in the pulsatile form. Only the doctor will be able to identify the real cause of your tinnitus provided that you give all the medical details related to your health condition.
Hard to detect causes
As it sometimes happens with tinnitus, the causes may not be as apparent as we’d like. The patient thus goes from doctor to doctor until someone performs a test that makes light over his/her health condition.
Abnormalities in vein and arteries are more difficult to diagnose as a cause for pulsatile tinnitus. Sometimes the disorder is not in the blood vessels inside the ear, but in the neck or at the base of the skull.
Medical procedures used for diagnosis of Pulsatile tinnitus
When a deficient blood flow is recognized as the most likely trigger of noise in the ears, some more specialized tests will have to be performed. They include:
- CT scanning;
- magnetic resonance scanning or MRI;
- angiography;
- magnetic resonance angiography;
- ultrasound.
The medical exams will usually reveal the abnormality, yet, if it still remains undetected, the medical procedures need to move further. The patient depends on diagnosis for pulsatile tinnitus.