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Pulsing in my ear

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Before I go rushing to a doctor for something that seams benign, I thought I'd get some advice.

I've been wearing my Sennheiser Sonite Rise for 5 months. This is my first long term experience with aids. Recently I have been feeling and hearing a light thumping in my left ear, which starts fast and then gradually slows and stops, usually in 10 seconds but can go longer. It sometimes happens when I move my head and sometimes when I do nothing. It can also happen when I don't have my aids in. I have no other symptoms, such as pain, dizziness, cognitive issues, nothing at all. That's why I think it's benign, and on line searches seem to agree. It's been suggested that it's muscular in nature, and a reaction to wearing the aids over a long period.

I have a physical in 2 months and I'll bring it up then, but I thought I'd check with experienced wearers to see if this is common, such as itchy canals, or maybe I need to make a special trip to the doctor.

Thank you.

Steve

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In reply to @srroat

@srroat said:

hearing a light thumping in my left ear

My mother (85, very healthy, only takes two pills for cholesterol and thyroid) experienced something very similar recently, and she was diagnosed with pulsatile tinnitus, which causes a thumping or whooshing pulsating low frequency sound. In her case, it was also in her left side. Like you, she didn't have other symptoms. She does not use hearing aids.

We learned (from the doctor) that pulsatile tinnitus differs from "regular" tinnitus. The main distinction is that pulsatile tinnitus is objective, meaning a doctor can also hear it and treat it.

I'm just sharing my mother's experience this year. My comment is not meant to be a diagnosis or a recommendation.

I wouldn't wait two months to see a doctor.

As someone who has suffered from significant pulsatile tinnitus for many years I question how treatable it is. I've been through all kinds of diagnostics and have seen specialists, but none has helped. You just have to learn to live with it, as with regular tinnitus.

That was not our experience (Thank goodness). She received a treatment and she is doing significantly better. She did not have to learn how to live with it.


I'm not saying you are wrong: just different experiences that depend on the etiology of the problem. And I am not saying (or implying) that this is what the OP has.
 

ENT Doctor - Lexington, SC4Do You Hear Your Own Heartbeat in Your Ears? Pulsatile Tinnitus

Edited

Sounds like middle ear myoclonus. Get it checked, but likely benign. Could have been coincident to the hearing aid rather than caused by it. Do you clench your jaw? Is your neck/shoulder on that side stiff? Try not to pay to much attention to it while you wait to get checked, as it's one of those things that can start to happen more if you focus on it more.

Not all pulsatile tinnitus can be heard by the clinician, but MEM sometimes can be. It can also be measured with a tympanometer, so you might want to see your audiologist to confirm, although if it's not regular enough that you would expect it to happen in the clinic that might not be useful.

I've heard of situations where have gone into the middle ear to cut the muscles in cases of bothersome MEM, but for most a minor benign sensation isn't worth surgery.

As an aside, for pulsatile tinnitus caused by abnormal blood flow near the cochlea (doesn't sound like this is the OP) often due to plaque build up, there are existing microvascular neurosurgical treatment options. Again, for most people it's not worth it but for some people who are very bothered it may be. I know this is something currently being done in Ottawa and Toronto, for those in Ontario.

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