Does Pulsatile Tinnitus Make Your Ear Feel Blocked?

[danni1979]

Hiya,

I've just recently noticed I have pulsatile tinnitus.

I often have a feeling of fullness in that ear (tympanometry and hearing has come back clear) so am wondering if the pulsatile tinnitus can make your ear feel a bit blocked (no decrease in hearing by the way).

 

[Karen]

Hi, @danni1979,

Yes, pulsatile tinnitus can definitely cause that feeling of fullness in your ear. I've had PT for nearly six years now, and I had that fullness feeling for quite awhile. The good news is that, for me at least, the fullness finally went away.

I had dizziness/vertigo, too, right at first, but it is also gone. I do still have a high-pitched hissing sound in the affected ear (right ear only), and I still have the pulsating. But the other symptoms have subsided.

I'm hoping for you that yours will, too.

Best wishes,
Karen

 

[Meadowlark]

Karen, I also have both PT (since 2010) and regular, high-pitched ringing tinnitus (since 1996). I also have occasional episodes of room-spinning dizziness (diagnosed as benign positional vertigo). I can avoid much of it by sleeping with my head elevated about 5 or 6 inches and sleeping on my back. The vertigo tends to happen more frequently when I wake up, if I've been sleeping on my side, so I don't sleep on my side anymore.

I can't have anything like the Epley maneuver (which involves having a doctor turn your neck from side to side) to make the vertigo go away, because I also have bad arthritis in my neck. So, I have to live with it.

The worst thing about the two types of tinnitus is that I often get crawling sensations/tingling on my scalp, and it's worse when I move around. Also get mild headaches just above my nose, between my eyes, and in my forehead. Don't know whether that's from tinnitus or the arthritis in my neck.

I've had an MRI of my head with dye around my ears and carotid artery ultrasound, all things normal except for a slightly-elevated jugular bulb, which my doctor says may or not be the cause. He says I just have to live with this. I can't seem to convince my neurologist or ENT that maybe an MRI or MRA in the area where my neck meets my head might be also be a good idea.

So....still living with this, as are many of you.