I would be interested to know whether anyone has explored a blood vessel compressing on their bone in the neck and the bone conducting the noise to the ear please.
I would be interested to know whether anyone has explored a blood vessel compressing on their bone in the neck and the bone conducting the noise to the ear please.
This is entirely possible but exceedingly rare, and so, you can use a process of simple elimination in three tests to determine if this is worth exploring in your case.
TEST 1: The "Sound" Test for Pulsatile / Rhythmic Tinnitus Behaviors
If a circulatory condition is causing your pulsatile tinnitus, you should expect to hear principally somatic sounds (such as whooshing, clicking, thumping, etc.).
If a neuromuscular conflict is to blame, a hiss accompanied by a high pitched tone or tones is often fairly typical because the dorsal cochlear nucleus is compromised in its normal filtering functions.
TEST 2: Imaging
For circulatory compression of arterial vessels in the neck, a Brain MRI is likely to show sustained flow irregularities because the brain relies upon a steady and uninterrupted throughput of oxygen rich blood. The Carotids in the neck are principally responsible for this behavior, but other vessels play contributing roles. A perfectly normal Brain MRI, when confirmed and validated in follow-up imaging, will likely exclude an addressable circulatory issue.
TEST 3: Localization
Bilateral tinnitus can be caused by circulatory issues.
Unilateral tinnitus (experienced on only one side) does not typically have a circulatory cause.
If your sound in a whooshing sound, and your Brain MRI came back inconclusive (i.e., not normal) with flow distortions mentioned by the technician, then you should investigate further to rule out a blockage. If, however, the sound of your tinnitus isn't somatic (and can't be altered somatically) OR your Brain MRI came back perfectly normal (and validated as such), you're probably going down a bit of a wild goose chase on this one. The Localization Test can help more or less confirm and guide possibilities, but this test in and of itself does not definitively preclude or exclude a particular pathology.