Specialist Links Pulsatile Tinnitus to Hearing Loss and Hyperacusis

[WIllyC]

There's debate over if pulsatile tinnitus can be linked to hearing loss or if it is purely vascular.

Likely readers are familiar with this article that can at least provide examples of non vascular sources of pulsatile tinnitus:

Somatosensory Pulsatile Tinnitus Syndrome: Somatic Testing Identifies a Pulsatile Tinnitus Subtype That Implicates the Somatosensory System

...but those who feel it is vascular are usually more insistent that it is not related to hearing loss, even if they accept the article above. (I'm honestly not trying to create a straw man here or call out anyone - I'm really appreciative of everyone who participates in this forum and I just want to find the truth. If I am misrepresenting the argument, set me straight).

This expert in pulsatile tinnitus attributes somatosensory pulsatile tinnitus to hearing loss and hyperacusis:



In my case, it really seems like somatosensory. I can't prove if it is linked to hearing damage or not but it came on at roughly the same time.

That being said I also have vascular symptoms so I am following that route of investigation with the medical resources available to me. (I get pressure sensations in the head and pulsing sensations in various locations - but those could be psychosomatic).

I'll add that the only reliable way I can silence my pulsatile tinnitus is pressing down on the top of my head. There are other things that change it but pressing down on my head is immediate and dramatic and like nothing else. I have considered crafting myself a heavy hat. It doesn't have to be in any specific location - just weight down on my neck.

I am seeing a physiotherapist for this and it has actually made improvements (minor and possibly coincidental- but I'll take what I can get).

I'm just putting this information out there for review. I'm not trying to start a fight. I appreciate very much the work by key members of this forum and I mean no disrespect to anyone.

I'd be interested in hearing anyone's opinion on the above video (he starts talking about somatosensory pulsatile tinnitus about at about 4:30).

Thanks and I wish silence to all of you.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@WIllyC When someone has pulsatile tinnitus with also having hearing loss or tinnitus, the first question to ask is did you silently hum a rhythm before consciously hearing a hum or heartbeat. If one did, then their pulsatile tinnitus is vascular. 96% will say yes - I hummed to myself before hearing anything in my ear.

If they didn't hum to self before hearing a hum, the 4%, then it's may be a somatic physical tinnitus issue - or ear condition causing the hum.

If a heart beat is heard, then it's vascular. Having tinnitus, then getting pulsatile tinnitus can associate to the somatic physical tinnitus cause - where mostly stressed arteries has some involvement. Or it can be bought on by hypertension causing heart/ aortic vessel stress and/or by the effects of hypertension causing plaque to travel to the carotid arteries.

 

[WIllyC]

the first question to ask is did you silently hum a rhythm before consciously hearing a hum or heartbeat.

I don't understand what you are saying here.

 

[RonnieThailand]

Likely readers are familiar with this article that can at least provide examples of non vascular sources of pulsatile tinnitus:

Somatosensory Pulsatile Tinnitus Syndrome: Somatic Testing Identifies a Pulsatile Tinnitus Subtype That Implicates the Somatosensory System

Mine is pulsatile 80% of the time and in sync with my heart. It sounds exactly like they described in this study you posted, a high-pitched type. It sounds like crickets sometimes but also sounds like blood flow other times. However, mine reacts to sounds and is what many refer to as "reactive tinnitus." The pulsating becomes louder and more pronounced over all sounds and reduces in complete silence. Because my tinnitus and hyperacusis started after acoustic shock/ear wax cleaning, I do believe there may be something to their theories here of other possible causes other than vascular.

What interested me most about this study was the conclusion at the end, where they stated some of the participants were treated with "auricular electroacupuncture."
It states:

"They are treated with a device that stimulates three points on the auricle continuously for 4 days. This same electroacupuncture treatment protocol is repeated weekly for a minimum of 3 weeks or until benefit plateaus"

It says some of them benefited after just a few weeks. Does anybody know what this device is so that I can reach out to hospitals/acupuncture centers here and see if any of them offer it?

And by "continuously" do they mean these participants were treated with this device 24/7? Or continuously as in once a day for 4 days and then a break until the next week? Surely, they must mean the latter, right?

EDIT:
I may have answered my own question as I found another study (not related to tinnitus) involving electroacupuncture of the ear with a P-Stim device that was taped to the patients' ears and worn 24/7 for 3 days straight. However if anybody thinks a different device or method was used in the study referenced above, please let me know.

Heart Rate Variability and Complementary Medicine

 

[Roughseas]

@RonnieThailand, did you ever find out more about the acupuncture device? I wonder if my pulsatile somatosensory tinnitus would be helped by it.