Thumping Sound — Related to Tensor Tympani?

[James Foley]

This morning I woke up feeling pretty good, only to be greeted by a mild spike a couple of hours later. The spike I can live with, my ears change all the time and it is just something I'm pretty used to now. chances are tomorrow it'll be the opposite ear and a different sound

The new thumping in my left ear though is pretty annoying. It's random in intensity, and comes and goes when it feels like it. I can only describe it as someone faintly tapping on the outer edge of my ear.

It has been with me all day now and is making me a little concerned. It is a very quick repeating pattern that doesn't match up at all to my pulse. It fades in and out of being quite obviously there to not being there at all. Overexerting my neck or jaw seems to make it stop, and plugging my ear with my finger also makes it stop. Trying to unblock my ears by pinching my nose and swallowing make it very noticeable before fading. Sounds silly but the more I think about it the worse it becomes, noticing it has faded away also brings it back.

I can only assume this is related to the tensor tympani, but I have no idea why it has come about. Nothing has changed and I've had a pretty relaxed weekend chilling around the house doing nothing out of the ordinary. I've had the odd random thumping sounds before but nothing like a repeating pattern that hasn't gone away.

Can this thing spasm like any other muscle related to stress, anxiety, sugar, caffeine, tiredness etc?

 

[zombiechick]

I get the thumping in my left ear too! If I try and fall asleep on that ear against the pillow or even stranger if I put a head phone in my right ear only, my left ear will start thumping. I'm not sure why but I thought I'd throw my experience in there.

 

[BuzzyBee]

It should go away in a day or two. Have you tried doubling up on magnesium? I did that the last time I had thumping and it seemed to help. Could have just been a coincidence. If you try it, maybe use one of the quick absorbing liquid magnesium ones (Calm).

 

[James Foley]

After it seemingly disappearing the evening and night of the day it came about, it has returned again today after getting home from work which is annoying.

@BuzzyBee I have some Magnesium and Zinc supplements I could try taking for a few days to see if it helps, but I was kind of hoping it was just a stress / anxiety related thing that would clear up on its own

 

[BuzzyBee]

After it seemingly disappearing the evening and night of the day it came about, it has returned again today after getting home from work which is annoying.

@BuzzyBee I have some Magnesium and Zinc supplements I could try taking for a few days to see if it helps, but I was kind of hoping it was just a stress / anxiety related thing that would clear up on its own

You might as well try. The Magnesium worked for me within a day, but like I said it could have just been a coincidence. I always worry it won't go away, but it does. There's a thread about using Tiger Balm for tinnitus. Maybe putting a muscle relaxant like Tiger Balm or a lidocaine patch around the head and neck will relax the head and neck muscles and in turn, have some affect on the muscle in the ear that's contracting. Or maybe hold hot compresses around your jaw and relax the jaw muscle.

 

[James Foley]

After a couple of days it actually went away, only to return again tonight in the same ear as before. The pattern is still regular and way too fast to be my heart beat, but the intensity seems to be random.

I've been on the magnesium for a week now too, and I've been using tiger balm On my neck and around the ear. I thought that the combination of the two are what solved it but obviously not.

Bit of a stressful day at work so not sure if it's bought on by stress and anxiety. The problem is it's hard to stop thinking about it once it's there, and thinking about it just makes it even worse. Even when I feel stress free it still thumps away

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Even when I feel stress free it still thumps away

It will.

Overexerting my neck or jaw seems to make it stop, and plugging my ear with my finger also makes it stop.

It may be hypertension vascular blood pressure and overexerting neck and jaw opens arteries in the neck a little more.
A little carotid artery blockage can cause thumping. Usually 50% blockage is needed for the internal jugular to cause thumping.
Test your blood pressure when feeling stressed and when not feeling stressed.
Abdominal aortic engagement can cause thumping as blood is then pumped thru the heart to neck arteries, such as the carotid and vertebral arteries.
Ultra sound exams can be performed for all of this.
With blood pressure - it can be normal 99.99% of the time. A hypertension moment or hypertension crisis may have happened briefly and was unnoticed.
Turn on a water faucet and after a minute turn it off. If you don't hear thumping for a few seconds, then the problem is vascular.

 

[James Foley]

It may be hypertension vascular blood pressure and overexerting neck and jaw opens arteries in the neck a little more.
A little carotid artery blockage can cause thumping. Usually 50% blockage is needed for the internal jugular to cause thumping.

Even if it has no relation to my pulse?

I also find that forcing my head all the way down, looking at my toes, makes the thumping very noticeable.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

I also find that forcing my head all the way down, looking at my toes, makes the thumping very noticeable.

Yes it will. I just mentioned this in another post a day or two ago.
Your problem does seem to be vascular or vascular hypertension. You may not have concerning vestbrobasilar insufficiency.
Take three reading of your blood pressure.
Take one reading before sleep and one upon wakening.
Take the third reading after coming home from work.
Place your blood pressure results into an internet search - example: blood pressure 140/100.
Whatever your numbers are - a few sites will appear with information on your exact numbers.

 

[James Foley]

@Greg Sacramento I'll pick up a blood pressure monitor as I am curious now.

I'll report back if I find out anything after taking a few readings, though the fact it has no relation to the speed or timing of my pulse makes me feel its not really my blood pressure causing it.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

I'll report back if I find out anything after taking a few readings, though the fact it has no relation to the speed or timing of my pulse makes me feel its not really my blood pressure causing it.

Thumping without humming may not have speed timing to heart rate. The thumping is caused from unnormal speeds of pressure on and pressure off going thru vessels with partial blockage here and there. These vessels, besides in neck, could be heart valves or the abdominal aortic. If one has both thumping, humming and vibrations, then artery disease is often present. Venous hums are caused from neck arteries.

 

[Ruse]

I have had this in the past, and can agree with those above that it tends to go away after a few days max.

 

[James Foley]

Thumping still clearly there when I woke up this morning, just accompanied by a thumping headache.

This happened last time only the headache was so bad I had to try and sleep it off and I couldn't do anything else. Basically figured it was a migraine without aura as I've had plenty of those in the past.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Could be associated to a headache, but thumping only with a headache is rare - 1/2000 - and most are over 50. You have not mentioned any other symptoms that would associate to giant cell arteritis. So you don't have that. How is your blood pressure?

 

[James Foley]

@Greg Sacramento So I've picked up a blood pressure monitor (OMRON M6 Comfort, if that makes any difference)

Taking a reading as the guide is telling me and I'm getting 151 mmHg SYS and 89 mmHg DIA. Putting those into Google and things don't look overly great...

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@James Foley Hi James: You should be able to control your blood pressure. Use low salt and visit sites on how to control blood pressure. Talk to your doctor. For males getting up in age, considerations need discussion with hypertension. Your reading shows Stage 1 hypertension. Continue to monitor blood pressure. By placing your blood pressure as - Blood Pressure 151/89 - into an internet search, many sites will come up with your reading in site results. Here is one site. https://foenix.com/BP/is-151/89-good-blood-pressure-or-high-blood-pressure.html

 

[James Foley]

@Greg Sacramento With my ear still thumping away this morning my blood pressure is 122/80 which is normal from what I can see.

It may still be vascular related but I'm not sure blood pressure is the cause

The thumping is a solid pattern though, it's not random. Most reports of TTS I read there is no pattern to the noise.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

@James Foley Glad to hear that your blood pressure has lowered, but it's still at a pre hypertension level. A solid pattern is associated to vascular. The tensor tympani muscle can contract and spasm causing thumping especially when under stress, so that can raise blood pressure. If your headaches are also associated to stress - probably temporal nerves, then that could be from rising blood pressure due to stress. Temporal nerves can also cause thumping. Temple nerve distress can also enlarge the abdominal aortic and that organ can also cause thumping. I don't think that you have an enlarged aortic as you are too young, but 8% of men over 65, die from an enlarged aortic. Often just heart disease is listed as cause.

I have thumping, temporal headaches and compression of the internal jugular vein which is a common problem for those who hinge at the neck and have atlas torsion of C1 C2 - medium atlantoaxial joint problems. I also have vertebral artery trauma and jugular vein narrowing as well. My thumping was caused from a single brief hyperactive moment which caused my abdominal aortic to enlarge, thus causing irregular blood flow within my damaged vertebral artery and narrowed internal jugular vein.

All it takes for thumping to take place is a single, brief hyperactive moment - a raise in blood pressure - otherwise my blood pressure is either normal or pre hypertensive. Before my recent whiplash injuries causing somatic tinnitus, I had tinnitus from ear syringing. From ear syringing I had thumping to the pillow off and on for about 2 months and that was my tensor tympani muscle in right ear.

I had worked in trauma level I hospitals/ER for 28 years. We saw about 3 cases of thumping a week. 90% of the time, patients with thumping did not have tinnitus. When one had tinnitus, the thumping was of the tensor tympani about half the time. The other 50% of the time, cause related to something else - usually caused from hypertension - stress. For that, it was easier to discover cause. Thumping can be caused from 60 things as I mentioned some above. What irritated me was when someone had both thumping and tinnitus, because of the state of medicine - insurance costs included, a complete cause related workup was seldom done.

 

[James Foley]

@Greg Sacramento Appreciate the detailed responses, certainly a lot to think about.

I think I'll try and have a chat with my GP and see what they think. The headaches I'm getting are more of a concern than the thumping right now, at least I can actually function with the thumping...

 

[Earing]

I hope you figure this out and your thumping stops.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

Appreciate the detailed responses, certainly a lot to think about.

I think I'll try and have a chat with my GP and see what they think. The headaches I'm getting are more of a concern than the thumping right now, at least I can actually function with the thumping...

Hi James: What I said to you above in this thread is just touching the surface. Headaches with thumping can associate to a lot of things. Been saying here for two years that specialized radiologists are the best doctors for connecting dots with neck, head and jaw. With pulsatile sounds - thumping/humming, especially with also having headaches, vascular and heart doctors may also be needed. ECHO exams and abdominal aortic testing may be needed. Hands on pulse testing is often important. The best advice that we can give here, is to say talk to your doctors, and say hey I have a problem and I want to know why. Most insurance and medical plans will not let someone see a specialized radiologist or other specialized doctor without referrals.

Wishing you the best and please stay in touch.

 

[James Foley]

The best advice that we can give here, is to say talk to your doctors, and say hey I have a problem and I want to know why..

Yep, that's fair, I understand nobody on the internet is going to magically know the answer to my problems

After leaving a message with my local doctors they'd like to see me due to the symptoms I've reported, so I've an appointment booked for next Tuesday. Hopefully they might point me in the right direction to someone that can help.

Side note, after coming home from work blood pressure is 149/92. Something I've also noticed that when the machine reads high my tinnitus is also pretty loud in both ears, and the intensity fluctuates with my pulse. This isn't the first time I've had this, but it is the first time I've been able to relate it to something.

Thanks for your advice so far, it has certainly eased the panic feelings.

 

[Greg Sacramento]

I don't think that you should have a lot of concern at your age. You have not mentioned problems that are red flags. Headaches are usually not red flags of another serious problem even with thumping.
You have some hypertension, but that could be heredity or from having tinnitus - understandable stress.
Low stage hypertension can cause headaches, but only little if any narrowing of veins and arteries.
Your doctor may order temporal scanning, MRA, blood work and perform an EKG in his office. He may refer you to a neurologist and if needed a cardiologist and vascular doctor later. You may just need some life style and diet changes. There are several treatment groups where different medications can be used. Some class and type of meds are mentioned within this link.
https://mymedicalscore.com/blood-pressure/149-92/
Always check any med with having tinnitus. Place the name of the med with tinnitus following into an interest search to see what percentage of those with tinnitus are bothered, Example: Aspirin tinnitus.

 

[James Foley]

A little update for anyone interested.

Thumping seems to be tightly coupled with headaches, and as my headache faded over a couple of days, so did the thumping.

Spoke to my GP about this, they didn't seem too bothered by my blood pressure as it wasn't testing constantly high. They did take an interest in my headaches though and the first thought is repeat migraines. I've been given sumatriptan which to be fair does a pretty good job of getting rid of any migraine pain and as a plus does lower my tinnitus that is louder during the worser headaches.

Been told to see if the sumatriptan works over a couple of weeks and to have a follow up appointment in two weeks to see how things are going.

 

[James Foley]

Well it was quiet for 4 days, only to return again this evening...

I'm not really sure where to go with this now

 

[Kriszti]

I have a bit of a different issue, but related, I guess. My ear (generally the left which is the more problematic one) thumps when I put a foam earplugs in it, and also when I wear an earmuff for a prolonged time, but this is less frequent. If I put my head in a different position, it stops for a while. Can it be that the earplugs somehow presses something in my ear and that's why the thumping occurs? It's rhythmic, but I don't think that it's in sync with my pulse.

 

[James Foley]

So, just over a week and the thumping seems to have settled for now.

Sumatriptan did nothing but make my headaches twice as bad, so went back to my GP who suggested low dose amitriptyline to control the headaches, and a neurologist referral which is to rule out anything nasty I'd imagine.

So far I've only taken 2 10mg pills, but the last couple of days I've been headache free and actually feel okay. The only real concern at the moment is that today my ears are noticeably louder. Problem is my ears change every day anyway, so I have no idea if its the amitriptyline or just my ears doing there thing. It always puts me in a never ending circle of panic and worry which I'm 99% sure only fuels the tinnitus.

I've done various searches on here for amitriptyline, and it seems like a mixed bag of results.

I really want to give it a go as It'd be interesting to see if it helps with my anxiety and brain fog too, but not sure its a good idea if it is going to worsen my tinnitus.

 

[Darryl Colebank]

Hi @James Foley,

I get a weird hum, hum, hum that comes and goes. Mostly the worst late in the day after I have all the sound i can handle (I have hyperacusis and tinnitus). When mine is active if I close my eyes it goes away momentarily. If I get as relaxed as I can, not easy to do, and I concentrate on relaxing my neck and mouth and head I can calm it down or stop it. Comes and goes...... I think mine is tensor tympani syndrome. ANXIETY caused. I also get headaches and neck aches that are somehow related to the hyperacusis and tinnitus.

Before my tinnitus and hyperacusis started, I had a few nights where I would wake up and wonder who the hell was playing base music so loud. I walked around my house listening, opening windows and doors to listen only to determine it was in my head. Amazing how complicated this shit is.

So far my ENT or two local audiologist do not know shit about these issues (anger). I attached a research article that is pretty interesting how ears, nasal and eyes are all connected.

Take care
Darryl