Unusual Case. Normal or Pulsatile Tinnitus? Applying Pressure on Neck Stops the Ringing.

Hello,

I would like to apologize for my English beforehand, it’s not my native tongue. I started hearing these sounds in late November / early December 2018 only in my right ear.

My sounds are like this:

1) ~1000 Hz beeping:

Tinnitus tone match 1-16Khz pulsed sine waves

– something similar to this 0:00 – 0:03, although not as fast, and the beeps last 3 times longer and don’t peak and drop down as fast as in the video. This beeping is the louder sound of mine.

2) And my second sound which can only be heard if I plug my ear/tragus with finger – I would describe it as an some constant flow, maybe a bit metallic if that makes sense.

I don’t hear these sounds constantly. My loudest moments were when I woke up in the middle of the night. Also quite loud in the mornings when I wake up (volume reduces in like 1-2 hours), followed by laying down for sleep in the evenings. Throughout the day, there are moments with no sounds present – I can plug my ear/tragus with finger and there is nothing but silence. Sometimes I can hear the sounds throughout the day though.

I don’t hear my sounds while in hot bath, however it starts roaring if I go to ice cold shower right after hot bath or do contrast showers. I never hear them when I play basketball and at least 30 mins after. I don’t hear them when I lift weights or right after walking up the stairs. I can completely stop the ringing if I bend over – legs somewhat straight and head at knee level. I can also stop the ringing if I do a handstand. It comes back when I stand up again or straighten out if those sounds were present before though. I can also stop/significantly reduce the beeping if I flex my core and upper body. Also, if I apply a lot of pressure on the right side of my neck on some artery or vein – something like choking myself, it also stops the ringing.

I’ve been to multiple ENTs and neurologists, did an MRI.

Audiogram:



– the ringing (right) ear even seems to be better, however when I tried online hearing tests with various headsets – both my ears seemed to hear similarly.

Tympanogram:



– ENT said everything is ok, however I am attaching it for comments. MRI – all is good, however I have hypoplastic v4 segment vertebral artery on one side since birth and hypoplastic left side venous sinuses – don’t know if that can have any impact on my sounds, according to doctors – it can’t. Blood work – ok, thyroid ultrasound – ok.

After my first ENT visit I tried taking a strong vitamin B complex and magnesium citrate and it had no impact. I also tried ginkgo biloba (egb 761) (tanakan) and I think that 180-220mg/day and I believe that it increased the ringing. I have now been ~1 month off ginkgo, maybe someone knows whether it’s stored in the body and how long does it take for it to flush out of my system?

I also tried the Reddit/YouTube tinnitus cure/finger drumming technique, and it somewhat works for a short time (30 seconds – few minutes), makes me wonder whether I have real tinnitus or just hear my blood flowing. By the way, I am 25 year old male, athletic, not a lot of stressful situations. The 6 months before my onset, maybe I spent too much time with laptop on my stomach while laying in the bed (bad for neck posture?), too little cardio (playing basketball 2x week as opposed to 4-5x before), not the best diet and losing 7 kilograms in 6 months of body weight?

Anyway, I work out every day now, I’ve gained the weight back, I never ate as healthy as these past 3 months, however the ringing is still there. Maybe someone has been in a similar situation and could give me some insights?

 

I forgot to add and cannot edit my original post - I can hear the ringing a lot louder if I perform valsalva maneuver (basically the same loudness if I plug my ear/tragus). Also, the harder I blow or push my tragus, the louder it sounds. Blood pressure 110-120/60-70.