Whooshing Sounds

[VaR]

Hi,

First of all a Happy New Year to all of you, I wish all of us have spontaneous remission of our T and doctors move one step closer to a cure

I had begun habituating to my T nicely and was staying off TT, but I just started having this whooshing sound in my right ear when I bend over or am in a certain position. It might be pulsatile T, but I am not sure. Has anybody experienced this? I have sinus problems and had a slight cold recently and I am also dealing with them, could they be causing this via ETD or something? I'm 22 and somehow my ear problems keep getting worse. Any suggestion would be welcome? Also, can't hear the whooshing when I plug my ears.

 

[dan]

hello, it is pulsatile tinnitus caused by blood turbulence in your ears.
nothing to worry about...maybe check your blood pressure, otherwise if normal maybe get some exercise, better diet, etc. Hopefully its transient growing pains.

 

[Bambi]

I have this swooshing as well. It comes in periodes, and occurs when I turn my head quickly from side to side. I do not think it´s caused by blood pressure-issues, considering how it comes and goes.


dan: what do you mean when you say it´s blood turbulence in the ears?

 

[S.withnell]

Yes I get this too but mine makes me feel sick when I hear it, but I onky hear it when I move in a strange way, like too quickly and move my head, or dance, but it's a whooshing and feels like somethung scraping on something it's a very strange sensation. I've not actaully thrown up but it makes me feel really awful and sickly. No idea what that's abiut and I don't like moving quickly as I don't want it to happen haha .

 

[Ricky81]

I have a whooshing sounds in both ears. I think my T started with an ear infection. I had to get a lumbar puncture due to an assault and that helped lower my T because before my Tinnitus was a Ttttttt in my left ear.
I think Ciprodex ototoxic ear drops might have something to do with my T as i was on day 8 of doing ciprodex drops when my T started.
I was also assaulted on both ears 50 days before T started which caused the ear infection which led to my to take ciprodex. I'm so pissed off but trying to stay calm. I sleep well now and dont't need any masking sounds. I only hear T in quite rooms. Hopefully it will go away in a year. who knows.

 

[VaR]

@dan, it only happens in my right ear, not both and it's not there all the time only in certain positions. And it doesn't feel pulsatile. It's like a wave which settles after sometime.

 

[Tweaker]

I get a whoosing sound in one ear after I've been lying down and then get up. It's to do with hearing blood flow near your ear. When I feel my blood pressure in my head change I hear the whoosing sound for a few seconds. I don't think it's too much to worry about. Just your ear picking up the sound of a nearby blood vessel. I got the whoosing the same time I got tinnitus. Just another unwanted internal sound linked to the tinnitus.

 

[Kaelon]

Hi @VaR - I'm sorry to hear about your whooshing sounds. For what it's worth, you and I both seem to suffer from very similar sinus/Eustachian tube issues, and when I bend my head over, I, too, hear a slight quiver in my ear that comes and goes pretty quickly. I've been told by my ENT that this is blood flow and that inflammation may be to blame here for causing the blood vessels to be too close to the auditory nerve and to hear it. Since it's only temporary, however, and we're not hearing it all the time, this is as @dan mentioned, hopefully just transitory.

 

[VaR]

Yeah @Kaelon, I hope so. Thanks for being supportive. Today, my nose is blocked pretty badly, so hearing the whooshing whenever I bend my head forward. I just hope it's ETD related. I won't get a doctors appointment before next week, so I have to wait until then. I'll take steam regularly and the anti-histamine decongestant I have left so things get better. I'm trying to be more positive about it. And @Mr. Cartman and @Karen have been so supportive. Hopefully I won't get PT with my now high pitch T.

 

[Kaelon]

@VaR - Your nose being blocked is definitely (at the very least) complicating your Eustachian tube inflammation. The opening of the Eustachian tubes is directly perpendicular t0 the entrance to your nasal passages -- this is why, when applying a spray (not a mist) that you'd like to hit your Eustachian tube openings, you want to bend your head forward over a sink and then spray the mist directly up your nose -- so that it hits the openings of the Eustachian tubes.

Does the whooshing only happen when you bend over/move? If so, it's fluid-related. It happens to me when I feel fluid in my ears or when my sinuses are congested. This inflammatory situation is a nightmare to deal with because when it becomes so severe that it's caused us Tinnitus, it's easy for us to start generalizing and feeling like it's getting worse or getting complicated. However, I have found several things that keep me sane/calm:

1. There's no time-sensitive emergency unfolding. Usually, only sudden acute hearing loss is a time-sensitive situation that requires urgent attention (for the administration of prednisone to counter possible permanent damage to the cochlea). In all other (the vast majority of) cases of tinnitus, including congestion, inflammation, and infection, these sudden pressures are not typically the sign of some disaster unfolding.
   
   
2. Pulsatile tinnitus, the way it's classically defined, is a neurovascular conflict. That is to say, there's an interchange between your vascular tissues (your veins, arteries, etc.), especially around your head, ear, neck, back, or chest, and one of your major nerves. This typically happens in the neck with the carotid arteries or in the veins around the ear, where there's pressing against the auditory nerves. The tell-tale sign that you have true Pulsatile tinnitus is a clicking, thumping, whooshing rhythm that sounds like your heart and is in sync with your heart rhythm. It is usually (but not always) persistent, and it is (always) in sync with your heartbeat. Other forms of "rhythmic" or "oscillating" sounds (especially if they vary with movement or time of day) are signs of fluids, inflammation, or muscular complications -- including Eustachian Tube Disorders and Temporomandibular Joint Disorders. All of which are treatable/manageable.

So, based upon what you are telling me and what I have read, it does not sound likely that you're also developing a form of pulsatile tinnitus at this stage in the game. What you're probably dealing with is severe sinus and eustachian congestion that, as you move, is audible to your already overly-sensitive and stimulated ears.

 

[VaR]

Maybe, but also feels to you know come in waves. The whooshing has a pattern. Sometimes it seems pulsatile, other times it doesn't. Thanks for tips @Kaelon, I'm going to try these and I sure hope you are right. Googling the whooshing gives me only P.T. results which make me afraid. So, I'll not do that. And if any of the other TT members has had a similar "whooshing" type experience, I'd like to hear about it. I'm just looking for all the positive advice/anecdotes I can get so I am not depressed and as bummed/freaked out as I have been for the past few days.

And I can't pop my right ear, the one that has the whooshing which too points towards sinus/ETD doesn't it Kaelon?
And Kaelon, it's really great to have people like you on TT who take the time to type out such responses which are detailed. I've been following that @engineerLA thread and seriously, you've written some great posts/tips.

 

[Kaelon]

A few more thoughts on the "whooshing," @VaR -- does it sound like wind rushing, or water flowing through tubes? Or, does it sound like just muffled congestion, like a quiver or a spasm? The term "whooshing" and "whooshers" has a very specific connotation in the Pulsatile Tinnitus community, and so it could be that the terms you are using and Googling might not really be describing what you are hearing. If you describe your whooshing in detail, perhaps others will be able to describe if that's what they're hearing.

For my part, I have several "rhythmic" and "oscillating" tendencies:

• My Tinnitus (high-pitched) has a oscillating rhythm that grows louder with each heartbeat, with moments of quietness in between each beat. This is a sign of inflammation, I have been told.
  
  
• When I bend over, move my head quickly, I feel a distinctive quivering or pulsing sensation in my ear / near my ear drum. It passes within a few seconds. This is a sign of fluids, tissues, and muscles being triggered, and is benign.
  
  
• When I move my lower jaw or try to pop my ears, I hear the cracking/popping sound that is typical of fluids and pressures being alleviated (or trying to be alleviated) as a result of my Eustachian tube inflammation.
  
  
• I do not hear any clicking, thumping, whooshing, or pounding sounds in general.

Re: your inability to pop your ears -- yes. This is a Eustachian tube problem, and it should be seen as a "smoking gun" that tells you that (at the very least) your Eustachian tubes are playing a role in your inflammation and congestion and either exacerbating, or outright causing, your Tinnitus.

I'm glad that I can help, even if it's in a small way. I've been spending a lot of time researching Eustachian Tube Dysfunction and, while it's only slightly better understood than Tinnitus is in general, it is still a mystery to a lot of practitioners. The good news is that this condition -- ETD -- tends to wax and wane with time, and is fully manageable, once we learn what is causing the inflammation or exacerbating it. In @engineerLA's case, he hypothesizes that severe allergies are to blame (and his hypothesis seems proven by the use of anti-inflammatory anti-hystemines which he sprays into his Eustachian tubes (this is a risky procedure, and not one that I have tried directly). The neti pot water method, especially done passively as I describe, and use of antibiotics and steroids to control inflammation should, if you improve considerably, give you some further confirmation of the "smoking gun" of your inability to pop your ears. Also consider breathing in hot steam, as well, as seeing if that even remotely helps either the sound of the Tinnitus or the congestion as a whole.

 

[VaR]

It's like a rhythmic wind blowing in my ear, which at times feels pulsating but at other times doesn't. The air comes in rhythmic whooshes. Also, feel sudden pressure like rumbling/quivering sometimes which I can make go away or even trigger with a muscle in my ear.

 

[Kaelon]

How frequently do you get this? I'm able to cause (or stop) the same or similar sensations. It happens maybe a couple of times a day.

 

[VaR]

I don't get the whooshing sound, although I can cause it by bending my head downwards. When I try to touch my feet. The whooshing isn't there unless I cause it by changing my head position. And it's in a couple of positions only that thi whooshing comes.

 

[VaR]

I noticed that I can cause it a couple of days ago. Earlier it wasn't there.

 

[Kaelon]

I have the same exact thing, @VaR. If I bend over and touch my feet, I feel the quivering and a light pop in my left ear's Eustachian tubes as soon as I move upright. I believe (though don't know for sure) that this is all based upon congestive fluids in our sinus, nasal, and eustachian passages. What we're hearing is the tissues and fluids being aggravated by the congestion, and the quivering (or "whooshing") is the normal vascular contraction that occurs with blood flow. It's not a sign of any blockage or conflict as far as I am aware; it's a sign of inflammation.

 

[Rube]

I have the same exact thing, @VaR. If I bend over and touch my feet, I feel the quivering and a light pop in my left ear's Eustachian tubes as soon as I move upright. I believe (though don't know for sure) that this is all based upon congestive fluids in our sinus, nasal, and eustachian passages. What we're hearing is the tissues and fluids being aggravated by the congestion, and the quivering (or "whooshing") is the normal vascular contraction that occurs with blood flow. It's not a sign of any blockage or conflict as far as I am aware; it's a sign of inflammation.

@Kaelon just wondering since you are in Boston did you consider seeing Dr Dennis Poe who is one of the best doctors in treating ETD problems?

 

[Kaelon]

@Kaelon just wondering since you are in Boston did you consider seeing Dr Dennis Poe who is one of the best doctors in treating ETD problems?

Actually, no, I had no clue about Dr. Poe. Thanks so much for telling me about him. He seems to be affiliated with Boston Children's Hospital, however; does he accept adult patients? ETD is usually something that afflicts kids, unfortunately, so it's not particularly well understood in adults.

 

[Rube]

Good luck, I hope he is able to help you!

 

[Kaelon]

Good luck, I hope he is able to help you!

Thanks, @Rube! I amended my previous statement, though, and mentioned that it seems like he's affiliated with Boston Children's Hospital, so I wonder whether he's taking any adult patients. Do you know one way or the other? I will reach out to him and see if he's willing or able to see me.

 

[Rube]

Thanks, @Rube! I amended my previous statement, though, and mentioned that it seems like he's affiliated with Boston Children's Hospital, so I wonder whether he's taking any adult patients. Do you know one way or the other? I will reach out to him and see if he's willing or able to see me.

I am not sure but I believe he does. Try contacting them, I understand they are difficult to get an appointment with though.

 

[Tonia]

I had wax pressure build up on ear and I'm taking ciprodex and m the whooshing started when I took it. . Should I stop or finish my dose