Pulse In Ear
Do You Hear Your Pulse In Your Ear?
If you occasionally hear your pulse in your ear, most often than not it isn't something to be greatly concerned about. Even if you hear your pulse in your ear fairly frequently, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're suffering from any particular disorder. However, if the sound it is constant, or unusually loud, it should be looked into.
Hallucinations? - The cause or causes behind hearing things that no one else can hear are not always well known, in fact in some instances are not understood at all. Hearing your pulse in your ear can be a sign of a disorder, or it can be a perfectly natural occurrence. Sometimes we hear music or voices that no one else hears. Hearing a single word uttered when no one else is around is not an uncommon experience. These are called auditory hallucinations. Having such hallucinations usually mean little more than your brain is playing a trick on you, and doesn't indicate any type of mental illness.
Thump, Hiss, Whoosh - It is common for people to hear not only their pulse, but sloshing, hissing, or whooshing sounds, very often when first lying down at bedtime, or when suffering from a viral infection such as the flu. In fact hearing a pulse in your ear may just be a sign that you have a very acute sense of hearing. There's nothing wrong with that of course, unless your hearing is too acute and too sensitive to the point where it can be bothersome. The carotid artery runs right next to the ear, and as it is a major artery, it shouldn't be too surprising if the ear would on occasion detect the pulse in that artery. This can be particularly noticeable if you plug your ears with your fingers, place earplugs in your ears, or have an accumulation of ear wax that has become compacted. Some medications, particularly aspirin and a host of antibiotics ending in "-mycin" are also known to sometimes cause someone to hear their pulse and other things as well. Easing off from the medication usually causes the noises to go away.
Tinnitus A Possibility - So, there are a host of things which can cause you to hear your pulse in your ear, which are really quite natural. There are also some causes which indicate a disorder of one kind of another is present. In these circumstances, what one experiences is often pulsatile tinnitus. Tinnitus itself is not a disease, but is a symptom of a disease or disorder. Tinnitus of often experienced as ringing in the ears, but hearing your pulse, pulsatile tinnitus, is also a possibility. Tinnitus can result form a blockage, possibly in the outer ear canal, but more likely in the middle ear, where the Eustachian tube may have become blocked, usually with mucus or pus if there is an infection. Such a situation may be temporary, such as having a bad cold, or could be something more serious. The inner ear can also come into play, often then there is a fairly serious disorder or disease involved. Hearing your pulse in your ear could be a symptom, probably not the only symptom, of hyperthyroidism, hydrocephalus (water on the brain), inner ear infection, or an aneurysm. These are serious or potentially serious conditions, but hearing your pulse in your ear would probably not be the most pressing of your concerns in such cases. Hardening of the arteries is another disease which can lead your ears to play tricks on you.
For the most part though, it it's your pulse you hear, and it's only an occasional thing, and not really bothersome, there's probably nothing to be too concerned about. If your pulse sounds steady, it's at least an indication that your cardiovascular system is hard at work, doing what it's supposed to be doing.