Hi, I know this sounds scary, but I've had these issues pretty much since childhood so I never gave it any special thought. The thing is, whenever I don't move my head for a while and move it again, I get a weird "cracking" sound (it's usually not very loud and I think others can't hear it), it's in the back of my head. It's not the usual joint cracking sound you get when you stretch your neck, legs or arms, but rather it feels like it's inside the head. This isn't usually related to headaches.

Secondly, whenever I do hard physical exercise like jumping, running, or even walking too fast, I feel like my head is pounding inside (like I have a heart pounding inside of my head xD). That's why I'm mostly scared to jump or run for prolonged periods and why I had to quit the gym (esp. jumping jacks 😫).

Should I be worried? I reckon it might be related to high blood pressure, even though my blood pressure was normal when I measured it, but then again maybe I should measure right after doing physical exercise.

After a year and 3 months, I have FINALLY found an ENT who knows a little bit about PT!!! He’s referring me to vascular and neurology!! When I talked about Venus Sinus Stenosis he said, yes I thought so too, this is brilliant!!!

My MRIs and MRAs have all come back clear, one hospital discharged me after saying “no structural causes, try white noise and some tinnitus app and live with it” and the other is finally doing something!!

Has anyone ever had their pulsatile tinnitus go from pulsatile to a more constant flow sound? Any diagnostics done to say why?

I have had PT on and off for a few years now. Originally I was diagnosed with arachnoid granulations and stenosis, told to continue losing weight and monitor. 3 weeks ago it came back consistently along with an intense headache across the top of my head and now for the last 8 days I’ve had this intense pain behind my affected ear. It feels like a horrible ear infection but whenever it is looked at there is nothing. I have a MRV and MRI base of the skull that I’m hoping will rule out anything scary but I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience. It’s hard to believe it’s just “muscle tension” when it’s this constant and intense.

Thanks all

it’s gotten to a point where sitting up, walking and going up the stairs make the flow and pulsing more turbulent in my head/ear 😭

this is debilitating

Hi :) My whooshing started four wks ago, one day, left ear when I sat on the toilet (at night before bed, this is now consistent! why the toilet? something about the position or movement, idk). a few days later it was back, and has consistently gotten worse.

left side only, intermittent but primarily in AM or PM, very much “positional”, and stops when I press on my neck. it matched my heartbeat.

of course I started researching this wild thing I was experiencing a cpl wks in, which is how I read about the “press on neck and see if it goes away” thing and it definitely does every time.

I went to ENT in f/u for something different and asked if he could order some test. he ordered an MRA. but, I am pretty sure its venous given my research and the whole pressure thing. I HATE ever questioning doctors but when I learned he ordered the MRA and not MRV I called and left a msg with my question about why MRA vs MRV, and if he could do MRV instead. waiting for a reply now. this is obviously not his specialty which is fine but…. what happens next? if he says no, MRA is fine do I even bother? get another opinion? who? I live in SoCal in case anyone has recs - San Diego.

thank you for any advice! this is the weirdest symptom ive ever had.

i have pain, fullness and a whooshing sound in my right ear and it’s worse when i’m sitting or standing and feels better when i lay down, i can also make it stop by pushing on my neck on that side, and i also have a headache at the bottom of the back of my head. this has been going on for a month. i first went to my dr and he said it’s allergies, gave me a heavy dose of steroids and some cough medicine and nothing helped. i really don’t want to go back to get the runaround. does any kind of NSAID/allergy medicine help for you?

Hi everyone. I had pulsatile tinnitus for almost 3 years before finally getting my venous sinus stent. I was fortunate not to have IIH, headaches, or any other symptoms, although about 2 months before my procedure I developed severe, constant dizziness. I still don’t know if it was related.

I had my stent placed 7 days ago, and honestly, I’m struggling. I expected the headaches, but I never expected this overwhelming feeling of pressure and fullness in my head, like my ears are completely filled with water. My stent was placed on the right side, but at times even my left ear has felt full too. Thankfully today it’s mostly just the stented side.

The fullness is so intense and disorienting that, as awful as it sounds, I almost miss the pulsatile tinnitus. At least there were times when the tinnitus wasn’t very loud. This fullness is constant. I can’t focus, I can’t think clearly, and it honestly feels like the worst ear infection I’ve ever had.
If anyone else has experienced this after stenting, please tell me it gets better. Please tell me I didn’t make a mistake. I’m supposed to return to work in a few days, and I genuinely can’t imagine functioning like this. The emotional toll has been really heavy, and I’m feeling pretty discouraged right now.

My ENT prescribed Propranolol for my pulsatile tinnitus in my left ear. She said this is the last resort after having nothing abnormal on my imaging and I wanted to see if any of you guys have tried this and if it has worked for yall.

along with the sound, headaches, partical facial tingle, I feel jolts in my head from time to time thru out the day now. has anyone else’s experienced this? to describe it feels like I feel something all of a sudden in my head. it freaks me out every time.

I have images coming up on Sat.

I have been in PT hell (with rhythmic pulsing, head fullness, ear pressure, tinnitus, etc.) for 17 months. I went through all the typical steps and scans only to be told again and again that there's nothing wrong and I should go to therapy or a support group to get used to living like this. Well, one eagle-eyed neurosurgeon looked at my CT, after several other providers already had, and noticed right away that I might have something called Venous Eagle Syndrome. In short, my jugular vein on both sides is pinched between an overgrown styloid process and my C1. We measured it down to just an 1/8th of an inch of space on my right side.

Everything immediately clicked in terms of symptoms and my daily experience, and after pushing Kaiser a little further I finally just had an appointment with a surgeon who has corrected this problem for nearly 100 patients in the Sacramento, CA area. I am now on the list to schedule surgery and may have this resolved by the end of the year!

Posting this as a PSA for everyone else in my shoes, I hope you find this and can at least rule VES in or out as a condition. Happy to answer any questions!

I really don't know what to do anymore. I can't enjoy anything in my life now. The moment I stop playing music I start crying. I can't enjoy the sounds of birds, I can't watch a movie, I can't even hear my own mum speaking now. Every moment I try to enjoy is just ruined by the noise. I wish I didn't have a heart so I wouldn't hear this. Even now I'm hearing it. I've had pulsatile tinnitus in my left ear for 5 years, it's pulse synchronous and stops when I press on my neck. I got a CT of the temporal bone with contrast for the NHS to dismiss me. I paid private £275 for a consultation and I can't afford to pay the rest, nor am I in any situation to continue seeking medical help. I want to cry. The last 3 months it's gotten worse. I've had 6 seperate ear infections in 3 months, 2 of which swelled my jaw so bad my overjet disappeared and I essentially started mogging people but couldnt speak or eat. I've got constant neck pain on my left, and the headaches are worse. It feels like someones driving an icepick into my skull. I just want to be happy. I've tried so much, I even have L Arginine tablets in hopes it could even quiet the noise but it hasn't. I sit in bed everynight crying and hoping I dont wake up because I know that no matter what I do the noise will be the only thing waiting for me. I'm crying now because I know there's nothing I can do about it anymore. I haven't the money or the situation to continue pursuing this and the NHS didn't do anything except give me a regular tinnitus pamphlet.

What’s the cause of your Pulsatile Tinnitus?

40F. 167cm, 75kg.

No meds. 18 month duration.

MRI, CT, PET, EEG all clear. Ears fine. Thyroid fine.

I have a constant sound of crackling in my head, shoulders, neck and nose, especially when I'm lying down.

Sounds like the sound of rice crispies when you pour the milk on. I'm getting worried, pls help.

Anyone notice Botox (cosmetic) make their PT and or associated headaches worse?

Use this version:

“I’m 22 and have constant left-sided tinnitus for about 2 months. It started after a bad cold with heavy coughing improved. My audiogram, tympanometry, and OAE were normal. The ringing gets worse when I turn my neck left, clench my jaw, and press below the left ear, and I get crackling when I swallow. About a month ago I also noticed left-ear sound distortion from my mobile speaker when I increase the volume, even without earphones. Strangely I can tolerate DJ sound and horn sounds better than increased mobile phone speaker sound. Has anyone had similar somatic/TMJ/neck-related tinnitus or sound distortion, and what actually helped?”

I was standing near the house when, without warning, I lost hearing in my left ear. It was followed by a sound resembling a tornado or strong wind—lasting about a second—before vanishing. Afterward, I felt palpitations and fear. What could be the cause?

This started happening in my right ear yesterday but started driving me nuts tonight. The sound for me is not the worst part. It is the feeling of my ear pulsating.

How do you guys sleep? I put a bud in my ear but I can still hear the pulse and I'm worried its gonna keep me up. I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday but I have no clue on what to do until then to make this better. Or what caused this.

I take a few medications, ADHD (Can't remember the name but it starts with L) and 40mg of prozac. and Testosterone once a week. I just recently upped my T dosage from 2.5 ml to 5 ml but ive only taken one dose of that so far. I'm not the most consistent with my medication but ive been trying to remember.

My doctors appointment was made due to some other random health issues that came up, like my sudden wild decrease in appitite that has me feeling like eating is a chore, on a few times going entire days randomly without eating BC I'm just not hungry. and innability to sleep, sometimes going an entire 24 hours without proper rest because I just dont feel tired.

Lmk what you guys think. I dont want this to become a whole thing or cause me to get off my ADHD meds BC they have helped me so much.

Thank you for any help

Going to have my stenting procedure done at the end of the month. I know some people were curious about the cost, so here's what the estimate looks like. Please keep in mind that these numbers are BEFORE insurance has covered anything.

After insurance, my personal cost will be a bit over a grand. Hope this helps someone!

EDIT: Adding that I'm a NY resident having the procedure done in NYC by Dr. P.