It occurs most frequently in overweight young or middle-aged women. For example, benign or idiopathic intracranial hypertension is characterised by headaches and visual disturbance as well as pulsatile tinnitus. Some causes of pulsatile tinnitus do not fall into any of the above categories.

This is similar to the experience of people being aware of their non-pulsatile tinnitus for the first time. Heightened sensitivity in the auditory pathways can alert the brain to normal noise in blood vessels.

These conditions tend to make someone more aware of sounds inside their body. Conductive hearing loss such as a perforated ear drum or glue ear.If the inside of a blood vessel becomes irregular due to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), the blood flow will become turbulent rather than smooth. The majority of tumours associated with pulsatile tinnitus are benign rather than malignant. Tumours of the head and neck cause the development of abnormal blood vessels. In some people it can remain open and the blood flow adjacent to middle ear structures can generate pulsatile tinnitus. For example, the stapedial artery in the middle ear normally closes before birth. Sometimes blood flow is increased in a single blood vessel or group of blood vessels rather than a generalised increase. It can also occur in severe anaemia or when the thyroid gland is overactive, a condition known as hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis. Increased blood flow throughout the body can occur in strenuous exercise or pregnancy. Generalised increased blood flowīlood that is flowing quickly makes more noise than blood that is flowing slowly. Anyone experiencing pulsatile tinnitus should seek assessment by a doctor. This is not an exhaustive list of causes. The change in blood flow can be caused by a variety of factors described below. These vessels are located in the large arteries and veins in the neck and base of the skull, or the smaller ones in the ear itself. Pulsatile tinnitus is caused by a change in blood flow in the vessels near the ear or to a change in awareness of that blood flow.

Hearing pulse in ear