If you’re thinking, ‘wait… people can hear their heartbeat??’, then it looks like you’re one of the fortunate ones, as it turns out that this phenomenon can actually be a sign of a pretty serious health issue.
Dr Ahmed Abd Elbary took to TikTok to shine a light on pulsatile tinnitus (TP), a condition in which patients hear an odd ‘whooshing’ or the ‘sound’ of their own heart beating in their ears.
Hearing ringing in your ear could mean something serious, according to an expert (Getty Stock Photo)
While the usual form of tinnitus – which, as the NHS state on their website, is when a person can hear noises that do not come from an outside source – is usually benign and not a sign of anything serious, the same cannot be said for PT.
Some people just brush PT off as an annoying sensation here and there, but it can become overwhelming and extremely uncomfortable for others, making it difficult to concentrate or sleep.
PT can also point to something more sinister going on.
Dr Ahmed explained how PT is typically a result of ‘changing blood flow in the small blood vessels inside your ear’ in the social media clip.
However, he warned that this could potentially indicate someone had an aneurysm – a dangerous bulging of a blood vessel that, in some cases, can be fatal.
“Sometimes, your blood flow can become more turbulent, and the most common causes for this are things like aneurysms and atherosclerosis – this is narrowing of the arteries,” the health expert explained.
PT sufferers can also get something called localised increased blood flow, the doctor added, which means a particular blood vessel has increased blood supply to it.
However, this means that it is caused by a tumour, and while tumours associated with PT ‘are benign’, according to the British doctor.
Explaining that this is down to something called ‘altered awareness’, it means that the blood flow hasn’t changed and that you are more aware of the PT.
Dr Ahmed went on to say that this is down to hearing loss, adding: “That’s because you become less aware of your surrounding noises and the pulse starting it has becomes more obvious to you.”
Dr Ahmed has urged people who experience symptoms to get it checked by a professional (TikTok/dra_says)
The doctor added that there are also other causes of the condition, but highlighted: “Most of the time it’s completely benign, and nothing to worry about,” but he did say that you should ‘definitely’ get it looked at by a professional.
Highlighting that it could be a cause for concern if it’s a new occurrence, he advised that it’s worse if you don’t get it checked out.
