Hi for the last couple of months I have experienced a rapid thumping sound in might right ear, like a very fast heart beat.
it only seems to happen at night and is driving me mad.
some nights it wakes me up At 3 or 4 in the morning.
i have been to my GP and he is arranging for me to visit ENT specialist at my local hospital and a head scan.
does anyone know what this could be?
It could be pulsatile tinnitus. Your ENT will determine what is causing it and help you manage your condition. If it only happens at night when you are lying flat, try sleeping with your head elevated.
Hi Monica, it can starts while sitting or standing, I quite often get it early evening while relaxing. But it has now started to wake me up at night.
hi andrew any luck in solving your hearing problems? Im having same thing i can hear my heart beat pounding sometimes its awful:-( i woke up one morning and was deaf in my right ear i went to ENT out patients and managed to see someone that day i had no infection or any wax in my ear it just happened sunddenly i had hearing tests and my hearing was down on my right side also the tested the sound waves and nothing was getting thru that was 4 weeks ago i was sent home to await appointment to see a consultant 16th august!!! Feels like forever to wait i telephoned yesterday and managed to get in today for more hearing tests and to see the consultant tomorrow its no better i feel completely deaf on one side apart from this thumping sound which is there all the time but night time is much worse i wondered if you had any joy in finding out what your problem was
Hi corinne, no I haven't after seeing the doctor I have just recently had an appointment come through for the ENT clinic for the 8th of October so I suppose I will just have to suffer till then. I have to say our dog gets better care than this.
Andrew
hi andrew yes i totally agree!! I went to ent 4 weeks ago and my appointment arrived for the 16th august which is actually quicker then you received but i pestered them last week and asked for any cancellations which luckily i got im going today for hearing tests and see the consultant tomorrow maybe you should try asking for any appointments that are cancelledand to put you in for them i totally understand how you feel its frustrating and depressing keep on at them thats far too long to wait
I have the same problem in my left ear. It's a loud thumping sound It comes and goes, but the last week or so it has become everyday and all day. Like you both it wakes me up at night also. I went to a ent and I didn't get to see him yet. His nurse checked my hearing and for fluid and wax. She said no problem with my ears. She said I do not need a ear doctor that I should see my family doctor...it is driving me crazy. Have you found anything out, or how to control it?
Thank God I'm not going crazy. I, too, have this condition in my left ear. It only thumps at night but if I close the ear opening with the palm of my hand or a finger, it stops. I am currently waiting for my doctor to get me an ENT referral. This has been occurring for a month now but two weeks ago the ear started popping like their is fluid behind the drum. I found putting an earplug in the ear allows me to sleep at night.
Lizzy - did you find out what is causing it? I have the exact same thing going on. It starts around 9pm in the evening. It couldn't be my heartrate as it is very fast, very slow or very irregular & if I cover with my hand or put a plug in it stops.
Not as of yet. I have an appointment with an ENT November 11th. However, I am believe there is fluid in my inner ear that is tied to it. On occasion I hear popping noises and feels like swimmers ear but on the inside of the ear drum. I will post findings after my visit.
Hi ANdrew, Any results? It just started for me this thumping..
Hi Lizzy, Did you get some information from the ENT? It just started for me this thumping..or pumping in my right ear. it comes and goes.
jaco64856 & dharris214
The ENT was a new doctor for me and didn't seem very concerned about the thumping and stated it could be a muscle inside my ear. He had his audiologist do a hearing test and although I have a slight hearing loss (he did not state which ear) it seems his main concern was wanting me to get a
sleep apnea study and hearing aid testing. My hearing may not be as good as it was at age 30 but I can still hear the damn good and have not been
back to see him. *Side note: A week before seeing the ENT, I started taking
magnesium tablets for leg cramps. In continued research on the inner ear
muscle, I happened upon this last night at another medical form....
itguysf replied to itguysf's response:
Update 3/4: Well the eustachian tube blockage was a false alarm as the primary trigger. In the end, it appears that stress and anxiety are the main factors. Had ears/hearing checked out and all is totally normal. What I did come across not mentioned by anyone before is the possibility of a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is critical for proper nerve and muscle function amongst many other things. Stress and anxiety leads to increased magnesium depletion in the body. It wasn't until supplementing my diet with daily magnesium that the spasms started to diminish in frequency and duration, along with muscle spasms in other parts of my body. While it is not exactly known what started all this and why the right ear, properly dealing with stress/anxiety and ensuring adequate magnesium intake seems to be
the best way to address the problem. Drugs for anxiety and sleeping are a short term help. Nice to know that in extreme cases, surgery for cutting the tensor tympani muscle (if that's the culprit) is always a viable option."
*Side note: I have not had the thumping in my left ear since I've been taking magnesium on a daily basis.
Thanks Lizzy, this sounds less worrying to me. I will see how it goes with more magnesium supplements. I'm not a big doctor fan and not the taking medication for stress type. I will be doing whatever to get the stress down and the magnesium up... 
Thanks again for the quick reply. and will leave a comment here when it goes away
Please do let me know how it turns out for you. It took about 2-3 weeks before I noticed the leg cramps had stopped and really didn't pay any attention to the ear thumping. I only realized it had stopped a couple of days before my ENT appointment. I am thankful I found the forum post by that guy and his mention of the lack of magnesium. I look forward to hearing from you.
The ENT was a new doctor for me and didn't seem very concerned about the thumping and stated it could be a muscle inside my ear. He had his audiologist do a hearing test and although I have a slight hearing loss (he did not state which ear) it seems his main concern was wanting me to get a
sleep apnea study and hearing aid testing. My hearing may not be as good as it was at age 30 but I can still hear the damn good and have not been back to see him. *Side note: A week before seeing the ENT, I started taking magnesium tablets for leg cramps. In continued research on the inner ear muscle, I happened upon this last night at another medical form....
"itguysf replied to itguysf's response:
Update 3/4: Well the eustachian tube blockage was a false alarm as the primary trigger. In the end, it appears that stress and anxiety are the main factors. Had ears/hearing checked out and all is totally normal. What I did come across not mentioned by anyone before is the possibility of a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is critical for proper nerve and muscle function amongst many other things. Stress and anxiety leads to increased magnesium depletion in the body. It wasn't until supplementing my diet with daily magnesium that the spasms started to diminish in frequency and duration, along with muscle spasms in other parts of my body. While it is not exactly known what started all this and why the right ear, properly dealing with stress/anxiety and ensuring adequate magnesium intake seems to be the best way to address the problem. Drugs for anxiety and sleeping are a short term help. Nice to know that in extreme cases, surgery for cutting the tensor tympani muscle (if that's the culprit) is always a viable option."*Side note: I have not had the thumping in my left ear since I've been taking magnesium on a daily basis.
*Side note: It took about 2-3 weeks for the magnesium to stop the thumping but I've been thump-free for weeks now. I believe this guy hit on cause.
The ENT was a new doctor for me and didn't seem very concerned about the thumping and stated it could be a muscle inside my ear. He had his audiologist do a hearing test and although I have a slight hearing loss (he did not state which ear) it seems his main concern was wanting me to get a
sleep apnea study and hearing aid testing. My hearing may not be as good as it was at age 30 but I can still hear the damn good and have not been back to see him. *Side note: A week before seeing the ENT, I started taking magnesium tablets for leg cramps. In continued research on the inner ear muscle, I happened upon this last night at another medical form....
"itguysf replied to itguysf's response:
Update 3/4: Well the eustachian tube blockage was a false alarm as the primary trigger. In the end, it appears that stress and anxiety are the main factors. Had ears/hearing checked out and all is totally normal. What I did come across not mentioned by anyone before is the possibility of a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium is critical for proper nerve and muscle function amongst many other things. Stress and anxiety leads to increased magnesium depletion in the body. It wasn't until supplementing my diet with daily magnesium that the spasms started to diminish in frequency and duration, along with muscle spasms in other parts of my body. While it is not exactly known what started all this and why the right ear, properly dealing with stress/anxiety and ensuring adequate magnesium intake seems to be the best way to address the problem. Drugs for anxiety and sleeping are a short term help. Nice to know that in extreme cases, surgery for cutting the tensor tympani muscle (if that's the culprit) is always a viable option."*Side note: I have not had the thumping in my left ear since I've been taking magnesium on a daily basis.
*Side note: It took about 2-3 weeks for the magnesium to stop the thumping but I've been thump-free for weeks now. I believe this guy hit on cause.
Hi Lizzy,
It's now 4 hours later and I took 2 tablets(400mg in total) so far of Magnesium Citrate(High Potency highly Absorbable) and the thumping in my ear is gone, for the rest of my mussle stiffness and cramps it's not gone yet, but I know from taking magnesium previously it will go away. I didnt make the connection between the ear thing and my mussles(and stress) until it was brought up in this forum. Thanks
Hepps...Im just glad the thumping is away
Thank goodness im NOT the only one going through this!!! Ive talked to my doctor over here (USA) and they have no clue what im talking about... Its driving me crazy. I cant sleep. It happens all the time. Its doing it right now and im about to go crazy. Its been this way for almost a year and its only getting worse. I also have TMJ and wonder if the two are somehow connected...
If your thumping sounds like a heartbeat or whooshing sound it could be evidence of a middle ear infection. I had these sounds driving me mad for over a month preventing me sleeping. I actually went out and made a will I felt so low. Then one morning I awoke with blood on my pillow. I rushed to A&E where they found I had a perforated eardrum. That was about 2 months ago. I still have the thumping sound off and on. It is worse when you cannot sleep. However I have found a glass or two of wine helps. I will go to A&E again next week. I'm pretty sure I still have the ear infection as I feel a heaviness/dullness and sometimes at night I can sense the movement of fluid in the ear. The next step may be to drain the ear or test the fluid for pathogens.Good luck