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What Causes Ringing Sound In My Head?

Posted on Wed, 15 Apr 2015

Question: I have this ringing in my head for over a year. I had a catscan angigram order by my ear doctor. I've quit taking certain medications as my internal medicine doctor has suggested , but nothing helps and It is getting louder.

Answered by Dr. Urszula Stanko (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
In many cases the reason is never found.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

You can hear ringing in the ears (also called tinnitus) as:
1. the sound like a heartbeat. It can be caused by changing in the ear canal, ear muscle and vascular problems like hypertension.
2. No-pulsatile which can be caused by problems in the nerves.

However the most common cause of your symptoms is age-related hearing loss and other causes like: exposure to loud noise, earwax, medicines (which you have eliminated), carotid atherosclerosis, high blood pressure. Also thyroid disease and anemia.

Please note that there may not be a cure for tinnitus. Also it is very hard to find the reason so in many cases the cause of tinnitus is never found.

I would order for base line:
- Hearing exam
- Carotid artery ultrasound to detect stenosis of the artery.
- TSH and T4 levels to check your thyroid gland,
- Check your blood pressure.

Hope I have answered your question. If you have any further questions I will be happy to help

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Urszula Stanko (2 days later)

I have had a hearing exam. He found nothing wrong, ordered a Cat scan angagram. I have tsh and t4 levels check, I have taken Synthroid for many years. I take medication for high blood pressure and I have Polymyalgia Rheumatica which I am tapering down Prednisone and am done to 3 1mg pills a day. I also had an artery at my temple removed to check for GCA. My sed rate has been high, as I have inflammation in my body. It has come down the last time it was checked. Many times I have burning in my lower abdomen when I wake up in the morning. This ringing started sometime in February 2014. We have tried eliminating medicines and adding others but nothing helps. I also have been having very tired eyes. Twice in the past 7 years my hearing got bad, from a virus, which the ear doctor had to drain fluid out of the middle ear.

Answered by Dr. Urszula Stanko (13 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Need to wait for biopsy and CT scan results.

Detailed Answer:
Hello again,

Sorry for my late reply.

Symptoms you described (tired eyes, ringing, high sed rate and Polymialgia Rheumatica) can indicate temporal arteritis. Polymialgia is a related disorder so that's why your doctor ordered a biopsy of the artery and CT scan. For right now this is the most proper way to diagnose tinnitus.

Best regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T

Follow up: Dr. Urszula Stanko (3 hours later)

I already had the results from the CT scan and the biopsy from the artery, nothing was found, although the Dr. said just because the artery didn't show it was inflamed doesn't mean you don't have temporal arteritis. It's not a
100% test. I do have Dr. appointments coming up in April, I was just hoping you would be able to give me some help I would discuss with my Dr.s. They seem to be coming up with nothing.

Answered by Dr. Urszula Stanko (16 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Treatment may help.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Because you have done a lot of tests and the reason of your symptom was not found (in many cases the cause of tinnitus is never found) you should talk with your doctor about tinnitus treatment like:

1. Piracetam
In a prospective randomised clinical study on patients with tinnitus the therapeutic efficacy of Piracetam showed improvement in tinnitus amounted 27 dB.

2. Ginkgo extract and Pentoxifylline

3. Tinnitus Retraining Therapy which is the most effective method to remove tinnitus. It increases natural ability of the brain to filter it out on a subconscious level so that it does not reach conscious perception. The effectiveness of it is about 80%.

Best regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj