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DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR?
Anyone with tinnitus, whether it's pulsatile or non-pulsatile, can relate to the frustration of hearing a sound that others can't. It's enough to make anyone crazy sometimes. And no matter how you try to explain the sound to others, there's simply no way for anyone to understand unless they get in your head. I have objective pulsatile tinnitus, which is rare. My doctors can hear my pulsatile tinnitus with a stethoscope. If your doctors can't hear your whoosh, then you have subjective pulsatile tinnitus. There's an older Whooshers.com post about objective vs subjective pulsatile tinnitus here. That my doctors can hear mine doesn't really mean they can truly empathize with the constant whooshing I hear or the energy (brain power) it takes to ignore it on a second-to-second basis. This kind of understanding is important as we try to cope and find answers. If you suffer from subjective pulsatile tinnitus -- or if you have objective pulsatile tinnitus but you'd like family members and friends to understand what your pulsatile tinnitus sounds like -- you might be able to find an audio file that sounds similar to your whoosh and play it for others to hear. In 2009, I found a bunch of links to audio files of different heartbeat-like sounds: No, these aren't official whooshes or real "pulsatile tinnitus" sounds... some are heart murmurs, venous
hums, bruits, and others are electronically simulated sounds. In other words, I'm just suggesting
that the sounds may mimic what we hear, not that because I hear a whoosh that sounds like a heart murmur (for example) that
that means my whoosh is an indication of a heart condition. Only our doctors can truly determine
a cause. I just thought, hey, my whoosh sounds like a heartbeat without the thump. So I did
some online searching for "heartbeat sounds." They were SHOCKED, I tell you! I thought I'd been describing the sound well, but there's no replacement for actually hearing the sound. After hearing just a brief 30-seconds of whooshing via my computer, they had a whole new appreciation for what I was dealing with. They said, you hear THAT? ALL THE TIME????? If you haven't already, I encourage you to listen to these files. There are many! See if you can find a whoosh that sounds like yours. When you do, adjust the volume so it sounds as loud as your whoosh, and play it for others. Here's another great tip from one of our Facebook group members: try talking to people while they listen to the whooshing sound, too, so they may better understand how distracting the whoosh is! Another good idea is to download it to a device that you can take with you to your doctor's office. Some aspect of the sound (pitch, volume, etc.) may provide a hint as to the cause of your whoosh. You never know. At the very least, it may increase the compassion you receive at the doctor's office when you walk in and tell them you hear a noise. If you don't find a file above that sounds like your pulsatile tinnitus, do an online search for the sound you hear (for example, buzz, buzz, buzz or chirp, chirp chirp) to try to find some audio that sounds like what you hear. If you have trouble finding one like yours, I'd be happy to help you look! Chances are, someone else is just like you and can't identify theirs either. And if you do find a file that sounds like yours here or elsewhere, please leave a comment and/or link below in the "Comments" section, so we can compare our whooshes. They come in many varieties, apparently! And if you find another file or set of files that you think I should add to my list for other whooshers, please send me an email to whooshers@gmail.com to let me know.Finding an audio file to play for my loved ones helped me relay what I'm going through. It helped people I know understand --even for just 30 seconds or a minute-- what my pulsatile tinnitus sounds like and why I spend so much energy trying to ignore it and get rid of it. If only I could turn off or pause the audio file in my head!! WhooshEr HAVE YOU FOUND AN AUDIO FILE THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR WHOOSH? LET US
KNOW!!
COMMENTS: In frequency, it's below
12,000 hz but not by much http://jetcityorange.com/dog-whistle/dog-whistle-0.mp3 It's a constant shush, shush, shush, shush. The rate of the shushing depends on my heart rate. I used to get EXTREMELY upset by the pulsating shushing sound. It was like someone screaming in a high pitched voice in my ear constantly. I've been trying to train myself to perceive this sound as MY BODY, whenever I notice it. And if I wake up during the night and I hear it, I know if I breathe more slowly and stay very very calm, my heart rate will slow down, and I can fall back asleep. However, I've taken lately to playing constant white noise on an mp3 player next to the bed. Four different mp3 files. Waves + "jet" + a dishwasher. I downloaded them from here: https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~dattorro/Tin/tin.html. It's so difficult to fall asleep in a quiet room. The effort it requires to do so doesn't let my brain relax enough to fall asleep. A bit of a paradox... I can't hear the 12,000 hz mp3 sound in my ear having the pulsatile tinnitus. I don't know if it's because the tinnitus is drowning it out, or due to damaged hearing. I can hear it in the non-pulsatile ear. I think I have steady pitched tinnitus in both ears, but this shushing noise is so loud and distracting, I can't really separate those out for certain. 4 Feb 12 @ 8:53PM My
whoosh sounds like...a bug zapper--a ping like an static electrical arc followed by a high pitched short sissss---in one ear---mri
fine, ---increasingly coming in flurries---some several seconds---frightened ----ent hadn't heard these sympton--sending me
to specialisst--called their nurse--hadn't heard symptom before. 3 Feb 12 @ 8:29PM
My whoosh sounds like... Pulmonic stenosis. 28
Jan 12 @ 12:02 AM My whoosh sounds like... A pigeon cooing! Then it changes pitch and can be higher.
I have had a grommet fitted and it started about a year after that. :( 28 Nov 11 @
6:36 PM My whoosh sounds almost like atrial septal defect. 11
Sep 11 @ 11:21 PM My whoosh sounds like Aortic stenosis. It's late and it's driving me insane. 23
Aug 11 @ 4:50 PM My whoosh sounds like bubbles that go to the tune of my heartbeat. My boyfriend can hear them if he lays his
ear to mine... It's constant but worse at night. I'm going insane!! Great website, I'm pleased I'm not the only one with this. 11 Aug 11 @ 9:58 AM My whoosh sounds like a fetal
heartbeat, constant for the last 3.5 years. Getting louder, wakes me up and only stops if I press the vein/artery in my neck.
Awaiting results of MRI scan. Thank god I'm not the only person experiencing this. Drs look at me as if I'm a crazy lady. 1 Aug 11 @ 11:29 AM My whoosh
sounds like... drumming/pulsing. I've had it for about 10 months. Sometimes drives me mad. Had MRI and nothing
found, blood tests, etc. Next going to see neurologist, but had previously been told by two specialists to live with it and
no more tests needed. Have reduced hearing in the ear I hear it in. Very distressing! 21
Jul 11 @ 12:58 PM My whoosh sounds like...Pulmonary
Stenosis, just a touch faster. Had MRI MRV MRA recently, only thing found was increased blood flow through dominant Sigmoid
Sinus Vein. Live with it! Try a physio for the headaches! Mmn...Family history of fatal aneurysm, no aneurysm found on tests.
Now what! :( 8 Jun 11 @ 8:03 PM My whoosh
sounds like...ar.mp3 under "Link 4" 18 May 11 @ 8:19 PM My whoosh sounds like...Ventricular septal defect. 23 Apr 11 @ 12:58 PM
My whoosh sounds like...VSD except mine is higher pitched. My ear sound sounds like a white noise with a hearty rhythmic pulsing in it. If I depress my artery, the pulsing
stops, but not the white noise. I have a 40% hearing loss in both ears and have been diagnosed with subjective/hearing loss
tinnitus. The pulsing varies in level a lot, and on the occasion I was with a specialist it was low and they could not hear
it. But when it is elevated it seems pretty loud to me. I would like to figure out what it is. The intermittent pulsing seems
to be a strange symptom. I am not hypertensive, have had a number of tests -tumors, stenosis, etc. 6 Apr 11 @ 5:19 PM Wow... I can't believe it. It
is like I have found a support group! I am loving it. Thank you so much for this site! I listened to audio clip after audio
clip. The one that sounds the closest to mine is the VBS clip off of link #2. 16 Mar 11
@ 9:06 PM The closest one I experience is patent ducutus arteriosus, which can be heard at http://filer.case.edu/~dck3/heart/sounds/pda.wav 25 Jan 11 @ 11:37 AM My whoosh sounds like VSD but more whooshy. Would agree with the person who described as it as the noise heard
on a fetal heart monitor. I have had it for 5 weeks and very sad to keep reading on the web that I will have to live with
it. I was hoping for a cure as it is driving me mental! Awaiting appointment from a specialist in the next fortnight so fingers
crossed! **NOTE: Thanks for leaving your comment!
Keep in mind that you may not have to "live with it." Making an appointment with a specialist was a good idea.
Pulsatile tinnitus is distinguishable from the regular, more common form of tinnitus for which there is no cure. There
are many cases of pulsatile tinnitus sufferers whose causes were identified and fixed. See the "Cured Whooshers"
page for links to some of them. Good luck. -WhooshEr 19 Jan 11 @ 10:39 AM My
whoosh sounded most like the VSD, but it was a little bit less of a hard sound and more of a whoosh. 18 Jan 11 @ 7:51 PM I
just took a listen and I would describe mine like a VSD too. I've always described it as the same sound you hear when you
place a doppler probe over an artery. 14 Dec 10 @ 6:04 AM Mine sounds like VS Defect test sound. 30 Nov 10 @ 3:51 PM Hi. I have had Pulsatile Tinnitus (whoosing sound) for about a year now. Previous to this, I had regular tinnitus (more of a buzzing/ringing sound) off and on for about 7 years. However, the regular tinnitus was intermittent and the pulsatile tinnitus is constant (24 hours a day, 7 days a week). My family physician told me I could see a specialist and take a battery of test, however he didn't think it was anything to worry about..that there was no cure...and try to live with it. I have gotten somewhat used to it, but it is very annoying, especially at night. I may try and see a specialist in December and go for the battery of tests. I am over 50 years old and live in Chicago, Illinois. I was happy to stumble upon this site. I guess misery loves company. 30 Nov 10 @ 1:56 PM I've been suffering with this nearly a year now. It's always reminded me of the sound I heard when the doctor would check fetal heart tones when I was pregnant. Your sound links here to all the heart sounds make me even more certain and will give me the language to describe it. I've thought for a while that I have subclinical hypothyroidism but can't seem to get anyone to agree with me; this is yet one more symptom, though I know it can be many other things as well. Thank you for your site - I definitely have a whoosh and not a ringing, so it's good to have a name for it. 8 Nov 10 @ 8:55 PM Mine is like PDA. 10 Oct 10 @ 1:18 PM I could not find mine. I will describe mine as a metalic sound. 19 Sep 10 @ 2:21 AM My swoosh is a SWOOOOOSH. No double-beat at all, and I interpret this as the sound of my blood wooshing through the blood vessel, but sort-of without the actual heart beat. Very quiet (as yet) 21 Jan 10 @ 6:07 PM
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