A Female Whoosher: 80%

A Male Whoosher: 20%

Thanks for voting!  Please see this week's new Whooshers.com poll.  

Any of THESE sounds?

Or how about this one? 

Maybe there is a sound from this large collection that sounds like your whoosh? 

Finally, click on these to see if any match your whoosh.  

Clicking on the links above will open a new window to the Web site(s) that provides these sound files.  Many of these are sounds of heart murmurs... remember, just because your whoosh sounds like these doesn't mean you have a heart condition!  The aim here is to find an audible file that you can share with others, not to self-diagnose.  

IF YOU FIND A MATCH TO YOUR WHOOSH, PLEASE COMMENT BELOW!  It would really help your fellow whooshers, and we would love to hear from you.  Also, let your doctor AND your family and friends know because it could help them understand what you're hearing. 

Please don't despair if none of the sounds above matches your whoosh; everyone's whoosh is different, and that's why we're trying to find more.  If you find another audio file or collection of audio files with similar sounds that you think should be posted here, please email whooshers@gmail.com.

Sometimes:  36%

Often:  27%

Never:  27%

Other:  9%

Thank you for voting.  Please see this week's new poll!  

Since the development of Whooshers.com, I’ve been thinking about going back to the doctor. What is stopping me? The bills.

I’ve already had tests done. Hearing tests, brain scans, artery checks. That was years ago when the whooshing first started. I had a few of the tests repeated. And each time, the doctors looked at me and told me that nothing was wrong. And then promptly mailed me a bill for a few thousand dollars.

I don’t want to get into what is wrong with the American health care system (that’s a whole different post), but what bothers me the most is that I do have something seriously wrong with me, and I have no choice but to Live. With. It. I’m whooshing. All the time. For YEARS. Given, whatever is causing this may be benign, but I would like to determine the source. Except I don’t have the funds.

I do have medical insurance, but it doesn’t cover everything. And since I’ve moved into freelancing, I’m now faced with getting new insurance, which plops my ear whoosh into a “pre-existing condition.” Greeeat.

I know you understand. We whooshers face the daunting decision of just letting it go and whooshing forever or going into incredible debt trying to figure out a disorder that baffles the medical community. I’ve spent endless nights thinking I have a carotid artery that is about ready to BURST. I freak myself out and become convinced that I’m on the verge of a fatal aneurysm. I already suffer from anxiety disorder. The whooshing doesn’t help.

Since I’ve been living with my condition for years now, I’ve been able to curb my paranoia. If it was something horrifying, I would be dead by now. Right? This is what I tell myself to justify the fact that I’m not seeking medical treatment. (Well, and also? The doctors never know what is wrong with me.) But then I read scary articles about a whoosh that was a symptom of something much greater. My internal teeter-totter moves to the left. I decide to go to a doctor. Then I get a bill for the propane for my farmhouse. The teeter-totter moves to the right. I would like heat in my house this winter.

Basically, now I would only consider going to the doctor if:

A.) A magical benefactor appeared and said he/she would cover all my bills.

B.) A medical study on the whooshing appeared where I could get tested/treated for free.

C.) I end up in the hospital and the cause turns out to be the whooshing and they tell me without surgery I will drop dead in 24 hours or less.

It’s not a good feeling to live this way, folks. I know that at least this community understands how I feel. It’s horrible to realize you have to choose between searching for someone who can help you medically or buying groceries. It shouldn’t be this way, but it is.

But now, we are getting more attention. People who come to my blog are there because of Google searches for ear whooshing. Each week, roughly 80% of my key word searches are one form or another of the term. You are out there. We hear you—and your whoosh. Even if your friends and colleagues don’t.

To the bewildered:

Dear Friends of Whooshers,

If you don’t understand, try this experiment. Put on an iPod, but only put one ear bud in one ear. Turn on some music so that you can still hear someone talking to you a little. Just a little though. Make the song something super annoying, like a marching band that is practicing. Now go through a whole day like that. Try to hear what people are saying. Try to read a book. Try to work. And then perhaps you will understand what we are going through.

Love,

Blondie

To those who can help:

Dear Medical Community,

On behalf of the whooshers, I ask—no beg—that you look into this disorder. Please help us. It’s not tinnitus. We are not ringing. We are whooshing. And we are scared, frustrated, and worried. You have the power to help us. We ask that you dig deeper, and help us find a cure—or at least a cause that explains why people are whooshing all over the world.

Most Extremely Sincerely,

Blondie

(Click here to read Blondie's previous post, "Tips for Battling the Whoosh")

When looking online to investigate possible causes of pulsatile tinnitus, it's obvious that each case is different and that there are many possible causes of this very annoying condition.  Some pregnant women have reported experiencing a "whooshing" noise, like a heart beat or pulse sound in the ear, sometime during pregnancy, and sometimes even after child birth.

Pulsatile tinnitus is annoying and can be anxiety provoking no matter who it affects, but mothers-to-be who encounter the symptoms after they find out they're pregnant have unique concerns.

Whooshers.com would like to know, is pulsatile tinnitus common among pregnant women?

Are you a pregnant whoosher? If so, we'd love to hear from you, particularly regarding the type and timing of your symptoms and whether they subsided after your pregnancy.  Also if you have any tips for others about coping with the constant whooshing sound that would be great!  Feel free to write in the "Comments" section below or send an email to whooshers@gmail.com.

WhooshEr

my left ear: 54%

my right ear: 23%

both ears: 23%