Another Pulsatile Tinnitus Patient Cured: Iatrogenic Pneumocephalus Fixed by Mastoidectomy
This is an abstract (a summary) of a longer medical journal article to review with our doctors. The patient was a 48-year
old woman with roaring pulsatile tinnitus that was described as "very disturbing." Once the underlying cause
of her pulsatile tinnitus (Iatrogenic Pneumocephalus) was identified, a procedure called a mastoidectomy was performed and
the pulsatile tinnitus disappeared. The underlying cause gradually did, too.
Previously, I posted another link to an article about a pulsatile tinnitus patient who was also cured by a mastoidectomy,
for a different cause: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15453531
iStethoscope Pro: An iPhone App Alternative to the Stethoscope
Check out this cool invention by Dr. Peter J. Bentley.
Inquiring pulsatile tinnitus minds want to know: If
it works so well on the chest, WILL IT WORK ON OUR HEADS? May this app help our doctors hear and LISTEN TO our whooshes?
UPDATE
and TIPS: Here are some tips for whooshers who would like to try listening to their whooshes using this app,
from the inventor, Peter J. Bentley. PLEASE don't put your iPhone in water because it will destroy it. Please
let us know if you can hear your whoosh!
"...experience shows that the best results would come from a 3G
iphone, good quality headphones, and "Clear Sound" mode; you may also need to modify the audio filters to remove
background noise and pick out the sound you're looking for. The biggest problem is placing the device so that the microphone
is in exactly the right place. I'm no expert on tinnitus so I'd suggest you consult the journals for that information. However
if a stethoscope can pick up the sound, then the app on an iphone should be able to as well.
...I would recommend you
find a pair of super-good quality headphones so you can hear every possible frequency. The app continuously records the last
8 seconds so if you find the sweet spot, wait 8 seconds then touch the stethoscope or give the device a shake and it will
play it back, and allow you to email the sound.
...If the noise is a deep or low sound then you may be better off using
the Heartbeat pure mode. You may find increasing the amplification is necessary (i.e. go to Settings, IStethPro, heartbeat
pure, and increase the value for the amplification to 1.0 or slightly more). You could also try reducing the low pass filter
(so you cut out more high frequencies) by changing the Alpha value to 125.
Some doctors say they get great sound
by putting the device inside a cup; others stretch tape or a surgical glove over the device or the spot on the body. The trick
to reduce noise is to compress movable surfaces/objects such as hair with something that conducts sound well; for example
wet hair and sandwich wrap might help, as daft as it sounds - water conducts sound very well. Don't give yourself a cold trying
though. Indeed, if I were to try to construct a device specifically for your condition I'd probably try a floatation tank
(sensory depravation tank) and ultra sensitive underwater microphones - hydrophones - placed around the head."
Thanks for voting! Please participate in the latest Whooshers.com poll on the right side of
this page... this great question was proposed by a fellow whoosher. And be sure to see this poll and all past poll questions
and results on our Poll Results page.
P.S. If you have an idea for a future Whooshers.com poll question, please write whooshers@gmail.com. Thanks!
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 post about objective
vs subjective pulsatile tinnitus here.
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. 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.
BUT you might be able to find an audio file that sounds similar
to your whoosh that you can play for others to hear. Like I did.
Last year, 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 are
alike, not that because I hear a whoosh that sounds like a hear 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."
I listened
to as many as I could find, and I finally found one that sounded very much like mine. Mine sounds most like "ventricular
septal defect" in Link #1. I played that audio file for my family and friends on my computer, even adjusting the
volume to coincide with the volume of my whoosh in the room.
They were SHOCKED, I tell you! Here,
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 were like, 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. You may even play it for your doctor, since the pitch may be
able to provide a hint as to the cause of your whoosh. You never know.
If your whoosh sounds less like a
heartbeat and more like crickets or creaking or something else, see if you can run an online search to find some audio that
sounds like what you hear. Type the description of the sounds into a search engine and see if you can find an audio
file that way. If you have trouble finding one like yours, I'd be happy to help!
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. Soon I hope to compile all the links to files in a section of their own on this site.
Finding
an audio file to play for my loved ones helped me relate to others what I'm going through. It also helped people I know
understand --even for just 30 seconds or a minute-- what I'm hearing. Sometimes when I'm bored, I search some more to
see if I can find one that sounds even more like my whoosh!
If only I could turn off or pause the audio file
in my head!!
The very first Whooshers, Unite! event was a success. How nice it was to meet other Whooshers this past Saturday in New York! Stay tuned for info about similar get-togethers in the works for San Jose, California,
Orlando, Florida, and the UK! Yep, there are whooshers everywhere. You're not alone.
If you'd like
to help organize a Whooshers event in your area, please email me at whooshers@gmail.com.
