Hello whooshers,

I wanted to share my journey and pose some questions if anyone had any insight or have had any similar experiences.

I’m 34/F, 110lbs fairly active and healthy, with no concerning physical ailments. I do have depression and anxiety that I am medicated for.

Six months ago, I got my ear wax removed at urgent care since it was building pressure in my ear and blocking it. Post-that, I started to hear pulsing in my left ear. I assumed there was more wax left, and started to use Debrox as well as warm water treatments every month to clear any wax and see if that made a difference. It did not and the pulsing got worse.

I headed to an ENT. My audio gram showed no sign of hearing loss. The ENT examined my ear and asked a few questions about any injuries or sudden trauma (none), and proceeded to press on my jugular to see if the sound stopped. It did, and thanks to this sub, I already was aware of this “trick”. It was just good to be validated by the ENT.

Fast forward to a CT scan, and indication of temporal bone thinning. ENT recommend surgery to rebuild the bone and says that will stop the pulsing. My next stop is an otolaryngology surgeon for a consult.

My question is—why did my bone thin? Isn’t this more important to figure out to stop it from repeating? Is this genetic or a progressive pressure issue with my vein? I do plan to bring this up to the surgeon but wanted to see if anyone had an insight? I’m concerned the bone cement is a bandaid.

Thank you for any advice—