Ringing Ears

[AlbertaSaddler]

Before anyone calls me crazy (which wouldn't be the first time :) ) there are two other people who can back this up!

My mare's ears ring. When you put your ear next to her's, especially her left, you can hear it ringing. Or at least I can-and two other people I know of.

It sounds like the ringing in your ears after a concert, only I can hear it emitting from her. Very weird, I know!

I discovered this on my own last summer while clipping her for a show. I had turned off my clippers and was cleaning out the hair when I thought I heard something. As I got closer, I realized her ears were making a ringing/buzzing sound. Thought it was strange, but maybe some effect of the clippers. Couple days later, just randomly I listened again. Still there! Always is. Only this weekend did her previous trainer mention this at a clinic. Everyone had their turn listening only one other person heard it, but her ears are hairy right now and it's harder to hear.

She doesn't have any ears problems we know of. You can mess with her ears, clip them, play with them, no problems. No head shaking or any other clues to an ear problem.

Anyone ever heard of, or experienced this before? I imagine some of you may go and try to listen to you're horses ears, believe me, I did to every horse on the farm!

Any thoughts on what this may be? I'm not worried about it, just curious. It's the joke around the barn now that I'm the "Horse Listener" lol :tongue_smilie:

[Samigator]

oh wow, that is rather strange- I've never heard that before, but I know it exists (but is quite rare). I feel sorry for your mare! What an awful thing to deal with constantly. Does she hear okay (as far as you can tell)? How old is your mare?

Here is an excerpt I found from AAFP about objective tinnitus in humans, I would imagine much of it would be true of equine sufferers:

Objective tinnitus is rare. Patients with objective tinnitus typically have a vascular abnormality, neurologic disease, or eustachian tube dysfunction.4

Patients with vascular abnormalities complain of pulsatile tinnitus. Arterial bruits may be transmitted to the ear from arterial vessels near the temporal bone. The petrous carotid system is the most common source.2 Patients experience worsening of symptoms at night and usually do not have other otologic complaints. Venous hums may be heard in patients with hypertension or abnormally high placement of the jugular bulb. This type of tinnitus is a soft, low-pitched venous hum, which can be altered by head position, activity, or pressure over the jugular vein.4

Congenital arteriovenous shunts are usually asymptomatic, while the acquired type often are associated with pulsatile tinnitus. Common causes are head trauma or surgery. Glomus tumor is a vascular neoplasm arising from the paraganglia around the carotid bifurcation, the jugular bulb, or the tympanic arteries. These tumors usually cause a loud pulsating tinnitus.20

Neurologic disorders that cause objective tinnitus include palatomyoclonus (repetitive rapid contractions of soft palate muscles) and idiopathic stapedial muscle spasm.4 Often, these spasms are associated with other neurologic disorders such as brain-stem tumor, infarction, or multiple sclerosis.

Patulous eustachian tubes may cause tinnitus. Patients may hear blowing sounds within the ear coincident with breathing. This disorder commonly develops after significant weight loss. Patients also may complain of an abnormal awareness of their own voice (autophony). The symptoms may disappear with Valsalva's maneuver or when the patient lies down with the head in a dependent position.

[vlayne]

I thought tinnitus was when you heard your OWN ears ringing. AFAIK you shouldn't be able to hear someone ELSE's ears ring.

Weird!

[ccarterdvm]

No, you are not crazy. As a veterinarian, I had one dog patient with the same condition. It is called tinnitus in animals as well. It persisted for quite a while. Now it comes and goes. The dog has never shown any problems with this condition. The owner called in saying "I swear I am not crazy!". We took her concerns seriously and several of my staff & I heard it.

[vlayne]

Wow! I never knew it was audible to others! Is that what tinnitus is, a ringing that the "ear owner" can't hear but others can? How crazy!!!

[Samigator]

Wow! I never knew it was audible to others! Is that what tinnitus is, a ringing that the "ear owner" can't hear but others can? How crazy!!!

tinnitus is "ringing in the ears." The term itself doesn't specify who hears it, but usually it is subjective tinnitus, meaning only the person who is affected can hear it. Objective tinnitus means that others can hear the ringing as well. I have never heard objective tinnitus out of somebody else's ears, but of course I've heard it in my own ears. It is usually due to damage of the little hair cells in the ears (ie after a concert, medications, etc). But apparently objective tinnitus is due to many other causes. Albertasaddler, you'll have to try to listen for some of the things it talks about in that excerpt- does the sound pulsate, does it decrease when she lowers her head to graze, etc?

Tinnitus can be very debilitating, but the challenge is figuring out the cause- there are millions of things that can cause it, and with an animal that becomes very difficult to differentiate.

[SmartAlex]

This is cracking me up. I'm going to go listen to my horses' ears like seashells and see if I can hear the ocean... or any thoughts processing!

I know tinitus is real though. My husband has it.

[AlbertaSaddler]

Good to hear that I'm not as crazy as I thought! lol. She's 13 this year, and as far as I can tell it doesn't seem to bother her. She answer's to her name even when I'm only talking in my normal voice, and responds to my voice commands when showing. I don't have to be any louder for her to hear. It's just really weird that I can hear it.

I literally sounds like the ringing in your ears after a loud concert. It's that way all time. Head up, head down.

The wind is the only thing that bothers her. It bothers most horses when they are in it, but even just the sound of it around the barn makes her stupid and silly. She doesn't get worked that day! So maybe that is something that she can't take.

I'd heard of tinnitus before, just thought it was only when you could hear it, not outside listener's being able to hear it too.