Most of us have experienced this bizarre situation at least once. After a long day, you just hopped into bed and tucked yourself nicely in your warm blanket, but before you could drift off to sleep, you noticed a strange sound. Turns out, you are hearing your own heartbeat? While occasionally hearing your pulse while lying on your side can be normal, if you’re someone experiencing it too often, it could be an underlying sign of a chronic hearing condition.
Dr. Anthony Youn, a Detroit-based physician, explained this phenomenon in his latest TikTok video. The doctor, who is well-known for multiple viral health-related videos on the platform, compared it to the bass being turned out “too loud” in your pillow.
He noted, “If, every once in a while, you’re lying on your side and you hear your heart beating, it’s most likely your carotid artery basically sitting against your pillow.” However, “If you’re hearing your heart beating all the time when you’re lying on your side, or especially when you’re standing up, then it could be pulsatile tinnitus,” Dr. Youn added.
According to the NHS, this condition is a variation of tinnitus, which describes an illness where there is a perception of sound even when there’s no real source of it. While tinnitus generally causes irritating and constant buzzing or ringing noise, this particular condition is a bit different.
According to the doctor, someone with pulsatile tinnitus may experience a rhythmical sound that is heard and the ears in the form of a heartbeat. A patient who has been suffering from pulsatile tinnitus described the sound they hear as a “washing machine in a spin cycle and a vaccum,” according to the New York Post.
Do you hear your heartbeat on the pillow?
Pulsatile Tinnitus Overview:
Affects 3-5 million Americans and is characterized by hearing a rhythmic sound synchronized with the heartbeat, often noticeable while resting.
Symptoms: Includes sleep difficulties and constant… pic.twitter.com/7bx2dLoOyv
— Kevin Rutherford / Let’s Truck 🇺🇸 (@lets_truck) February 18, 2025
Under Dr. Youn’s post, various people have shared their own experiences of dealing with the condition. One user wrote, “Sooo I’ve been jamming out to this my whole life…it’s not just me!!” Another added, “I had this for a few months. Thought my life was over because it was soooo annoying! Couldn’t sit in silence. It went away on its own.”
Although pulsatile tinnitus may not be an extremely serious condition, NHS suggests you should seek professional help if you are experiencing the symptoms. It is usually treatable with tests and treatments.
However, it is to be noted that if you are hearing your own pulse while lying on your side, it doesn’t always mean that you are suffering from pulsatile tinnitus. Various other conditions can lead to hearing your heartbeat in your pillow, including a blockage in the ear, high blood pressure, benign head or neck tumors, and narrowed veins or arteries.
In addition, conditions like anaemia and pregnancy, which naturally affect the heart, could also lead to this strange phenomenon.
For a better assessment, it is always good to check with your doctor.
