Surgeon reveals the reason you can ‘hear’ your heartbeat when you lie with your ear on your pillow… and when it might be sign of something sinister

Have you ever noticed a rhythmic thudding noise the moment your head hits the pillow?

Although many people hear this noise when lying on their side — it could be a warning sign of increased blood pressure or even a tumour in your head or neck, experts warn. 

Explaining the phenomena in a video on TikTok, US surgeon Dr Anthony Youn said: ‘If every once in a while you are lying on your side and you hear your heart beating, it’s most likely your carotid artery basically sitting against your pillow.’

The carotid arteries are one of the heart’s major blood vessels. It sits on either side of the neck and passes by the inside of the ears and are responsible for supplying blood to our head, face and neck. 

He told his 8.4 million followers: ‘If you are hearing your heart beating all the time when you are lying on your side or especially when you are standing up, then it could be pulsatile tinnitus.’ 

This is when a ‘rhythmical noise’ can be heard in either the head, ears or both regions which typically matches your heartbeat, according to Tinnitus UK.

Although he stresses the condition is usually benign, there can be some concerning causes of the condition and suggests seeing your doctor just to be sure.

That’s because the condition — which affects about 10 per cent of people with tinnitus — can be caused by high blood pressure, an abnormal tangle of blood vessels that causes problems with the connections between your arteries and veins, and even drinking too much caffeine, according to Dr Youn. 

It can be a sign that your blood is flowing quickly, as this makes more noise than slow blood flow. 

Tinnitus UK explains increased blood flow can occur in strenuous exercise or pregnancy, it can also happen if your thyroid gland is overactive, a condition known as hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis.

Hearing your own heartbeat can also be a sign of atherosclerosis — hardening of the arteries. 

This can cause the blood flow to become turbulent rather than smooth, as a result making it more noisy, the charity explains. 

Hearing loss from a perforated ear drum can also make someone more aware of the sounds inside their body.

But most alarmingly the type of tinnitus can be a warning sign of a tumour in your head or neck. 

That’s because these tumours can cause development of abnormal blood vessels.

However, most of the time the tumours associated with pulsatile tinnitus are not cancerous. 

Tinnitus is the name for hearing noises, such as ringing, buzzing or hissing, that are not caused by an outside source, according to the NHS. It affects 7.6 million people in the UK.

There are many different types of tinnitus and the volume can vary from one episode to the next.