Tinnitus is a really prevalent medical condition. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals worldwide. This doesn’t even reference the more common types of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a major impact on their quality of life.
When you hear noises in your ears that don’t have an external source and no one else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. This may be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Tinnitus is frequently associated with hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically result in the other.
In fact, there are a significant variety of forms of tinnitus. And each one will call for a different treatment approach.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? Well, it’s significant to note that not all types of tinnitus are the same. The assorted causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But it’s still essential to determine the cause in order to effectively manage the symptoms.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. Hearing loss related to age can be another aspect that can cause tinnitus. The following are a few other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are weakened by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has broken down with the normal ways that your brain and ear interact. As a result, a phantom sound is heard which isn’t really there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. In some instances, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. It might be irreversible in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and doesn’t objectively exist and no one else can hear it. This form of tinnitus includes many other types of tinnitus also. For example, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. There are a large number of sounds that can manifest with subjective tinnitus, including buzzing, ringing, screeching, roaring, thumping, and many others.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus isn’t quite as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still happens. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an illustration of this form of tinnitus. For people with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound typically seems louder than it should.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many individuals, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
Often, people will have more than one form of tinnitus simultaneously. For example, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. Identifying the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist choose the best tinnitus treatment options for your symptoms.
Finding tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you most likely don’t have to do anything about it. But if your tinnitus sticks around or comes back frequently, it could have real and serious impacts on your day-to-day life. That’s when it’s especially important to talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
After we identify the root cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can employ. Several therapies can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t typically be cured, but it can be effectively managed. We will work with you to create treatments that work for your symptoms. This will help you enjoy life again by moving your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily disregarded.
