It’s really common for people to experience tinnitus. Around 20 million individuals routinely cope with chronic tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. This doesn’t even reference the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a huge impact on their quality of life.
Tinnitus happens when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody else can hear. It may manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is frequently accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. And each one will call for a different approach to treatment.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it come from? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in numerous types and causes. Regardless of the specific cause, the symptoms will be similar. But identifying the cause can be essential to identifying the proper treatment strategy.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. Hearing loss due to age can be another aspect that can trigger tinnitus. The following are a few other potential causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear problems. In some cases, the underlying cause lies within the brain. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or problems with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has broken down with the normal ways that your brain and ear communicate. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the underlying sources of tinnitus, as well as others. In some instances, neurological tinnitus might resolve as the brain heals. It may be irreversible in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and only you can hear it. This type 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 does happen, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an illustration of this type of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are frequently quite constant for many people coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Normally, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these forms of tinnitus aren’t generally mutually exclusive. For instance, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Finding tinnitus assistance
You probably won’t need to take any particular action if your tinnitus symptoms are intermittent. But if your tinnitus hangs around or returns frequently, it might have real and serious impacts on your everyday life. That’s when it’s particularly important to talk to a hearing specialist to get specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
After we identify the root cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment methods we can utilize. A few of these strategies can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less obvious. We may also use masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, although it can usually be successfully treated. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your specific situation. That way, you can more easily ignore the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.