Tinnitus is an incredibly common medical condition. Tinnitus can become so extreme 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 huge impact on their quality of life.
Tinnitus occurs when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. This may be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Tinnitus is often related to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will immediately lead to the other.
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?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? Well, it’s important to mention that not all kinds of tinnitus are the same. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still crucial to identify the cause in order to successfully treat the symptoms.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. In other instances, tinnitus might result from age-related hearing loss. The following are some other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear problems. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are impaired by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some cases, 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 has no external source and no one else can hear it. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. Neurological tinnitus, for example, is frequently also subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can manifest as lots of different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and others.
- Objective tinnitus: When the sound you’re hearing in your ears is an actual, verifiable sound, it’s known as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus does occur, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an example of this form of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be unusually 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 type of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
Often, people will have more than one form of tinnitus at the same time. You might have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for example. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
Getting assistance with your tinnitus
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you probably don’t have to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are fairly constant or keep coming back. That’s when it’s particularly important to talk to a hearing specialist to get specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
We have a few different tinnitus management strategies we might try depending on the root cause of your symptoms. A few of these techniques can minimize the intensity of your symptoms making them less evident. Other treatment solutions can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Tinnitus can’t generally be cured, but it can be effectively managed. We will help you customize 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.