It’s very common for people to experience tinnitus. Tinnitus can become so extreme that it becomes a burden to live with for around 20 million people worldwide. And there are also more common presentations of tinnitus which are much more mild and sporadic and are also easier to cope with.
When you hear noises in your ears that don’t have an outside source and nobody 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 often linked to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will immediately lead to the other.
As a matter of fact, there are a considerable variety of forms of tinnitus. And each one will require a different treatment approach.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? Well, it’s essential to mention that not all types of tinnitus are the same. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But it’s still essential to identify the cause in order to successfully manage the symptoms.
In some instances, 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 is not always caused by ear problems. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has gone wrong with the typical ways that your brain and ear interact. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that might not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be a result of concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. In some cases, neurological tinnitus might resolve as the brain heals. It might be permanent in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and doesn’t objectively exist and only you can hear it. This type of tinnitus includes many other forms of tinnitus as well. For example, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as many different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and more.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus does occur, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Most commonly, this means you’re dealing with something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your heartbeat or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be unusually loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many individuals, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This form of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most sensitive to movement of the head or neck areas.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one form of tinnitus simultaneously. For example, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to put together a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
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 your quality of life can be significantly impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are rather constant or keep coming back. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
After we identify the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can use. A few of these techniques can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less apparent. We may also utilize masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, although it can usually be successfully treated. We will work with you to create treatments that work for your symptoms. That way, you can more easily ignore the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.
