It’s really common for people to experience tinnitus. Something like 20 million people routinely suffer from chronic tinnitus so intense that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more prevalent presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and intermittent and are also easier to deal with.
When you hear noises in your ears that don’t have an external source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. It could manifest as a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears. Tinnitus is frequently associated with hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will immediately result in the other.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. Managing these varieties of tinnitus will call for different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it come from? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in a number of types and causes. The assorted causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But identifying the cause can be crucial to identifying the correct treatment approach.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. Hearing loss related to age can be another factor that can trigger tinnitus. The following are a few other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear problems. In some cases, the root cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are impaired by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has gone wrong with the normal ways that your brain and ear communicate. As a result, a phantom sound is heard which isn’t actually there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the underlying causes of tinnitus, as well as others. In some situations, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. It may be permanent 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. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. For instance, 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 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. Typically, 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 abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is relatively constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This type of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most sensitive to movement of the head or neck areas.
Most of these types of tinnitus aren’t generally mutually exclusive. For example, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting help with your tinnitus
You probably won’t have to take any specific action if your tinnitus symptoms are sporadic. But if your tinnitus hangs around or comes back frequently, it may have real and serious impacts on your day-to-day life. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
After we identify the root cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment methods we can use. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t usually 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 pushing your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily disregarded.