Tinnitus is an exceptionally common medical condition. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for around 20 million people worldwide. This does not 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 happens when you hear a phantom sound, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. It may manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is frequently associated with tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
In fact, there are a substantial variety of forms of tinnitus. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? 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 distinguishing the cause can be crucial to identifying the correct treatment approach.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the outcome of a neurological issue, like a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss due to age can be another factor that can trigger tinnitus. The following are some other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear problems. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. If your baseline neurological functions are damaged by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t functioning properly. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t actually there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some cases, neurological tinnitus might go away as the brain heals. It may be irreversible in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is quite common, hearing specialists will refer to your condition as a subjective tinnitus. Lots of other types of tinnitus also fall into this category. Neurological tinnitus, for example, is frequently also subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as lots of different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and more.
- Objective tinnitus: When the sound you’re hearing in your ears is a real, verifiable sound, it’s known as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus does happen, though it’s not as common as subjective forms. 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 often quite constant for many individuals coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This form of tinnitus becomes more severe when you move around. Normally, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Most of these types of tinnitus are not generally mutually exclusive. 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 identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus support
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you probably don’t need 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. That’s when it’s particularly important to speak with a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
We have a number of different tinnitus management methods we might try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. We may also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be successfully treated. 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.