Tinnitus is an incredibly common medical condition. Tinnitus can become so extreme that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million people worldwide. This doesn’t even count the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a major 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. This might be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Although hearing loss is frequently associated with tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. Dealing with these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? Well, it’s essential to note that not all types of tinnitus are the same. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But it’s still crucial to identify the cause in order to successfully treat 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 factor that can trigger tinnitus. Here are a few of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. In some cases, the root cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are weakened by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t functioning properly. The outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that might not be there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the underlying sources of tinnitus, as well as others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some situations, go away on its own. It may be irreversible in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When only you can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is really common, hearing specialists will refer to your condition as a subjective tinnitus. This form of tinnitus includes many other types of tinnitus as well. Neurological tinnitus, for instance, is frequently also subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can manifest as many 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 referred to 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 illustration of this form of tinnitus. For people with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound typically seems louder than it should.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are frequently rather constant for many people coping with them. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Often, individuals will have more than one form of tinnitus at the same time. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for example. In order for us to put together a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Finding tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you likely don’t have to do anything about it. But if your tinnitus sticks around or returns frequently, it may have real and serious impacts on your everyday life. When that happens, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we may try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less noticeable. We may also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be effectively managed. We will work with you to create treatments that work for your symptoms. That way, you can more easily disregard the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you enjoy.
