Tinnitus is an incredibly prevalent medical condition. Around 20 million people routinely cope with chronic tinnitus so intense that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more prevalent presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and sporadic and are also easier to deal with.
When you hear sounds in your ears that don’t have an external source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. This could be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Tinnitus is frequently associated with hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically lead to the other.
As a matter of fact, there are a substantial variety of types of tinnitus. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in numerous forms and causes. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still essential to determine the cause in order to successfully treat the symptoms.
For some people, tinnitus is the result of a neurological problem, such as a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss due to age can be another factor that can cause tinnitus. The following are a few other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. 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 outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some instances, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. For others, it may be lasting.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is very common, hearing specialists will talk about your condition as a subjective tinnitus. This type of tinnitus comprises many other types of tinnitus as well. Neurological tinnitus, for instance, is frequently also subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can manifest 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 isn’t really as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still happens. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an example of this type of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are often rather constant for many individuals coping with them. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This type of tinnitus becomes more extreme when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most sensitive to movement of the head or neck areas.
Often, people will have more than one type of tinnitus at the same time. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus together, for example. In order for us to formulate a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the root cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you likely don’t need 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. When that happens, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we may try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. A few of these techniques can minimize the severity of your symptoms making them less evident. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, although it can usually be effectively treated. We will work with you to create treatments that work for your symptoms. This will help you enjoy life again by moving your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily ignored.
