Tinnitus is an incredibly prevalent medical condition. Around 20 million individuals regularly cope with chronic tinnitus so intense that it becomes burdensome. This does not even reference the more common types 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 no one else can hear. This may be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Although hearing loss is often associated with tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
As a matter of fact, there are a substantial variety of forms of tinnitus. And each one will call for a different treatment approach.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in several forms and causes. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But it’s still crucial to determine the cause in order to effectively treat the symptoms.
For some people, tinnitus is the result of a neurological problem, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other circumstances, tinnitus might be caused by age-related hearing loss. The following are some other potential causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear aren’t always the cause of tinnitus. The brain itself can sometimes be the cause. If your baseline neurological functions are impaired by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has gone wrong with the normal ways that your brain and ear interact. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t actually there. Neurological tinnitus can be a result of concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some instances, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. For others, it could be permanent.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and only you can hear it. This type of tinnitus includes many other types of tinnitus as well. Neurological tinnitus, for example, is often also subjective tinnitus. There are a large number of sounds that can manifest with subjective tinnitus, including buzzing, ringing, screeching, roaring, thumping, and lots of 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 happen, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Most commonly, this means you’re experiencing something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your pulse or circulatory system. For those with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound usually seems louder than it ought to.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are frequently rather constant for many individuals coping with them. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This is tinnitus that grows worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these types of tinnitus aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. For instance, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. Figuring out the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist choose the best tinnitus treatment strategy for your symptoms.
Getting tinnitus support
If your tinnitus is here this 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 occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
After we determine the root cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can use. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less evident. Other treatment options can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Tinnitus can’t generally be cured, but it can be effectively managed. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your particular situation. This will help you enjoy life again by pushing your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily disregarded.
