Tinnitus is a really prevalent medical condition. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals around the world. This doesn’t 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 occurs when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody 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 accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. Dealing with these varieties of tinnitus will call for different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? The first thing to understand is that tinnitus comes in several forms and causes. The various causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. 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 issue, such as a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss related to age can be another factor that can cause tinnitus. The following are a few other potential causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. The brain itself can sometimes be the cause. If your baseline neurological functions are weakened by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. This means that the typical 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 due to concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some instances, clear up on its own. For others, it may be permanent.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and doesn’t objectively exist and only you can hear it. This form of tinnitus comprises many other forms of tinnitus also. For example, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as many different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and more.
- 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 types. Typically, 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 typically seems louder than it ought to.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is relatively constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. 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 become more intense when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these forms of tinnitus are not generally mutually exclusive. For example, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to formulate a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you most likely don’t have to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be significantly impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are fairly constant or keep returning. 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 methods we may try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. A few of these techniques can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less obvious. We might also utilize masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be successfully treated. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your particular situation. This will help you enjoy life again by moving your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily ignored.
