Tinnitus is an incredibly prevalent medical condition. Something like 20 million individuals regularly suffer from persistent tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more prevalent presentations of tinnitus which are much more mild and intermittent and are also easier to deal with.
When you hear noises in your ears that don’t have an outside source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. It may manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. 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 significant variety of types of tinnitus. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? Well, it’s important to note that not all kinds of tinnitus are the same. The various causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But it’s still crucial to determine the cause in order to successfully manage the symptoms.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological problems can be the cause. Hearing loss due to age can be another aspect that can cause tinnitus. 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 broken down with the typical ways that your brain and ear communicate. The outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that might not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be due to concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some cases, neurological tinnitus may resolve as the brain heals. It might be irreversible in other circumstances.
- 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 includes many other forms of tinnitus also. For instance, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. There are a large number of sounds that can manifest with subjective tinnitus, including buzzing, ringing, screeching, roaring, thumping, and many others.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus does occur, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Most commonly, this means you’re dealing with something called pulsatile tinnitus, which happens when you’re hearing your pulse or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are often rather constant for many individuals coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This type of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most sensitive to movement of the head or neck areas.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one form of tinnitus at the same time. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus together, for example. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
Getting assistance with your tinnitus
You most likely won’t have to take any specific action if your tinnitus symptoms are intermittent. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are rather constant or keep coming back. That’s when it’s especially important to speak with a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
After we determine the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment strategies we can use. Several therapies can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. Other treatment options can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Tinnitus can’t usually be cured, but it can be successfully managed. We will work with you to formulate 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.