Tinnitus is an incredibly common medical condition. Tinnitus can become so extreme that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals worldwide. This does not even reference the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most people can come and go without causing a huge impact on their quality of life.
Tinnitus happens when you hear a phantom sound, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody else can hear. It might manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Tinnitus is often related to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically result in the other.
As a matter of fact, there are a considerable variety of forms of tinnitus. Dealing with these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in several forms and causes. Regardless of the specific cause, the symptoms will be similar. But identifying the cause can be essential to identifying the best treatment approach.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. In other circumstances, tinnitus might be caused by age-related hearing loss. The following are some other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear problems. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. Neurological tinnitus is a result of injury to or problems with your baseline neurological functions. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. The outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the root causes of tinnitus, as well as others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some instances, clear up on its own. It may be irreversible in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is really common, hearing specialists will refer to your condition as a subjective tinnitus. Lots of other types of tinnitus also fall into this category. 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 lots of 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 isn’t quite as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still happens. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an illustration of this form of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Normally, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one form of tinnitus simultaneously. For example, you may 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.
Finding tinnitus support
You most likely won’t have to take any specific action if your tinnitus symptoms are sporadic. But if your tinnitus sticks around or comes back frequently, it could have real and significant impacts on your day-to-day life. That’s when it’s especially important to talk to a hearing specialist to get 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 employ. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less noticeable. Other treatment solutions can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, although it can usually be successfully treated. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your particular situation. That way, you can more easily disregard the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.