It’s really common for individuals to experience tinnitus. Something like 20 million individuals regularly suffer from chronic tinnitus so intense that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more common presentations of tinnitus which are much more mild and intermittent and are also easier to deal with.
When you hear sounds in your ears that don’t have an outside source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. It might manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect connection 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.
What is tinnitus?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? The first thing to understand is that tinnitus comes in numerous forms and causes. Regardless of the specific cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still essential to identify the cause in order to effectively manage the symptoms.
For some people, tinnitus is the outcome of a neurological issue, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other instances, tinnitus may be caused by age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear aren’t always the cause of tinnitus. The brain itself can sometimes be the cause. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has broken down with the normal ways that your brain and ear interact. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. In some instances, neurological tinnitus might go away as the brain heals. It might be irreversible in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When only you can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is really common, hearing specialists will refer to your condition as a subjective tinnitus. This form of tinnitus includes many other types of tinnitus also. For example, 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 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 forms. Typically, this means you’re experiencing something called pulsatile tinnitus, which happens when you’re hearing your heartbeat or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be unusually loud.
- 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 gets worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
Most of these types of tinnitus are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You might have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for example. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the root cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus support
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you probably don’t have to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are fairly constant or keep returning. When that happens, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
After we determine the root cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can employ. A few of these techniques can decrease the intensity of your symptoms making them less apparent. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t typically be cured, but it can be effectively managed. We will help you customize the best treatment for your particular situation. That way, you can more easily ignore the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you enjoy.