Tinnitus is an incredibly prevalent medical condition. Around 20 million individuals regularly suffer from chronic tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more prevalent presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and intermittent and are also easier to deal with.
Tinnitus occurs when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody else can hear. This might be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Tinnitus is frequently linked to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically result in the other.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will call for different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it come from? Well, it’s important to mention that not all kinds of tinnitus are the same. The various causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But it’s still essential to determine the cause in order to effectively manage the symptoms.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the outcome of a neurological problem, like a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other instances, tinnitus may result from age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear problems. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. If your baseline neurological functions are damaged by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has broken down with the typical ways that your brain and ear communicate. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some cases, clear up on its own. For others, it could be lasting.
- 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. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. 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: With 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 experiencing something called pulsatile tinnitus, which happens when you’re hearing your heartbeat or circulatory system. For those with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound typically seems louder than it ought to.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are often rather constant for many people coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This form of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most sensitive to movement of the head or neck areas.
Most of these forms of tinnitus aren’t generally mutually exclusive. For instance, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you most likely don’t have to do anything about it. But if your tinnitus sticks around or returns frequently, it could have real and serious impacts on your everyday life. That’s when it’s especially important to talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
After we identify the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment strategies we can use. A few of these techniques can minimize the severity of your symptoms making them less evident. We might also use masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be effectively treated. We will work with you to formulate treatments that work for your symptoms. That way, you can more easily disregard the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.
