Tinnitus is a really common medical condition. Around 20 million people regularly suffer from persistent tinnitus so intense that it becomes burdensome. This doesn’t even reference the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most people can come and go without causing a major impact on their quality of life.
Tinnitus happens 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. Tinnitus is frequently related to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically lead to the other.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in numerous 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 recognize is that tinnitus comes in numerous types and causes. The assorted causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But distinguishing the cause can be essential to identifying the correct treatment approach.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. In other circumstances, tinnitus may be caused by age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear problems. Sometimes, the root cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are weakened by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. 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 might not be there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the root sources of tinnitus, as well as others. In some situations, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. It may be permanent in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and no one else can hear it. This form of tinnitus comprises many other forms of tinnitus also. Neurological tinnitus, for instance, is often also 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 happen, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Most commonly, this means you’re experiencing something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your pulse or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- 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.
Often, individuals will have more than one type of tinnitus simultaneously. You might have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for instance. Determining the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist choose the best tinnitus treatment options for your symptoms.
Getting tinnitus support
You probably won’t need to take any particular 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. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
After we determine the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment strategies we can utilize. A few of these strategies can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less obvious. We may also utilize masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, although it can usually be successfully treated. We will work with you to create 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.