It’s really common for people to experience tinnitus. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for around 20 million people around the world. And there are also more common presentations of tinnitus which are much more mild and intermittent and are also easier to cope with.
Tinnitus occurs when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody else can hear. It might manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is frequently associated with 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 require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? Well, it’s important to mention that not all types of tinnitus are the same. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But identifying the cause can be crucial to identifying the right treatment approach.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological problems can be the cause. Hearing loss due to age can be another factor that can cause tinnitus. The following are a few other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. Neurological tinnitus is a result of injury to or problems with your baseline neurological functions. This means that the typical communication between your brain and ears isn’t functioning correctly. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be a result of concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some situations, neurological tinnitus might go away as the brain heals. It might be permanent in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is very common, hearing specialists will refer to your condition as a subjective tinnitus. This type of tinnitus includes many other forms of tinnitus also. Neurological tinnitus, for example, 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 lots of others.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus isn’t quite as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still occurs. 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 unusually loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is relatively constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This type of tinnitus becomes more extreme when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
The majority of these types of tinnitus are not necessarily mutually exclusive. You might have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for instance. In order for us to formulate a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Finding tinnitus support
You most likely won’t need to take any specific action if your tinnitus symptoms are intermittent. But if your tinnitus hangs around or returns frequently, it could have real and significant impacts on your day-to-day life. That’s when it’s especially important to speak with a hearing specialist to get specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
We have several different tinnitus management strategies we might try depending on the root cause of your symptoms. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less evident. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t generally 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 love.