Tinnitus is a really prevalent medical condition. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals around the world. And there are also more common presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and intermittent and are also easier to deal with.
When you hear noises in your ears that don’t have an outside source and no one else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. This may be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Although hearing loss is often associated with tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in numerous forms. Managing these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? Well, it’s important to note that not all kinds of tinnitus are the same. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still essential to determine the cause in order to successfully manage the symptoms.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the outcome of a neurological problem, like a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss related to age can be another factor that can cause tinnitus. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear problems. The brain itself can sometimes be the cause. If your baseline neurological functions are impaired by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has gone wrong with the typical ways that your brain and ear interact. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the root sources of tinnitus, as well as others. In some instances, neurological tinnitus might go away as the brain heals. For others, it may be permanent.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and doesn’t objectively exist and only you can hear it. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. 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: 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 really 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 type of tinnitus. For people with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound typically seems louder than it should.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many individuals, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
Frequently, people will have more than one type of tinnitus at the same time. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus together, for instance. Identifying the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist choose the best tinnitus treatment strategy for your symptoms.
Getting tinnitus support
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you most likely don’t have to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be significantly impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are rather constant or keep returning. That’s when it’s especially important to talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
We have a few different tinnitus management methods we might try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. Several therapies can make the sounds you’re hearing less noticeable. Other treatment solutions can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be successfully managed. We will work with you to formulate treatments that work for your symptoms. That way, you can more easily ignore the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.
