It’s really common for individuals to experience tinnitus. Something like 20 million individuals routinely suffer from persistent 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 happens when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. It might manifest as a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is frequently accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, there are a significant variety of types of tinnitus. And each one will call for a different treatment approach.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in several forms and causes. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still crucial to identify the cause in order to effectively treat the symptoms.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the result of a neurological problem, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other instances, tinnitus might be caused by age-related hearing loss. Here are a few of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. Sometimes, the root cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are damaged by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has broken down with the normal ways that your brain and ear communicate. The outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that might not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be due to concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. In some cases, neurological tinnitus may resolve as the brain heals. It may be irreversible in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When only you can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is quite common, hearing specialists will talk about your condition as a subjective tinnitus. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. For instance, 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 lots of others.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus does occur, though it’s not as common as subjective forms. Typically, this means you’re dealing with something called pulsatile tinnitus, which happens when you’re hearing your heartbeat or circulatory system. For people with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound usually seems louder than it should.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are often rather constant for many people coping with them. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This type of tinnitus becomes more severe when you move around. Typically, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Most of these forms of tinnitus are not generally mutually exclusive. For example, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. Identifying the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist decide the best tinnitus treatment options for your symptoms.
Getting tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you most likely don’t need to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be significantly impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are rather constant or keep coming back. That’s when it’s especially important to speak with a hearing specialist to get specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
After we identify the root cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment strategies we can use. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less evident. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be effectively treated. 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.