It’s very common for people to experience tinnitus. Tinnitus can become so extreme that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals worldwide. This doesn’t even count the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a major impact on their quality of life.
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 could be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Although hearing loss is often associated with tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in numerous forms. And each one will require a different treatment approach.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? Well, it’s important to note that not all types of tinnitus are the same. The various causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But determining the cause can be essential to finding the proper treatment strategy.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. Hearing loss related to age can be another factor that can cause tinnitus. The following are some other possible causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear issues. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t functioning correctly. The outcome 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 others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some cases, go away on its own. For others, it may be lasting.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and no one else can hear it. Lots of other types of tinnitus also fall into this category. Neurological tinnitus, for example, is often also subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as many different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and 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 types. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an illustration of this type of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be unusually loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. 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.
Often, individuals will have more than one type of tinnitus simultaneously. For example, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to put together a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
Finding tinnitus support
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 talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
We have a few different tinnitus management strategies we might try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. A few of these techniques can minimize the severity of your symptoms making them less obvious. Other treatment options can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be successfully treated. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your particular situation. That way, you can more easily disregard the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you enjoy.