It’s very common for people to experience tinnitus. Around 20 million individuals regularly cope with chronic tinnitus so intense 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.
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 might be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Although hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
In fact, there are a substantial variety of types of tinnitus. Dealing with these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it come from? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in several forms and causes. Regardless of the specific cause, the symptoms will be similar. But determining the cause can be essential to identifying the proper treatment approach.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the result of a neurological issue, such as a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other instances, tinnitus may result from age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear aren’t always the cause of tinnitus. In some cases, the root cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are weakened by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. In other words, something has broken down with the typical ways that your brain and ear communicate. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. Neurological tinnitus can be due to concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. In some cases, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. For others, it could be lasting.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and only you can hear it. This form of tinnitus includes many other forms of tinnitus also. Neurological tinnitus, for instance, is often also subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can manifest as lots of different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and others.
- Objective tinnitus: With objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus is not really as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still happens. Most commonly, this means you’re experiencing something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your pulse or circulatory system. For those with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound usually seems louder than it ought to.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is relatively constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This form of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these forms of tinnitus aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. You might have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for example. In order for us to put together a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting assistance with your tinnitus
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you probably 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 coming back. That’s when it’s particularly important to talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we might try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. We may also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t typically be cured, but it can be successfully managed. We will work with you to create 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.
