It’s really common for people to experience tinnitus. Something like 20 million people regularly cope with persistent tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more common presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and intermittent and are also easier to deal with.
Tinnitus occurs when you hear a phantom sound, 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 often accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in numerous forms. Dealing with these varieties of tinnitus will call for different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it come from? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in a number of types and causes. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But identifying the cause can be crucial to identifying the right treatment approach.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the result of a neurological problem, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other instances, tinnitus may be caused by age-related hearing loss. Here are a few of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear issues. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has gone wrong with the normal ways that your brain and ear interact. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the underlying sources of tinnitus, as well as others. In some cases, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. It might be permanent in other instances.
- 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 forms 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 more.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus does happen, though it’s not as common as subjective forms. Most commonly, this means you’re experiencing something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your pulse or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are often rather constant for many people coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This is tinnitus that grows worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one type of tinnitus simultaneously. For instance, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. Figuring out the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist decide the best tinnitus treatment strategy for your symptoms.
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 returning. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
After we identify the root cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can use. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. Other treatment solutions can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Tinnitus can’t generally 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 disregard the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you enjoy.