It’s very common for individuals to experience tinnitus. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for around 20 million people worldwide. This does not even reference the more common types of tinnitus, which for most people can come and go without causing a huge impact on their quality of life.
Tinnitus happens when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. This might be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Tinnitus is frequently linked to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will immediately lead to the other.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? Well, it’s essential to note that not all kinds of tinnitus are the same. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But it’s still essential to identify the cause in order to successfully manage the symptoms.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the result of a neurological problem, such as a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss due to age can be another factor that can trigger tinnitus. The following are some other potential causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear issues. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are damaged by injury it can trigger neurological tinnitus. This means that the typical communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some cases, clear up on its own. It might be irreversible in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When only you can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is really common, hearing specialists will refer to 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 many others.
- Objective tinnitus: With 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 dealing with something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your heartbeat or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is relatively constant. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This type of tinnitus becomes more extreme when you move around. Typically, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
Most of these types of tinnitus are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
Getting help with your tinnitus
You most likely won’t have to take any specific action if your tinnitus symptoms are sporadic. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are fairly constant or keep returning. When that happens, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
After we determine the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment strategies we can use. Several therapies can make the sounds you’re hearing less noticeable. Other treatment solutions can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Tinnitus can’t usually be cured, but it can be successfully managed. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your particular situation. This will help you enjoy life again by pushing your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily ignored.