Tinnitus is an exceptionally prevalent medical condition. Tinnitus can become so extreme that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million people worldwide. 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 nobody else can hear. 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 necessarily a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in numerous forms. And each one will call for a different treatment approach.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? Well, it’s important to mention that not all types of tinnitus are the same. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still crucial to identify the cause in order to successfully treat the symptoms.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the outcome of a neurological issue, like a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other circumstances, tinnitus may be caused by age-related hearing loss. The following are a few other potential causes:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear problems. 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 working correctly. As a result, a phantom sound is heard which isn’t really there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. In some situations, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. It might be permanent in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When only you can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is really common, hearing specialists will talk about your condition as a subjective tinnitus. This form of tinnitus comprises many other types of tinnitus also. 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 the sound you’re hearing in your ears is a real, verifiable sound, it’s referred to as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus is not really as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still occurs. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an illustration of this form of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be unusually loud.
- 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 type of tinnitus becomes more extreme when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Most of these types of tinnitus are not generally mutually exclusive. For example, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to formulate a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus assistance
You probably won’t have to take any specific action if your tinnitus symptoms are sporadic. But if your tinnitus hangs around or returns frequently, it might have real and severe impacts on your everyday life. That’s when it’s especially important to talk to a hearing specialist to get specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
After we identify the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can employ. Several therapies can make the sounds you’re hearing less evident. We might also use masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t usually be cured, but it can be effectively managed. We will work with you to create treatments that work for your symptoms. This will help you enjoy life again by pushing your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily ignored.
