It’s really common for people to experience tinnitus. Around 20 million individuals routinely cope with chronic tinnitus so intense 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 happens when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. This may 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.
In fact, there are a substantial variety of forms of tinnitus. 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 numerous forms and causes. Regardless of the specific cause, the symptoms will be similar. But determining the cause can be crucial to identifying the best treatment strategy.
For some people, tinnitus is the outcome of a neurological problem, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss related to age can be another aspect that can trigger tinnitus. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear issues. In some cases, the underlying cause lies within the brain. Neurological tinnitus is a result of injury to or problems with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has broken down with the normal ways that your brain and ear communicate. 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. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some cases, clear up on its own. It might be permanent in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is very common, hearing specialists will talk about your condition as a subjective tinnitus. This form of tinnitus comprises many other forms 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: With objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus does occur, 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 heartbeat or circulatory system. For individuals with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound usually seems louder than it should.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are frequently quite constant for many individuals coping with them. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This is tinnitus that grows worse with movement. Typically, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one form of tinnitus simultaneously. For instance, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you probably don’t have to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are fairly constant or keep coming back. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
After we determine the root cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can utilize. A few of these strategies can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less apparent. We might also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be effectively treated. We will work with you to create treatments that work for your symptoms. This will help you enjoy life again by moving your symptoms into the background where they can be more easily disregarded.