Tinnitus is an exceptionally prevalent medical condition. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals around the world. 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 occurs when you hear a phantom noise, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. It may manifest as a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is often associated with tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in a number of forms. And each one will require a different approach to treatment.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it stem from? Well, it’s essential 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, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss related to age can be another aspect that can trigger tinnitus. Here are a few of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear aren’t always the cause of tinnitus. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are damaged by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. This means that the typical communication between your brain and ears isn’t functioning properly. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the root causes of tinnitus, as well as others. In some situations, neurological tinnitus may resolve as the brain heals. It might be irreversible in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is quite common, hearing specialists will talk about your condition as a subjective tinnitus. Lots of other types of tinnitus also fall into this category. Neurological tinnitus, for example, is often also 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 does happen, though it’s not as common as subjective forms. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an example of this form of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many individuals, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This type of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Typically, somatic tinnitus is most susceptible to movement of the head or neck areas.
Often, individuals will have more than one form of tinnitus simultaneously. For example, 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 help with your tinnitus
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you probably don’t have to do anything about it. But if your tinnitus hangs around or comes back frequently, it could have real and serious impacts on your day-to-day life. That’s when it’s particularly important to talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we may try depending on the root cause of your symptoms. A few of these techniques can decrease the intensity of your symptoms making them less obvious. We may also employ 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 disregarded.