It’s really common for people to experience tinnitus. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals around the world. This doesn’t even count the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a huge impact on their quality of life.
Tinnitus happens when you hear a phantom sound, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody else can hear. It may manifest as a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears. Tinnitus is often linked to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will immediately result in the other.
As a matter of fact, there are a substantial variety of types of tinnitus. And each one will call for a different approach to treatment.
What is tinnitus?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? The first thing to understand is that tinnitus comes in numerous types and causes. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still crucial to identify the cause in order to effectively manage the symptoms.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. In other circumstances, tinnitus may be caused by age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. Sometimes, the underlying cause lies within the brain. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or problems with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has broken down with the typical ways that your brain and ear interact. The outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be due to concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and more. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some instances, go away on its own. It may be irreversible in other circumstances.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and only you can hear it. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. Neurological tinnitus, for example, is frequently 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 known as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus does happen, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Typically, this means you’re dealing with something called pulsatile tinnitus, which happens when you’re hearing your heartbeat or circulatory system. For those with objective tinnitus, that pulsing sound usually seems louder than it should.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are frequently quite constant for many people coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this characteristic. But, somatic tinnitus is different. This form of tinnitus becomes more extreme when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus is most sensitive to movement of the head or neck areas.
The majority of these forms of tinnitus are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, you may have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In order for us to put together a treatment plan, we will first need to identify the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Finding tinnitus assistance
You most likely won’t need 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 coming back. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
After we identify the root cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment strategies we can employ. A few of these techniques can decrease the intensity of your symptoms making them less obvious. Other treatment options can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Tinnitus can’t generally be cured, but it can be effectively 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 love.
