Tinnitus is a really prevalent medical condition. Tinnitus can become so extreme that it becomes a burden to live with for about 20 million individuals worldwide. And there are also more common presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and sporadic and are also easier to deal with.
Tinnitus occurs when you hear a phantom sound, when you’re hearing a sound that nobody else can hear. It might manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
In fact, there are a considerable variety of forms of tinnitus. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will require different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in a number of forms and causes. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But determining the cause can be crucial to identifying the correct treatment strategy.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. In other circumstances, tinnitus may result from age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus is not always caused by ear problems. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. If your baseline neurological functions are weakened by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. The outcome is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the underlying sources of tinnitus, as well as others. In some instances, neurological tinnitus might go away as the brain heals. For others, it may be permanent.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and doesn’t objectively exist and only you can hear it. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. For instance, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as lots of different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and more.
- Objective tinnitus: When the sound you’re hearing in your ears is an actual, verifiable sound, it’s known as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus is not really as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still happens. 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 unusually loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is fairly constant. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit 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.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one type of tinnitus simultaneously. For instance, you might have neurological tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. Identifying the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist decide the best tinnitus treatment options for your symptoms.
Getting help with your tinnitus
You probably won’t need to take any particular action if your tinnitus symptoms are sporadic. But if your tinnitus sticks around or returns frequently, it could have real and severe impacts on your everyday life. That’s when it’s particularly important to speak with a hearing specialist to get specialized care and find some tinnitus relief.
After we determine the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a few treatment strategies we can utilize. Several therapies can make the sounds you’re hearing less evident. We might also use masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be successfully managed. We will help you personalize the best treatment for your particular situation. That way, you can more easily ignore the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you enjoy.
