Tinnitus is a really prevalent medical condition. Something like 20 million people regularly cope with persistent tinnitus so intense that it becomes burdensome. This doesn’t even reference the more common forms of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a huge impact on their quality of life.
When you hear sounds in your ears that don’t have an outside source and no one else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. This could be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Although hearing loss is frequently accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
As a matter of fact, there are a significant variety of types of tinnitus. Managing 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 several forms and causes. The assorted causes of tinnitus will present with similar symptoms. But it’s still essential to identify the cause in order to effectively treat the symptoms.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological problems can be the cause. Hearing loss due to age can be another aspect that can trigger tinnitus. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear aren’t always the cause of tinnitus. Sometimes, the root cause lies within the brain. If your baseline neurological functions are impaired by injury it can activate neurological tinnitus. This means that the normal communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that may not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be a result of concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. In some situations, neurological tinnitus might resolve as the brain heals. For others, it may be permanent.
- Subjective tinnitus: When you’re the only one who can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is quite common, hearing specialists will refer to your condition as a subjective tinnitus. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. 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 many 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 types. 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: Tinnitus sounds are frequently rather constant for many people coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This form of tinnitus becomes more extreme when you move around. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these forms of tinnitus aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. 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.
Finding tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you most likely don’t need to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are rather constant or keep coming back. When that happens, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we might try depending on the root cause of your symptoms. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less obvious. Other treatment options can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Generally, there is no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually 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 enjoy.