Tinnitus is an exceptionally common medical condition. Something like 20 million individuals 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 people can come and go without causing a huge impact on their quality of life.
When you hear noises in your ears that don’t have an outside source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. It may manifest as a persistent buzzing or ringing in the ears. Although hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship between the two.
As a matter of fact, tinnitus comes in numerous forms. And each one will call for a different treatment approach.
What is tinnitus?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? Well, it’s significant 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 problem, like a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. Hearing loss due to age can be another factor that can cause tinnitus. Here are a few of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Problems with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. The brain itself can sometimes be the cause. Neurological tinnitus is a result of injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t actually there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some situations, go away on its own. For others, it could be lasting.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and doesn’t objectively exist and no one else can hear it. This type of tinnitus comprises many other types of tinnitus as well. For instance, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as many different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and others.
- Objective tinnitus: When the sound you’re hearing in your ears is an actual, verifiable sound, it’s referred to as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus does occur, 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 pulse or circulatory system. 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. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This type of tinnitus becomes more severe when you move around. Typically, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these forms of tinnitus are not generally mutually exclusive. You might have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus at the same time, for instance. In order for us to formulate a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
Finding tinnitus assistance
If your tinnitus is here one minute and gone the next, you likely don’t need to do anything about it. But if your tinnitus sticks around or returns frequently, it could have real and significant impacts on your day-to-day life. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
We have a few different tinnitus management methods we might try depending on the underlying cause of your symptoms. A few of these strategies can decrease the intensity of your symptoms making them less obvious. Other treatment options can mask the sound you’re hearing.
Generally, there’s no cure for tinnitus, though it can usually be successfully treated. We will help you customize the best treatment for your specific situation. That way, you can more easily ignore the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.