It’s very common for people to experience tinnitus. Tinnitus can become so overwhelming that it becomes a burden to live with for around 20 million individuals around the world. And there are also more prevalent presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and sporadic and are also easier to cope with.
When you hear sounds in your ears that don’t have an outside source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. It may manifest as a continual buzzing or ringing in the ears. Tinnitus is often related to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically result in the other.
In fact, there are a considerable variety of types of tinnitus. And each one will require a different treatment approach.
What is tinnitus?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? Well, it’s essential to note that not all kinds of tinnitus are the same. The various causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But distinguishing the cause can be essential to identifying the best treatment strategy.
For some individuals, tinnitus is the result of a neurological problem, including a traumatic brain injury or a concussion. In other instances, tinnitus might be caused by age-related hearing loss. Here are some of the most prevalent types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear problems. The brain itself can sometimes be the cause. Neurological tinnitus is a result of 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 communicate. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that might not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be due to 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 may be lasting.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and no one else can hear it. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. Neurological tinnitus, for instance, 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 you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus is not really as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still occurs. 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 characteristic. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This form of tinnitus becomes more intense when you move around. Normally, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
Frequently, people will have more than one form of tinnitus simultaneously. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus together, for instance. In order for us to put together a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the underlying cause of your tinnitus.
Getting tinnitus support
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you likely don’t need to do anything about it. But your quality of life can be seriously impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are fairly constant or keep returning. 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 root cause of your symptoms. A few of these strategies can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less apparent. We might also utilize masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t usually be cured, but it can be effectively managed. We will help you customize the best treatment for your specific situation. That way, you can more easily disregard the buzzing or ringing in your ears, and get back to the life you love.
