Tinnitus is a really prevalent medical condition. Something like 20 million people routinely suffer from persistent tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. This doesn’t even reference the more common types of tinnitus, which for most individuals can come and go without causing a major impact on their quality of life.
When you hear sounds in your ears that don’t have an external source and nobody else can hear them, that’s tinnitus. This could be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t get rid of. Tinnitus is often linked to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will automatically result in the other.
As a matter of fact, there are a substantial variety of types of tinnitus. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will call for different approaches.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and how is it caused? Well, it’s significant to note that not all types of tinnitus are the same. Regardless of the particular cause, the symptoms will be similar. But it’s still essential to identify the cause in order to successfully manage the symptoms.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological issues can be the cause. Hearing loss related to age can be another factor that can trigger tinnitus. 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 root cause lies within the brain. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has gone wrong with the normal ways that your brain and ear communicate. As a result, a phantom noise is heard which isn’t really there. A stroke, concussion, or brain injury can all be the underlying causes of tinnitus, as well as others. In some situations, neurological tinnitus may go away as the brain heals. It might be irreversible in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: When only you can hear the sound of your tinnitus, which is really common, hearing specialists will talk about your condition as a subjective tinnitus. Lots of other forms of tinnitus also fall into this category. For example, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can manifest as lots of different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and more.
- Objective tinnitus: When you have objective tinnitus, you’re hearing a real, verifiable, objective sound. Objective tinnitus does happen, though it’s not as common as subjective types. Most commonly, 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 abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are frequently rather constant for many individuals coping with them. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Normally, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Often, people will have more than one form of tinnitus at the same time. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus together, for example. Identifying the cause of your symptoms can help your hearing specialist decide the best tinnitus treatment strategy for your symptoms.
Getting help with your tinnitus
You most likely won’t need to take any particular action if your tinnitus symptoms are intermittent. But your quality of life can be significantly impacted if your tinnitus symptoms are rather constant or keep coming back. When that occurs, your best plan to get some relief is to contact us for a consultation.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we may try depending on the root cause of your symptoms. Several treatments can make the sounds you’re hearing less evident. We might also utilize masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t generally be cured, but it can be successfully 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 enjoy.