Tinnitus is an incredibly prevalent medical condition. Something like 20 million individuals regularly cope with chronic tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. And there are also more prevalent presentations of tinnitus which are a lot more mild and sporadic and are also easier to cope with.
Tinnitus happens when you hear a phantom sound, when you’re hearing a sound that no one else can hear. This might be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Tinnitus is often related to hearing loss, but that doesn’t mean that one condition will immediately lead to the other.
As a matter of fact, there are a substantial variety of types of tinnitus. And each one will require a different treatment approach.
Tinnitus – exactly what is it?
Exactly what is tinnitus and what are its causes? The first thing to understand is that tinnitus comes in several types and causes. The various causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But it’s still essential to identify the cause in order to successfully treat the symptoms.
In some cases, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological problems can be the cause. Hearing loss related to age can be another factor that can trigger tinnitus. Here are a few of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Issues with the ear are not always the cause of tinnitus. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or issues with your baseline neurological functions. This means that the standard communication between your brain and ears isn’t working properly. The result is that you hear a phantom sound that might not be there. Neurological tinnitus can be caused by concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some cases, go away on its own. It may be irreversible in other circumstances.
- 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 form of tinnitus includes many other types of tinnitus also. For example, 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: When the sound you’re hearing in your ears is a real, verifiable sound, it’s referred to as objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus is not quite as common as subjective tinnitus, but it still occurs. Pulsatile tinnitus, which is when you hear your heartbeat or pulse, is an illustration of this type of tinnitus. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: Tinnitus sounds are often rather constant for many people coping with them. Both objective and subjective tinnitus have this attribute. However, somatic tinnitus is different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Typically, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to get worse when you move your head or neck.
Frequently, individuals will have more than one type of tinnitus simultaneously. You may have subjective tinnitus and neurological tinnitus together, for instance. In order for us to develop a treatment plan, we will first need to determine the root cause of your tinnitus.
Getting assistance with your tinnitus
If your tinnitus is here this minute and gone the next, you probably 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 coming back. When that happens, your best plan to get some relief is to call us for a consultation.
After we determine the underlying cause of your symptoms, there are a number of treatment methods we can employ. A few of these strategies can decrease the severity of your symptoms making them less evident. We might also utilize masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t usually be cured, but it can be successfully managed. We will help you personalize 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.
