Tinnitus is an exceptionally common medical condition. Around 20 million individuals routinely cope with chronic tinnitus so severe that it becomes burdensome. This does not even reference the more common forms 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 may be a ringing in the ears or a buzzing sound you can’t shake. Although hearing loss is often accompanied by tinnitus, there isn’t always a cause-and-effect connection between the two.
In fact, there are a considerable variety of types of tinnitus. Treating these varieties of tinnitus will call for different approaches.
What is tinnitus?
So, what is tinnitus and where does it come from? The first thing to recognize is that tinnitus comes in numerous types and causes. The various causes of tinnitus will manifest with similar symptoms. But determining the cause can be essential to finding the best treatment strategy.
In some instances, concussions or other traumatic brain injuries or neurological problems can be the cause. Hearing loss due to age can be another factor that can trigger tinnitus. Here are some of the most common types of tinnitus:
- Neurological tinnitus: Tinnitus isn’t always caused by ear issues. The brain itself can sometimes be the source. Neurological tinnitus is caused by injury to or problems with your baseline neurological functions. In other words, something has gone wrong with the typical ways that your brain and ear communicate. As a result, a phantom sound is heard which isn’t actually there. Neurological tinnitus can be a result of concussion, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and others. As the brain heals, neurological tinnitus will, in some instances, clear up on its own. It may be permanent in other instances.
- Subjective tinnitus: With subjective tinnitus, the sound you’re hearing is phantom and has no external source and no one else can hear it. This form of tinnitus includes many other forms of tinnitus also. For example, neurological tinnitus can also be subjective tinnitus. Subjective tinnitus can present as many different sound types, including ringing, buzzing, squeals, whistles, roars, and more.
- 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 forms. Typically, this means you’re dealing with something called pulsatile tinnitus, which occurs when you’re hearing your pulse or circulatory system. Objective tinnitus causes those sounds to be abnormally loud.
- Somatic tinnitus: For many people, the sound they hear with tinnitus is relatively constant. That’s true for both subjective and objective tinnitus. With somatic tinnitus though, things are a bit different. This is tinnitus that gets worse with movement. Usually, somatic tinnitus will cause the symptoms to become more intense when you move your head or neck.
The majority of these types of tinnitus are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, you may 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.
Getting help with your tinnitus
You most likely won’t have to take any particular action if your tinnitus symptoms are sporadic. But if your tinnitus sticks around or returns frequently, it may have real and serious impacts on your everyday life. That’s when it’s especially important to talk to a hearing specialist to receive specialized care and find some relief from your tinnitus.
We have a number of different tinnitus management strategies we may try depending on the root cause of your symptoms. A few of these techniques can decrease the intensity of your symptoms making them less apparent. We may also employ masking techniques to hide your symptoms.
Tinnitus can’t generally 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.