Invisibility is a really useful power in the movies. Whether it’s a mud-covered hero, a cloaked spaceship, or a sneaky ninja, invisibility allows characters in movies to be more effectual and, often, achieve the impossible.
Invisible health disorders, unfortunately, are equally as potent and much less enjoyable. As an example, tinnitus is an exceptionally common hearing condition. Regardless of how good you might look, there are no outward symptoms.
But just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean tinnitus doesn’t have a significant affect on individuals who experience symptoms.
What is tinnitus?
One thing we recognize for sure about tinnitus is that you can’t see it. In fact, tinnitus is a condition of the ears, which means symptoms are auditory in nature. You know when you are sitting in a very quiet room, or when you return from a loud concert and you hear that ringing in your ears? That’s tinnitus. Tinnitus is so common that around 25 million individuals experience it daily.
While ringing is the most typical presentation of tinnitus, it’s not the only one. Noises like humming, buzzing, crackling, clicking, and lots of others can manifest. The common denominator is that anyone who has tinnitus is hearing sounds that aren’t really there.
In most situations, tinnitus will come and go quickly. But tinnitus is a persistent and incapacitating condition for between 2-5 million individuals. Sure, it can be a little annoying to hear that ringing for a few minutes now and then. But what if you can’t get rid of that sound, ever? Clearly, your quality of life would be substantially impacted.
What causes tinnitus?
Have you ever had a headache and attempted to narrow down the cause? Are you catching a cold, are you stressed, or is it an allergic reaction? The trouble is that lots of issues can cause headaches! The same is also true of tinnitus, though the symptoms might be common, the causes are extensive.
In some cases, it may be really apparent what’s causing your tinnitus symptoms. In other situations, you may never really know. In general, however, tinnitus might be caused by the following:
- Certain medications: Certain over-the-counter or prescription drugs can cause you to have ringing in your ears. Usually, that ringing disappears when you quit taking the medication in question.
- Colds or allergies: If a lot of mucus accumulates in your ears, it could cause some swelling. This inflammation can trigger tinnitus.
- Meniere’s Disease: This is a condition of the inner ear that can cause a large number of symptoms. Amongst the first symptoms, however, are usually dizziness and tinnitus. Irreversible hearing loss can happen over time.
- Ear infections or other blockages: Inflammation of the ear canal can be caused by things like seasonal allergies, a cold, or an ear infection. As a result, your ears may begin to ring.
- High blood pressure: For some people, tinnitus could be caused by high blood pressure. If this is the case, it’s a smart plan to check with your primary care provider in order to help manage your blood pressure.
- Head or neck injuries: The head and neck are incredibly sensitive systems. Ringing in your ears can be caused by traumatic brain injuries including concussions.
- Noise damage: Tinnitus symptoms can be triggered by exposure to excessively loud noise over time. This is so prevalent that loud noises are one of the leading causes of tinnitus! The best way to counter this type of tinnitus is to stay away from excessively loud locations (or use ear protection if avoidance isn’t possible).
- Hearing loss: There is a close connection between tinnitus and hearing loss. In part, that’s because noise damage can also be a direct contributor to sensorineural hearing loss. In other words, both of them have the same cause. But the ringing in your ears can sound louder with hearing loss because the outside world is quieter.
Treatment will clearly be simpler if you can figure out the cause of your tinnitus symptoms. Cleaning out a blockage, for example, will relieve tinnitus symptoms if that’s what is causing them. Some people, however, may never recognize what’s causing their tinnitus symptoms.
Diagnosing Tinnitus
Tinnitus that only lasts a few minutes isn’t something that you really need to have diagnosed. Still, having regular hearing tests is always a good idea.
However, if your tinnitus won’t subside or continues to come back, you should schedule some time with us to find out what’s going on (or at least begin treatment). We will conduct a hearing test, talk to you about your symptoms and how they’re impacting your life, and perhaps even talk about your medical history. All of that information will be utilized to diagnose your symptoms.
How is tinnitus treated?
There’s no cure for tinnitus. The strategy is management and treatment.
If you’re taking a specific medication or have an underlying medical condition, your symptoms will get better when you deal with the underlying cause. However, if you have chronic tinnitus, there will be no root condition that can be easily addressed.
So managing symptoms so they have a limited affect on your life is the objective if you have persistent tinnitus. There are lots of things that we can do to help. amongst the most prevalent are the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: We might refer you to another provider for cognitive behavior therapy. This is a therapeutic approach designed to help you not notice the ringing in your ears.
- A hearing aid: When you have hearing loss, external sounds become quieter and your tinnitus symptoms become more obvious. The buzzing or ringing will be less obvious when your hearing aid raises the volume of the outside world.
- A masking device: This is a hearing aid-like device that masks sounds instead of boosting them. These devices can be calibrated to your unique tinnitus symptoms, creating just enough sound to make that ringing or buzzing significantly less obvious.
The treatment plan that we create will be custom-tailored to your specific tinnitus requirements. The objective will be to help you regulate your symptoms so that you can go back to enjoying your life!
If you’re struggling with tinnitus, what should you do?
Tinnitus might be invisible, but the last thing you should do is pretend it isn’t there. Your symptoms will probably get worse if you do. It’s better to get ahead of your symptoms because you may be able to stop them from growing worse. At the very least, you should get yourself hearing protection for your ears, be certain you’re wearing ear plugs or ear muffs whenever you’re around loud noises.
If you have tinnitus that won’t go away (or keeps coming back) make an appointment with us to get a diagnosis.