In the movies, invisibility is a powerful tool. The characters can often do the impossible if they have the power of invisibility, whether it’s a spaceship with cloaking ability or a wizard with an invisibility cloak.
Invisible health conditions, regrettably, are just as potent and a lot less enjoyable. As an example, tinnitus is an extremely common hearing condition. Regardless of how well you might look, there are no external symptoms.
But just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean tinnitus doesn’t have a significant impact on those who experience symptoms.
Tinnitus – what is it?
So we know one thing: you can’t see tinnitus. Actually, tinnitus symptoms are auditory in nature, being a condition of the ears. You know when you are sitting in a silent room, or when you get back from a loud concert and you hear a ringing in your ears? That’s tinnitus. Tinnitus is so common that about 25 million people experience it every day.
While ringing is the most common manifestation of tinnitus, it isn’t the only one. Some people might hear buzzing, crunching, metallic sounds, all kinds of things. The one thing that all of these sounds have in common is that they aren’t actual sounds at all.
For most individuals, tinnitus will be a short-lived affair, it will come and go very quickly. But for somewhere between 2-5 million individuals, tinnitus is a persistent, sometimes debilitating condition. Sure, it can be a little irritating to hear that ringing for a few minutes now and again. But what if that sound never goes away? it’s not hard to see how that might start to substantially impact your quality of life.
Tinnitus causes
Have you ever had a headache and attempted to figure out the cause? Maybe it’s stress; maybe you’re getting a cold; maybe it’s allergies. The trouble is that quite a few issues can trigger headaches! The same is also true of tinnitus, even though the symptoms might be common, the causes are widespread.
Sometimes, it might be really obvious what’s causing your tinnitus symptoms. But you may never really know in other cases. Generally speaking, however, tinnitus might be caused by the following:
- Head or neck injuries: Your head is rather sensitive! So head injuries, especially traumatic brain injuries (including concussions)–can end up triggering tinnitus symptoms.
- High blood pressure: High blood pressure can trigger tinnitus symptoms for some people. Getting your blood pressure under control with the help of your physician is the best way to handle this.
- Colds or allergies: If a lot of mucus backs up in your ears, it might cause some swelling. This inflammation can cause tinnitus.
- Meniere’s Disease: Quite a few symptoms can be caused by this disorder of the inner ear. Among the first symptoms, however, are generally tinnitus and dizziness. With time, Meniere’s disease can cause permanent hearing loss.
- Ear infections or other blockages: Inflammation of the ear canal can be generated by things like seasonal allergies, a cold, or an ear infection. As a result, your ears could begin to ring.
- Hearing loss: There is a close relationship between tinnitus and hearing loss. Partly, that’s because noise damage can also be a strong contributor to sensorineural hearing loss. In other words, they both have the same cause. But hearing loss can also worsen tinnitus, when the rest of the world seems quieter, that ringing in your ears can become louder.
- Noise damage: Damage from loud noises can, over time, cause tinnitus symptoms to develop. One of the top causes of tinnitus is exposure to loud noises and this is very common. Using hearing protection if exceptionally loud settings can’t be avoided is the best way to counter this type of tinnitus.
- Certain medications: Some over-the-counter or prescription medications can cause you to hear ringing in your ears. Once you quit taking the medication, the ringing will usually go away.
Treatment will clearly be easier if you can determine the cause of your tinnitus symptoms. For instance, if an earwax blockage is triggering ringing in your ears, clearing that earwax can reduce your symptoms. But the cause of their tinnitus symptoms may never be known for some individuals.
Diagnosing Tinnitus
Tinnitus that only persists a few minutes isn’t something that you really need to have diagnosed. Having said that, it’s never a bad plan to come see us to schedule a hearing exam.
But you should certainly make an appointment with us if your tinnitus won’t subside or if it continues to come back. We will ask you about your symptoms, talk to you about how your quality of life is being affected, do a hearing exam, and probably discuss your medical history. All of that insight will be utilized to diagnose your symptoms.
How is tinnitus treated?
Tinnitus is not a condition that has a cure. The strategy is management and treatment.
If your tinnitus is a result of a root condition, such as an ear infection or a medication you’re using, then dealing with that underlying condition will lead to an improvement in your symptoms. But there will be no known root condition to treat if you’re dealing with chronic tinnitus.
So managing symptoms so they have a limited impact on your life is the goal if you have chronic tinnitus. We can help in many ways. Here are a few of the most common:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: When it comes to cognitive behavioral therapy, we may end up referring you to a different provider. This is a therapeutic strategy created to help you not notice the ringing in your ears.
- A hearing aid: Sometimes, tinnitus becomes obvious because your hearing loss is making outside sounds relatively quieter. In these situations, a hearing aid can help raise the volume on the rest of the world, and drown out the buzzing or ringing you might be hearing from your tinnitus.
- A masking device: This is a hearing aid-like device that masks sounds instead of boosting them. These devices produce just the right amount and type of sound to make your distinct tinnitus symptoms fade into the background.
We will create an individualized and unique treatment plan for you and your tinnitus. Helping you get back to enjoying your life by managing your symptoms is the goal here.
If you have tinnitus, what should you do?
Tinnitus may be invisible, but the last thing you should do is act like it isn’t there. Your symptoms will probably get worse if you do. You may be able to stop your symptoms from getting worse if you can get ahead of them. At the very least, you should invest in hearing protection for your ears, make sure you’re using ear plugs or ear muffs whenever you’re around loud noises.
If you have tinnitus that won’t go away (or keeps coming back) schedule an appointment with us to get a diagnosis.