A Short Guide to Tinnitus

Aside from hearing loss, tinnitus is one of the concerns that audiologists have to deal with most regularly. Given that the experience of tinnitus can change from person to person, depending on the causes and characteristics, it can seem like a tricky symptom to wrap your head around.

Here, this short guide to tinnitus is hopefully going to clear up a few questions you might have, helping you understand the symptom and why it’s important to work with an audiologist to treat it.

What Is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is not a condition, in and of itself. Rather, it is a symptom that is defined as hearing buzzing, ringing, pulsing or any other sounds that do not have a clear external source. It can be caused by a variety of things and how it presents can change from person to person. For instance, for some people it may be intermittent, for others, it is more constant. A lot of people experience it more noticeably at nighttime. Similarly, it can go away on its own or it can last for years.

What Causes Tinnitus?

In most cases of treating tinnitus, a specific cause will never be found. Some, such as hearing loss and earwax blockage, can be treated, leading to alleviation of the symptom. However, tinnitus has a very wide range of contributing factors. Some of them include hearing loss, earwax blockages, the use of certain medication, changes to blood flow and trauma to the ears. An audiologist will perform a physical ear and hearing exam to try and find contributing factors to treat them, but it’s not guaranteed to make the tinnitus go away.

Why Tinnitus Shouldn’t Go Untreated

Tinnitus can have a rather severe impact of the quality of life of an individual, but this goes even more so for untreated tinnitus. People with untreated tinnitus are more likely to experience stress, difficulty sleeping and to have more trouble communicating, which can lead to them becoming isolated. Though the approach changes for person to person, treating tinnitus can greatly improve an individual’s quality of life and make the symptom less noticeable.

What are the Treatments for Tinnitus?

There are typically two approaches to treating tinnitus: treating the cause to alleviate the symptom and treating the symptom itself to improve quality of life. The first approach might involve, for instance, recommending lifestyle changes such as changing medication, reducing caffeine consumption or cutting nicotine or addressing ear health issues like hearing loss and earwax buildups. Otherwise, treatments like hearing aids with noise-masking features, sound machines and tinnitus retraining therapy can help address the symptom itself as well as some of the quality-of-life side effects it can have.

When treating tinnitus, the best approach is to start working with your audiologist as soon as possible. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, the sooner you start trying different treatments, the easier it is to find one that suits you best.