Invisibility is a really useful power in the movies. The characters can frequently do the impossible if they possess the power of invisibility, whether it’s a spaceship with cloaking ability or a wizard with an invisibility cloak.
Unfortunately, invisible health conditions are no less potent…and they’re a lot less enjoyable. As an example, tinnitus is an exceptionally common hearing disorder. But there are no external symptoms, it doesn’t matter how thoroughly you look.
But for people who experience tinnitus, though it may be invisible, the impact could be significant.
What is tinnitus?
So we recognize 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 very quiet room, or when you return 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 presentation of tinnitus, it isn’t the only one. Noises including humming, whirring, crackling, clicking, and a number of others can manifest. The common denominator is that anybody who has tinnitus is hearing noises that are not actually there.
For most individuals, tinnitus will be a temporary affair, it will come and go really quickly. But for somewhere between 2-5 million people, tinnitus is a persistent, sometimes incapacitating condition. Sure, it can be a bit irritating to hear that ringing for a few minutes now and again. But what if you can’t get rid of that sound, ever? it’s not hard to see how that might start to significantly impact your quality of life.
Tinnitus causes
Have you ever had a headache and attempted to figure out the cause? Perhaps it’s stress; maybe you’re getting a cold; maybe it’s allergies. The difficulty is that lots of issues can trigger headaches! The symptoms of tinnitus, though relatively common, also have a large number of causes.
The source of your tinnitus symptoms may, in some cases, be obvious. In other situations, you may never really know. Here are some general things that can cause tinnitus:
- Meniere’s Disease: This is a disorder of the inner ear that can cause a large number of symptoms. Among the first symptoms, however, are generally dizziness and tinnitus. With time, Meniere’s disease can lead to permanent hearing loss.
- Head or neck injuries: The head and neck are really sensitive systems. So head injuries, especially traumatic brain injuries (including concussions)–can end up causing tinnitus symptoms.
- Ear infections or other blockages: Just like a cold or seasonal allergies, ear infections, and other obstructions can cause inflammation in the ear canal. This often triggers ringing in your ears.
- High blood pressure: High blood pressure can cause tinnitus symptoms for some people. If this is the situation, it’s a smart plan to consult your doctor in order to help manage your blood pressure.
- Hearing loss: There is a close relationship between tinnitus and hearing loss. Partly, that’s because noise damage can also be a direct contributor to sensorineural hearing loss. Both of them have the same cause, in other words. But the ringing in your ears can sound louder with hearing loss because the outside world is quieter.
- Certain medications: Tinnitus symptoms can be triggered by certain over-the-counter and prescription drugs. Once you quit taking the medication, the ringing will normally go away.
- Noise damage: Tinnitus symptoms can be caused by exposure to overly loud noise over time. This is so common that loud noises are one of the leading causes of tinnitus! The best way to counter this type of tinnitus is to avoid overly loud locations (or wear ear protection if avoidance isn’t possible).
- Colds or allergies: Inflammation can happen when a lot of mucus accumulates in your ears. This swelling can cause tinnitus.
Treatment will clearly be simpler if you can figure out the source of your tinnitus symptoms. For example, if an earwax obstruction is causing ringing in your ears, clearing that earwax can reduce your symptoms. But the cause of their tinnitus symptoms may never be identified for some people.
Diagnosing Tinnitus
Tinnitus that only persists a few minutes isn’t something that you really need to have diagnosed. Still, getting regular hearing assessments is always a smart plan.
However, if your tinnitus won’t subside or continues to come back, you should make an appointment with us to find out what’s going on (or at least start treatment). We will conduct a hearing examination, talk to you about your symptoms and how they’re impacting your life, and perhaps even discuss your medical history. Your symptoms can then be diagnosed utilizing this insight.
How is tinnitus treated?
Tinnitus isn’t a condition that has a cure. But it can be treated and it can be controlled.
If your tinnitus is due to a root condition, like an ear infection or a medication you’re using, then addressing that underlying condition will lead to a noticeable difference in your symptoms. But there will be no known root condition to treat if you’re dealing with chronic tinnitus.
So controlling symptoms so they have a minimal affect on your life is the objective if you have chronic tinnitus. There are many things that we can do to help. Among the most prevalent are the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy: In terms of cognitive behavioral therapy, we might end up referring you to a different provider. This is a therapeutic approach created to help you not pay attention to the ringing in your ears.
- A hearing aid: Sometimes, tinnitus becomes obvious because your hearing loss is making outside sounds comparatively quieter. In these cases, a hearing aid can help raise the volume on the rest of the world, and drown out the buzzing or ringing you may be hearing from your tinnitus.
- A masking device: This is a device a lot like a hearing aid, except instead of amplifying sounds, it masks sound. These devices produce just the right amount and type of sound to make your specific tinnitus symptoms fade into the background.
We will create an individualized and distinct treatment plan for you and your tinnitus. Helping you get back to enjoying your life by controlling your symptoms is the objective here.
If you have tinnitus, what should you do?
Even though tinnitus is invisible, it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Odds are, those symptoms will only grow worse. It’s better to get ahead of your symptoms because you might be able to stop them from growing worse. At the very least, you should purchase hearing protection for your ears, make sure you’re wearing ear plugs or ear muffs whenever you are around loud noises.
If you’re struggling with tinnitus, contact us, we can help.
