What is Tinnitus?

If you often experience ringing or buzzing noises in your ears, you may have tinnitus. Tinnitus is relatively common, but many people don’t really understand what it is or why it occurs. If you’re looking for information about tinnitus, you’ve come to the right place.

What exactly is tinnitus?

Tinnitus describes the condition where you hear noises that aren’t caused by an external source. The most common sound is ringing in the ears. If you’ve ever been to a concert or you’ve spent a night dancing to music in a club, you’re probably familiar with getting into bed and hearing noise reverberating in your ears. You can hear sounds even though there isn’t a track playing in your room. Many cases of tinnitus are temporary, but in some instances, this is a chronic problem. For some people, tinnitus becomes part and parcel of everyday life. Although tinnitus doesn’t cause any medical complications, it can impact your quality of life. The good news is that there are treatments that can help. If you suffer from tinnitus on a regular basis, it’s wise to see a hearing care professional.

Symptoms of tinnitus

Most people refer to tinnitus as ringing in the ears, but it can actually cause a range of different sounds, including buzzing, whooshing, humming and hissing noises. Most commonly, you develop signs of tinnitus when you’ve been exposed to loud noises, but it can also be linked to underlying health conditions, hearing loss and taking some forms of medication. Tinnitus occurs when you can hear sounds that aren’t caused by any external sources. You might be able to hear buzzing noises, for example, even when the room is silent.

Should I seek advice?

If you’re struggling with tinnitus, it’s beneficial to consult a hearing care provider. If your symptoms have got worse, you’re experiencing tinnitus on an increasingly frequent basis or tinnitus is impacting your daily life, there is help out there. A hearing specialist will assess your hearing and talk to you about your symptoms to try and determine a possible cause and identify solutions. In many cases, tinnitus comes and goes without causing too many problems, but for some, it can have a damaging effect on quality of life. If tinnitus is making life difficult, don’t hesitate to contact a hearing health professional. Therapies and treatments can prevent or reduce the severity of symptoms.

Do you often hear ringing, whooshing or humming noises when nobody else around you can detect any of these sounds? Do you find yourself never really being able to enjoy silence? If you’re prone to bouts of tinnitus or you’ve noticed that your symptoms have got worse, it’s a great idea to see a hearing care professional. You may think that you have to accept that you have tinnitus and live with it, but this isn’t necessarily the case. There are treatments and techniques that can help to alleviate symptoms and seeing a hearing specialist could make all the difference.