Tinnitus Treatment
Tinnitus Treatment Options
What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is, essentially, hearing noise within your ear, typically a ringing or buzzing. While this may happen on occasion, people with persistent ringing are most likely suffering from tinnitus. Tinnitus rarely just occurs. Most people who experience the symptoms do so because of another underlying health condition. Many people with tinnitus hearing hissing, clicking, ringing, or buzzing.
There are two kinds of tinnitus: subjective and objective. Objective can be heard by doctors examining your ears while subjective is only heard by you. Both kinds can be a nuisance to live with.
What Causes Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is often a symptom of hearing loss or can be caused by conditions such as poor circulation and injuries to the ear. Other things like earwax buildup and age-related hearing loss can cause it as well. You may hear ringing after exposure to loud sounds, like after shooting a gun or attending a concert. Prolonged noise exposure can make it recurring. In addition, high blood pressure, neck injuries, and certain diseases can cause tinnitus.
If you are taking certain medications, such as antibiotics or aspirin, you may experience ringing in your ears as a side effect.
What Treatments are Available?
Other Outcomes of Tinnitus
People Who Are at Risk of Tinnitus
Some people are at more risk of tinnitus than others. This includes people who work in loud industries, such as music or construction, people who have injured their inner ears, and soldiers who are in close range to weapons discharging. Also, teenagers are particularly at risk for tinnitus because of headphone use. Headphones play music loudly right inside your ear, close to both your eardrum and cochlea, which sets each one up for injury and damage.
Other harmful activities that can be detrimental to your ears and hearing include cleaning your ears out with a cotton swab, stress, and even smoking can cause issues. Be sure to take care of your ears and avoid strenuous activities like those mentioned above.