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Facts and Treatment Options
TI-NIGHT-US or TINN-A-TUS? Both are commonly used and acceptable pronunciations.
Tinnitus is ear or head noise that in most all cases is subjective – only the person with the tinnitus hears it. The US Centers for Disease Control estimate that 10% of the population, have some form of tinnitus.*
Descriptions of tinnitus vary widely including: hissing, buzzing, whistling, clicking, whooshing, roaring, or ringing. Some describe it as sounding like crickets, cicadas, or a high tension electrical wire. Tinnitus often varies in loudness and can be one sound or multiple, overlapping sounds.
A less common form of tinnitus is pulsatile tinnitus which is perception of a pulsating sound that is often in sync with the heartbeat.
Causes
There are many causes of tinnitus. According to the American Tinnitus Association there are ~200 different health conditions that have tinnitus as a symptom. Some of the most common causes are:
- Hearing Loss/Age Related Hearing Loss: Tinnitus is often the first symptom experienced when sensorineural hearing loss develops, even though the hearing loss may not be perceived by the person.
- Noise Induced Hearing Loss: This can result from a single, extreme exposure or develop over the years from chronic noise exposure on the job or recreationally.
- Blockage of the ear canal, most commonly from ear wax (cerumen).
- A substance touching the eardrum like a loose hair, wax, dirt or foreign object.
- Head/sinus congestion.
- Barometric Trauma resulting from an extreme or rapid change in air or water pressure.
Treatment Options: Some of the more common options include:
1) Hearing aid use. A 2007 survey of hearing care professionals reported that ~60% of their patients experienced some relief of their tinnitus with hearing aid use.**
Today’s digital hearing aids also have tinnitus programs which can be utilized for masking, distraction or help with habituation of the tinnitus.
2) Sound Therapy
3) Behavioral Therapy
The American Tinnitus Association website, www.ata.org, has more extensive and detailed information on the causes of and treatments for tinnitus.
*2008 National Health Interview Survey
**Tinnitus Treatment & the Effectiveness of Hearing Aids: Hearing Care Professional Perceptions, S. Kochkin, PhD, R. Tyler, PhD, Dec 2008, The Hearing Review
