Tinnitus, or the perception of sound with no external source, can be anywhere from slightly distracting to sleep-depriving. There are three different types of tinnitus, and they all come about due to different causes. 

If you’re dealing with hearing a ringing, buzzing, fluttering, or whistling noise in your ear, or you can hear your heartbeat in your ear, you could be dealing with tinnitus symptoms. Your tinnitus could be intermittent and only a little annoying, or it could be intensely frustrating, constant, and beginning to affect your stress and sleep. 

Thankfully, there are many different treatment options for tinnitus available, so you can say goodbye to that phantom noise for good! 

What Are the Causes of Tinnitus? 

The most common cause of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise—ever come home from a concert or live event with ringing ears?  

However, there are other causes of tinnitus, including: 

• Compacted earwax 

• Head trauma 

• Stress 

• Drug abuse 

• Neurologic diseases 

Tinnitus can occasionally include additional symptoms, like vertigo, hearing loss challenges, or increased ear pressure, leading to a plugged up or full feeling in your ear. 

What Are the Three Types of Tinnitus? 

Subjective Tinnitus: The most common form of tinnitus, subjective tinnitus is typically due to issues in your ear (outer, middle, or inner) or interpretation errors from sound signals in the auditory nerves. This type of tinnitus is only heard by the person dealing with the symptoms. 

Objective Tinnitus: More rare than subjective tinnitus, this form appears alongside blood vessel issues, muscle contractions, or problems with the middle ear bones. This form of tinnitus can also be heard by the doctor or audiologist during the individual’s examination. 

Pulsatile Tinnitus: This type of tinnitus beats with your heartbeat and is commonly due to abnormalities in your blood flow or blood vessels. It can also be caused by tumors, which is rarer. If you’re hearing your heartbeat in your ears, we encourage you to book a tinnitus screening with us so we can investigate. 

What Are My Tinnitus Management Options? 

While tinnitus currently does not have a cure, there are many ways to manage it so that it’s not as distracting or stressful.

Tinnitus isn’t a disease, but rather a symptom of something else going on within the body; it’s often one of the first signs of a hearing loss challenge. 

Some ways to look after your tinnitus, which are detailed in a previous blog I wrote here, include tinnitus masking, lifestyle changes, medication, biofeedback training, hearing aids, and tinnitus retraining therapy.  

When you’re looking for tinnitus management options, you can rest assured that our team will do what we can to help you with every step of your hearing health journey. 

Please feel free to contact us to talk about your unique situation, and we’ll help you decide on the optimal path to manage your tinnitus.