Tinnitus or Ringing in the Ears
What is tinnitus? Everything about ringing in the ears: its symptoms, causes, and the most effective treatments for ear buzzing.
Symptoms and Causes
Tinnitus, also known as ringing in the ears, causes ringing or buzzing sounds in the ear without any external source. These sounds can go unnoticed or interfere with daily life, causing irritability, concentration problems, or sleep disturbances.
Depending on the underlying cause of the condition, tinnitus is divided into two types:
- Objective or somatic tinnitus: This is rare. It occurs when a physical cause triggers the sounds inside the ear. When detected and treated, the buzzing can disappear or be significantly reduced.
- Subjective tinnitus: Most diagnosed cases are of this type. There is no organic cause for the sounds.
Those affected describe the sounds they hear as high-pitched ringing, persistent buzzing, or crackling sounds similar to electrical static. In some rare cases, individuals suffer from pulsatile tinnitus, which involves rhythmic sounds following the heartbeat.
Symptoms
The main symptom of tinnitus is the constant perception of sounds in the form of ringing, buzzing, pounding, clicking, or murmuring. These sounds can have various causes and may sometimes be accompanied by other symptoms, such as:
- Hearing loss
- Earwax buildup
- Ear inflammation
Causes
Currently, the causes of subjective tinnitus are unknown, although its onset has been linked to exposure to loud noises, recurrent ear infections, acoustic nerve tumors, or certain medications such as antibiotics or aspirin.
Objective tinnitus occurs due to a somatic reason, such as abnormalities in the blood vessels surrounding the ear or in any of its parts, temporomandibular joint dysfunction, Meniere's disease, or migraines.
Risk Factors
Anyone can develop tinnitus, but some factors increase the likelihood of experiencing it:
- Continuous exposure to loud noises
- Aging
- Certain diseases, such as hypertension, arthritis, deafness, or acoustic nerve tumors
Complications
Tinnitus significantly decreases quality of life, as constant noise typically leads to fatigue, irritability, headaches, deafness, stress, concentration problems, anxiety, or depression.
Prevention
Tinnitus cannot be prevented. However, using hearing protection when exposed to loud noises, lowering the volume on music devices, radios, or televisions, and taking care of cardiovascular health can help prevent some types of tinnitus.
What doctor treats tinnitus?
Otolaryngologists diagnose tinnitus, and treatment may also involve speech therapists, audiologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists in some cases.
Diagnosis
Tinnitus is typically diagnosed by evaluating the patient's symptoms and conducting some tests to understand its nature and characteristics:
- Auscultation with a stethoscope: In cases of somatic tinnitus, the ENT specialist can hear the sounds the patient perceives and study the underlying causes.
- Tinnitus audiometry: This helps identify the sounds caused by subjective tinnitus by comparing the patient's description with sounds produced by an audiometer.
- Audiometry and tympanometry: These tests evaluate the ear's condition and hearing ability. They can help detect auditory diseases or abnormalities.
- Imaging tests, such as MRI or CT scans.
Treatment
Subjective tinnitus is difficult to treat because its origin is unknown and there is no cure. To alleviate symptoms, doctors focus on minimizing the negative effects the ringing has on the patient's health. For this, they may use:
- Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT): This helps patients live with tinnitus by retraining the brain to ignore the sounds.
- Psychological therapy: Helps understand the condition and manage stress and anxiety.
- Sound therapy: Involves avoiding silence, which amplifies the perception of the ringing. Affected individuals learn to use the benefits of background noise, such as TV or music.
Somatic tinnitus is treated by addressing the cause that triggered it. Under the supervision of the otolaryngologist, the patient may be referred to the appropriate specialist for the most suitable treatment for each case.
