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Key takeaways:
- Tinnitus creates phantom sounds like ringing in the ear.
- We don’t know what exactly causes tinnitus, but it’s linked to hearing problems.
- Treating tinnitus may be linked to other health conditions.
- Other therapies, like sound therapy and mind-body techniques, also can help with tinnitus symptoms.
- New research could lead to promising new treatments in tinnitus.
Tinnitus is when you have noise present in your ears that others don’t hear. About 26 million adults in the United States have tinnitus, says Joy Onozuka, director of community engagement and communications at the American Tinnitus Association. For some, the effects of tinnitus are minor but for about 20 percent of those who have tinnitus, constant ringing in the ears can distract their sleep and concentration, and cause anxiety and depression.
What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus is when you hear phantom sounds, like clicking, buzzing, whistling or ringing in the ears, even though there’s no outside source for the sounds and nobody else can hear them. They can be whisper soft or uncomfortably loud, and intermittent or constant.
“Tinnitus is truly a symptom, it’s not a disease,” says Douglas D. Backous, M.D., president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. “There are like 26 million people in the country who have tinnitus and probably 27 million reasons why they have it.”
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Researchers say people experience tinnitus when their brains pick up on a phantom sound and try to identify it but can’t. So, their brain continues to focus on that sound and tries to solve the puzzle.
“Because the brain can’t make sense of it, the sound becomes the forefront of attention,” says Grant Searchfield, head of the audiology department at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Focusing on the sound makes it more important, and therefore louder. “It’s an unfortunate side effect of how the brain works.”
What causes tinnitus?
Though it’s unclear what exactly causes tinnitus, it’s usually linked to sensorineural hearing loss, Backous says, which is when sound doesn’t get to your inner ear. Most cases of tinnitus are subjective, which means only you can hear the sound.
Other times tinnitus is tied to a treatable medical condition. The sounds may pulsate with your heartbeat and your doctor might be able to hear it using a stethoscope. But these cases, which are known as pulsatile tinnitus, are rare.
Common causes of tinnitus include:
- Age-related hearing loss
- Noise-induced hearing loss
- Injury or trauma to ears
- Earwax impaction
- Ear infections
- Certain medications
Less-common causes include:
- Ménière’s disease
- Temporomandibular disorders like TMJ
- Chronic blood vessel issues like high blood pressure
When should you see a doctor for tinnitus?
If your tinnitus doesn’t bother you, it’s probably OK not to see your doctor. If the ringing in your ear is annoying or disrupting your life, talk to your primary care physician. They can determine if you have an underlying medical cause or if you need to see an otolaryngologist for more tests.
Call your doctor right away if your symptoms of tinnitus show up after an upper respiratory infection, or you feel dizzy, anxious, depressed or have hearing loss.
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