Do you ever hear sounds that are not really there? I don’t mean like footsteps in your upstairs hallway or someone saying your name in a crowded Thousand Oaks shop, more like a buzzing, roaring, clicking, hissing or ringing in your ears. If so, you may be experiencing tinnitus.
Tinnitus is the sensation of hearing a sound in your ear when no noise is actually present. Some hear these sounds constantly while others only experience it sporadically. The sound can be present in both ears or one ear and can vary in frequency and pitch. Since tinnitus is typically a symptom of an underlying condition or a side effect, it is quite common; almost 20 percent of the population reports some degree of tinnitus. In addition to hearing sounds, those with tinnitus often also experience fatigue, sleep problems, memory problems, depression and anxiety.
Now that we know what tinnitus is, why does it happen?
Why Does Ringing in Your Ears Happen?
There are two kinds of ringing in the ear: subjective and objective. The most common type is called subjective; it is a ringing only you can hear. The second, and much rarer type of tinnitus is called objective. This occurs when your doctor can actually hear the ringing during an examination.
The most common cause of tinnitus is damage to the inner ear. The inner ear is lined with small hairs. Sound waves cause these hairs to move. The movement of the hairs causes an electrical signal to be sent through the auditory nerve to your brain where it is interpreted as sound. If these hairs become damaged they can begin to randomly send electrical impulses. These signals are interpreted by your brain as a ringing, buzzing, roaring, clicking or hissing. Age-related hearing loss, exposure to loud noise and earwax blockage are all common causes of inner ear damage.
Tinnitus and Ear Disorders
In addition to inner ear damage, tinnitus is also a common side effect of some disorders. Ménière’s disease is an inner ear disorder categorized by episodes of vertigo and tinnitus. Temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders (TMJ disorders) or a head or neck injury can cause tinnitus. Acoustic neuroma, a noncancerous tumor that develops on the nerve that runs from your brain to your inner ear, can also cause tinnitus, although usually only in one ear.
Blood vessel disorders have been known to cause tinnitus. Atherosclerosis is a condition that can cause the blood vessels near the ear to become rigid. This causes blood flow to be more forceful and as a result, you can actually hear it. High blood pressure, a head or neck tumor pressing on a blood vessel or irregular blood flow can cause tinnitus.
Tinnitus and Drugs
There are more than 200 drugs known to list tinnitus as a side effect. Fortunately, the symptoms will disappear when you stop using the drug. These drugs range from cancer medications to water pills, quinine medications, some antibiotics and certain antidepressants.
In order for your Thousand Oaks audiologist to develop a tinnitus management plan, they will need to figure out the cause. If you are ready to finally find relief, contact your Thousand Oaks audiologist.
WHEN SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT...
Jan. 18, 2022
"Why do I hear ringing in my ears?"
It's a concerning question to ask yourself.
If you hear ringing in your ears more often than not, you know just how bothersome or distracting this noise can be. And that it's distinctly different from those random, phantom sounds you might have heard on rare occasions after standing up too fast or while dealing with a headache.
"Hearing continuous sound in one or both of your ears is called tinnitus," says Dr. Jeffrey Vrabec, an ENT doctor specializing in neurotology at Houston Methodist. "It's most often described as a ringing, but people can hear tinnitus differently."
The common descriptions of what tinnitus sounds like include:
- Low- or high-pitched tone
- Static or buzzing
- Humming
- Cricket-like sounds
"Tinnitus can vary over time, sometimes becoming fairly disruptive and even debilitating," says Dr. Vrabec. "If it's the most important thing you think about and it's keeping you from carrying out or enjoying daily activities, it's certainly time to do something about it."
What causes ringing in your ears?
"Hearing a continuous ringing in your ears is almost always a side effect of hearing loss, typically an early indication of it," says Dr. Vrabec. "Hearing loss happens in your ears, but the resulting ringing you may hear as a result does not. It's happening in your brain."
Your brain plays an integral role in hearing — making sense of the sounds around you by processing the information received from your ears. It helps you focus on the most relevant sounds you're hearing, distinguishing these from background sounds and filtering out unwanted noise.
As you can imagine, this is a busy job for your brain.
Hearing loss reduces the amount of sound your brain has to interpret, giving it less to do. Tinnitus is one unwanted consequence.
"When your auditory cortex — the part of your brain responsible for hearing — is bored, it starts looking for something to do, some sound to interpret," explains Dr. Vrabec. "Tinnitus occurs as a consequence of that, and it's essentially the result of your brain reacting to hearing loss. Since the input to your brain has changed, your brain begins to misinterpret what's actually there, resulting in the perception of other sounds, namely ringing."
This is why people often hear the ringing in both ears and sometimes can't pinpoint where exactly the sound is coming from.
How do you stop the ringing in your ears?
The first step to treating tinnitus is to get your hearing checked by an audiologist.
"If you are hearing continuous sound in your ears, it is very likely some measurable hearing loss is present," says Dr. Vrabec. "A hearing test will uncover how severe the hearing loss is or whether your tinnitus may be the result of something else."
If you have hearing loss and worsening tinnitus, the good news is that you don't have to live with a never-ending soundtrack of unwanted noise.
"When treating tinnitus, the goal is to activate and condition your auditory cortex — reinforcing it to listen to real sounds and training it to not think about the unwanted noise it's perceiving," says Dr. Vrabec. "So we're not actually removing the tinnitus, we're just eliminating your brain's attention to it. This is accomplished by listening to masking sounds, some comforting sounds you can play in the background, such as rain, a stream or waterfall, the beach."
"These types of sounds are quite valuable at inhibiting the perception of tinnitus," says Dr. Vrabec. "They keep your brain busy, making it less likely to fixate on the ringing."
Most people find success in using masking sounds to reduce their tinnitus, but this isn't always the case.
"If your symptoms continue to progress or worsen, let your doctor know," says Dr. Vrabec. "There are medications that can be considered."
It's also important to consult a doctor about your symptoms since, in rare cases, tinnitus can be a side effect of something other than hearing loss, which can change how your doctor approaches your care.
Next Steps:
- If you're hearing a continuous ringing in your ears, our board-certified audiologists and neurotologists can help >
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