Tinnitus

What is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is a distressing ringing or buzzing sound that only you can hear, and you’ll perceive these sounds when no external noise is present. The world around you may be completely silent, but you’ll still hear a sound. People often describe tinnitus as “ringing in the ears”, or a hissing, roaring, buzzing, whooshing, or chirping sound. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, roughly 15% of the general public — over 45 million Americans — experience some form of tinnitus. While tinnitus is a symptom of a wide range of conditions, it is most frequently the result of some level of hearing loss.
Tinnitus rinning in ear
Tinnitus can range from mild to severe.
You may experience it as an occasional annoyance or as a constant irritation that makes it difficult for you the go about your daily life. Tinnitus can disrupt sleep and make focusing on tasks or accomplishing goals difficult. Those with severe tinnitus struggle with discomfort, irritability, and moodiness, and are at high risk of developing anxiety and depression.
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Causes of Tinnitus

Tinnitus has several causes, including sensorineural hearing loss and exposure to very loud noise. It can also be caused by an ear infection or injury, or even a buildup of earwax in the ear canal. You’ll experience tinnitus when the delicate cells of your inner ear have been damaged or destroyed. Despite being damaged, the cells will still send auditory information to the brain, even when everything around you is quiet. Your brain interprets these signals as sound, and that’s why you hear the ringing, buzzing, or clicking of tinnitus.
Causes of tinnitus include:
Sensorineural hearing loss
Over exposure to potentially damaging noise
Impacted Ear Wax
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
High blood pressure
Atherosclerosis
Stress
Temporal Mandibular Joint Disorder (TMJ)
Idiopathic
Ototoxic drugs
Meniere’s Disease
Acoustic Neuroma

Treating Tinnitus

There is currently no cure for tinnitus, and once the cells in your ear have been damaged, they can’t be repaired. However, treating tinnitus will give you relief from the symptoms, and you’ll enjoy life without that ringing or buzzing sound. Tinnitus and hearing loss often go hand in hand, so treating your hearing loss is the first step to helping your ears hear clearly, and reducing your experience of tinnitus. We provide in-depth treatment at our Indy-Nora location.
hearing aid fitting

Schedule an Appointment

If you have tinnitus, visit us at Whisper Hearing Centers to learn more about tinnitus, and find solutions for managing your experience of these phantom sounds. Since only you can hear the sound, we can’t objectively test your tinnitus, but we will use some subjective tests to determine the sound, pitch, and volume of your tinnitus, and recommend the best tinnitus treatment options to bring you relief. Many of our hearing aids have built in tinnitus therapy programs that can be calibrated to your unique tinnitus, bringing you relief and allowing you to enjoy life without tinnitus.
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