Tinnitus Causes & Tinnitus Treatment in Thunder Bay

Do you ever experience a buzzing, ringing, roaring, or clicking sound in your ears that just won’t go away? If yes, you may be one of the millions of individuals worldwide who suffer from tinnitus. In this article, we will discuss tinnitus, its causes, and your options for tinnitus treatment in Thunder Bay.

Tinnitus, often known as ringing in the ears, is the feeling of hearing ringing, buzzing, hissing, chirping, whistling, or other noises in the head or ears.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), it affects around 15% of the population. The noise might be intermittent or continuous, and its intensity can vary. It is sometimes worse when there is less background noise. So you may be most aware of it at night when you’re hoping to sleep in a quiet environment.

The condition is irritating for the majority of people but not usually a cause for major medical concern. However, tinnitus can cause people to have difficulties concentrating and sleeping in severe cases. Therefore, it can eventually disrupt professional and personal relationships, causing psychological distress.

Symptoms of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is characterized by ringing in the ears despite the absence of external sound and can produce different forms of noises in your ears, such as:

• Buzzing
• Roaring
• Clicking
• Hissing
• Humming

Causes of Tinnitus

Up to 90% of individuals suffering from tinnitus have some degree of noise-induced hearing loss. Recurring noise permanently damages the cochlea, a spiral-shaped organ in the inner ear that contains sound-sensitive cells.

Several different disorders and illnesses may also cause tinnitus, including:

1. Injuries To The Head Or Neck – Head or neck trauma can harm the inner ear, auditory nerves, or hearing-related brain function. Tinnitus is common as a result of such traumas.

2. Ear Obstructions – Such as wax accumulation, an ear infection, or, in rare cases, a benign tumor of the nerve that allows us to hear (auditory nerve).

3. Spasms In The Inner Ear Muscles – Inner ear muscles can stiffen up and result in tinnitus, hearing loss, and a sense of fullness in the ear.

4. Ear Bone Changes – Stiffening of the bones in the middle ear (otosclerosis) can also cause tinnitus.

5. Aging – The natural aging process that can lead to damage of the cochlea or other ear structures.

6. Meniere’s Disease – Tinnitus is a warning sign of Meniere’s disease. It is an inner ear disease characterized by abnormal inner ear fluid pressure.

7. Blood Vessel Conditions – Conditions affecting your blood vessels, such as atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, or deformed blood vessels, can cause blood to travel more forcefully through your veins and arteries. These alterations in blood flow might create tinnitus or make it more prominent.

8. Certain Medications – Most commonly aspirin, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, loop diuretics, antidepressants, and quinine medications

Tinnitus Treatment

Who doesn’t want to get rid of this annoying condition? No one. At Expert Hearing Solutions, our clinicians are here to help with tinnitus treatment in Thunder Bay by assessing your condition promptly using various diagnostic methods.

We discuss your medical history, perform a hearing test, examine your head and neck, and look inside your ears plus question any medications you’re currently taking, including supplements.

We may request that you clench your jaw, move your eyes, and move your neck, arms, and legs. If the ringing worsens as you move, this may aid in determining the cause. You may also need imaging tests such as CT or MRI scans.

The options for tinnitus treatment in Thunder Bay include some of the following:

1. Earwax Removal

Your clinician removes the earwax from your ear canal for tinnitus treatment in Thunder Bay at Expert Hearing Solutions. Removing an earwax clog might help to alleviate tinnitus symptoms and improve your condition.

2. Medications

Several drugs have shown some promise in the treatment of tinnitus. Drug treatment can also assist in reducing the noises you hear in your ears. In certain cases, tricyclic antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs such as Xanax, amitriptyline, and nortriptyline might reduce ear noises.

3. Sound Maskers

These are the devices that you wear in or behind your ear to produce continual, low-level white noise. They help to muffle the ringing.

4. White Noise Machines

These machines, which emit a sound comparable to static or ambient noises like falling rain or ocean waves, are frequently used to treat tinnitus. There are even white noise machines with pillow speakers.

5. Hearing Aids

If your tinnitus is due to noise or age-related hearing loss, wearing hearing aids may help alleviate your symptoms.

A hearing aid is a tiny electronic device placed in or behind the ear. It amplifies certain sounds so that a person with hearing loss may listen, talk, and participate actively in daily activities. Hearing aids can help people hear better in both silent and loud environments.

Tinnitus patients who have difficulty hearing normal noises may benefit from sound amplification.

6. Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)

TRT combines sound masking with expert psychotherapy. Typically, you wear an earpiece to assist in masking your tinnitus symptoms while simultaneously receiving counseling. So, TRT may help you notice tinnitus less and feel less disturbed by your symptoms over time.

7. Relaxation Techniques

When you are stressed, your tinnitus might worsen. Try exercises or deep breathing to help you relax.

When looking for tinnitus treatment in Thunder Bay, the clinicians at Expert Hearing Solutions along with other health care professionals we work with closely will help to choose the best treatment option depending on your condition and the cause.  If you want to get rid of this problem as soon as possible, consider visiting Expert Hearing Solutions in Thunder Bay.

References:

1. (n.d.). Putting an Ear to the Ground; NIOSH Study looks at Prevalence of Hearing Difficulty & Tinnitus among Workers. Retrieved from Cdc.gov:https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/updates/upd-02-01-16.html

2. (n.d.). The Neuroscience and the Treatment of Tinnitus. Retrieved from Lww.com: https://journals.lww.com/thehearingjournal/fulltext/2021/06000/the_neuroscience_and_the_treatment_of_tinnitus.6.aspx
3. (n.d.). Tinnitus: Characteristics, Causes, Mechanisms, and Treatments. Retrieved from Nih.gov: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2686891/

4. (n.d.). Tinnitus treatment and diagnosis. Retrieved from Healthyhearing.com: https://www.healthyhearing.com/help/tinnitus/treatment
5. William. (n.d.). Treatments for Tinnitus. Retrieved from Nih.gov: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4134891/