The Cause of the Tinnitus Problem

The signs of tinnitus are not always clear cut. There might be instances where a person might have certain elements of tinnitus, but on further examination, they have another condition altogether.

Ringing, buzzing, hissing or whatever term you wish to apply to the sound that you hear internally, is of course the most important and significant factor when determining if someone is suffering from tinnitus. The things associated with the ringing, like loss of concentration, tiredness, angry behaviour and so on are not necessarily symptoms of tinnitus, but rather the human emotions that come from having the buzzing in your ears.

Something that might make a huge difference straight away, is simply cleaning the ears gently of any excess wax. This can relieve the entrance to the ear and reduce the amplification which people can hear as a hissing or whooshing noise.

We are trying to stay with the alternative side of tinnitus therapy, but this is a medical condition that is recognised by doctors. The basic medical fact of tinnitus, is that the minute hairs in the inner ear can get damaged. This can be through exposure to loud sounds, or old age, or some can just degenerate quicker than others.

Head or neck injuries can be causes of the ear ringing, and even things like high cholesterol can mean that you begin to suffer from tinnitus. From a medical point of view, it is important to have a thorough check up if you find yourself hearing the ringing. Tinnitus could actually be a symptom rather than the main problem. It is always good practice to see what a doctor says before carrying out any self diagnosis.

The Two Types of Tinnitus

Objective Tinnitus

Objective tinnitus is probably the less common form of tinnitus, but it is the one that a doctor can hear on examination. By placing a stethoscope close to the ear, or sometimes on the neck, the doctor can hear what is going on, and can often provide a detailed diagnosis using this as part of their findings. The sound heard will often be more like a gushing, rather than a buzzing in these cases.

Objective tinnitus is audible to a another person (a doctor) because it is generally connected to another ailment, and it is possible it can be relieved by treating the other problem. In this situation doctors will probably not prescribe anything specifically for the tinnitus because it is an effect of another issue. Alternative treatments can still help sufferers with objective tinnitus, because they do not need to be physical treatments. Relaxation techniques, and positive, confident thinking can help someone with objective tinnitus until the other ailment has been treated, when in most cases the tinnitus will also become less severe, and in many cases stop.

Subjective Tinnitus

Subjective tinnitus on the other hand is far more common, and is the form that is only heard by the person suffering from it. Even though it is the more common form of tinnitus, it is far less understood by the medical world, and is usually the type of tinnitus that is more receptive to alternative treatments.

Further to the doctor not being able to actually hear what the patient is hearing, subjective tinnitus is so named because the sounds heard by sufferers range greatly, from buzzing to hissing, to long droning refrains, to high pitched shrill blasts. Doctors cannot diagnose what they either cannot see, or cannot hear, so alternative therapies are becoming a much more acceptable solution.

As before, trying out a few alternative treatments will allow somebody suffering with subjective tinnitus to discover for themselves, ways of coping with a condition that they are likely to have to live with for the foreseeable future. It is important to give each treatment a reasonable amount of time before moving onto another one. Just because something does not work instantly (and almost all tinnitus remedies will take some time to start working) it is important not to give up too soon. Trying each method for a couple of weeks will let you know if it is working for you, but sticking to a method for a couple of months can have significantly more effect on a sufferer.

Doctors will quite often tell a patient that they have to ‘live with it’ when it comes to subjective tinnitus. This is because they cannot really prescribe alternative cures ‘on the record’. They might be open enough to tell you of other ways of coping with tinnitus outside of your official visit, but this is a rare occurrence.

If you have the money, there are surgical procedures that can be used. These are very seldom recommended to patients because the cost involved in non essential surgery is often high, and because of the nature of the surgery there is no guarantee to the results. If you have the money, and you are willing to accept the risks, then it might work for you.

Tomorrow, we will be looking into the various methods available to help Tinnitus sufferers cope with the ringing and buzzing. Until then, just think that as well as you, there will be hundreds, if not thousands of people who will be reading this, and feeling just the way you are right now.

You are not alone, and we intend to keep you informed of any developments, treatments or techniques that could help you.