A Guide to Tinnitus

There are a great many health conditions that we experience as we go through life, but the most common ones affect your sight and your hearing. Tinnitus is known in the colloquial sense as a ‘ringing in the ears,’ but it can also be known as buzzing, hissing and a low-level background noise that just won’t go away. Tinnitus is experiencing noise when there is no external reason for said noise; also known as an annoyance! It’s a condition that can affect you at any age, but is most common among the older population who are already experiencing levels of hearing loss. An appointment with an audiologist can help you to determine what you’re experiencing and whether you have tinnitus.

Are you experiencing tinnitus?

Identifying whether what you are experiencing is tinnitus is important, especially as it can vary in the way that it sounds. Some people identify tinnitus as chirping in the ear, clicking noises an even a very low-level tone that never stops. For some, it’s not always constant, it’s temporary and it comes and goes. For others, it’s permanent and it can have a huge impact on your quality of life. It doesn’t matter how mild you experience tinnitus, if it is affecting your day-to-day activities, you need to book to see an audiologist to determine how to reduce the noise.

Finding a cure

Unfortunately, tinnitus does not currently have a cure. It’s a very individual condition, as no two patients experience it in the same way. The good news about tinnitus is that there are a lot of treatment options that can help to reduce the noise and help you to find relief. Some of those treatments are as follows:

1. Changing your lifestyle to minimize your noisy activities is important. So, cutting down on the festivals and concerts could help you go a long way in reducing the noise.
2. Seeking treatment with an audiologist can mean you have hearing aids fitted to improve your hearing, which can help to make the tinnitus less noticeable.
3. Sound therapy is one of the best options out there to help push the noise away and mask it with other sounds.

How to cope

Trying to cope with tinnitus is not always easy. If you find the condition is starting to have an impact on your mental wellbeing, then it is always worth being referred to a therapist to help while your audiologist tries to help you to alleviate the condition. Medical factors have to be ruled out so that the right treatment can be given to you, so make sure that you let your audiologist know about any conditions you currently suffer with and any medication that you are on right now.

Tinnitus isn’t something that goes away if it’s noted as permanent, but where possible you should try not to let it interfere with the way that you live your life. Of course, you’ll need to stop using power tools unless you have ear defenders on. However, you should keep moving forward the best that you can.