Have you ever climbed into bed after a loud concert and experienced ringing in your ears? If you answered yes, you might have had a temporary bout of tinnitus. Tinnitus is a prevalent occurrence in the United States; around 50 million people suffer from it in some form. The illness, which means 'ringing like a bell' in Latin, is more common in those over 65. Still, younger people are becoming increasingly susceptible because of smartphones with earbuds and exposure to the rising noise volumes in bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.

What is tinnitus?

The British Tinnitus Association defines tinnitus as "the perception of sound in the absence of any equivalent external sound." The most important thing to remember is that it is a symptom of another condition, not a condition in itself. A persistent high-pitched ringing is the most common sound heard, although other sounds include hissing, static, roaring, whooshing, buzzing, and even melodic sounds.

Another type of tinnitus (pulsatile) vibrates in time with the person's heartbeat. Subjective tinnitus is the most frequent type of hearing loss, in which only the person suffering can hear the sound. Tinnitus is most commonly experienced at night or when the environment is quiet. It is frequently associated with hearing loss, but there have been examples of hearing loss without tinnitus.

See us if you're suffering from tinnitus.

A hearing test is an essential first step in treating tinnitus to determine whether the source of the tinnitus is hearing loss or another auditory-related medical issue. We look for any hearing loss when diagnosing tinnitus because roughly 90% of tinnitus cases also reveal an underlying hearing loss. We'll go over an entire case history with you, your tinnitus, and how it impacts your quality of life based on the results of your hearing tests and the information you give us about your unique symptoms. We'll also ask you to describe the noise you hear (including its pitch and tone, as well as whether it's constant, regular, stable, or pulsating), as well as the times and places where you hear it. We investigate the reasons why some people are more bothered by sounds than others.

Our skilled, compassionate audiologist will recommend a course of action to address this recurrent problem. There is no cure for tinnitus, but we use cutting-edge tinnitus therapy to treat and lessen the effect of the sounds on your daily life. Following the hearing test, you will be given specific treatment recommendations. Treatment effectiveness is determined by the individual and the severity of their symptoms.

Hearing aids, however, have proven to be highly beneficial to many tinnitus sufferers. Many hearing aids include a bank of relaxing sounds and boost the overall 'volume' level of the sounds in your environment. This helps to push the effects of tinnitus to the back of the mind, and many people learn to tune out the noises as a result.

It's time to put an end to your suffering. Contact us to see how we can help you deal with those annoying noises and get back to living your life.