Learning to Recognize the Symptoms of Tinnitus

Although tinnitus is still considered to be a pretty rare condition, because the rates are continuing to rise doctors are more adamant about their pat...


Although tinnitus is still considered to be a pretty rare condition, because the rates are continuing to rise doctors are more adamant about their patients watching for the symptoms of tinnitus.  Tinnitus can be extremely frustrating to deal with because only that person can hear the noises and no one else can.  More often than not, cases of tinnitus are caused by more serious health conditions which would likely require immediate action.  It’s important to get treatment right away, and that means being able to recognize the symptoms of tinnitus to know when to report them to a doctor.

There are a few tinnitus symptoms which are important to watch for.  The main symptom is a buzzing sound around the ears which persists or which may go away but then come back.  Most tinnitus sufferers report that the clicking or ringing noise they hear goes along with their heartbeat.  It can range from being so mild that it’s hardly noticeable at some points to being so severe that you can barely think and find it hard to complete your regular daily activities.

Anyone experiencing the symptoms of tinnitus will usually be checked first for hearing loss.  Any person who notices these sorts of symptoms needs to talk to their doctor right away, rather than hoping for them to go away on their own.  When the symptoms of tinnitus strike seemingly out of nowhere, this is the most dangerous situation because it means that there is likely a serious health condition such as a tumor or aneurysm.  A tumor can push up against the ear canal and cause ringing and buzzing noises in the ear.

For people who notice that their tinnitus noise is in pulsatile with their heartbeat, so the noise raises and drops as their heart beats, the problem may be an aneurysm.  When a person tells their doctor they think they’re exhibiting the symptoms of tinnitus, there are a few tests which may be used to make a proper diagnosis.  That includes X-rays, audiograms, brain scans and in some cases MRIs.  More basic tests like blood pressure and blood tests are also usually called for and are used to check for conditions like hyperthyroidism.

If the cause is found, after treatment of the problem the tinnitus will usually go away on its own.  However, in cases where this is not the result or where no cause is determined, there are different at-home treatments that patients are advised to try.  Using anti-anxiety or antidepressant medications is often enough to treat tinnitus conditions or at least keep them under control.  White noise machines are one of the most commonly suggested ideas by doctors, especially at night when you’re trying to go to bed and don’t want to be bothered by the noise of your tinnitus.

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