Symptoms of tinnitus

Introduction

Tinnitus is a condition in which a person perceives certainsounds without any outside source. It can be caused by the blood flow throughnarrows arteries or problems with the Eustachian tube. These symptoms arecharacteristic with the objective tinnitus and can be confirmed by listening througha stethoscope. Subjective tinnitus is caused by acoustic neuroma or hearingloss and can only heard by the person having it.

Symptoms

Tinnitus can be characterized by hissing, whistling, ringingor buzzing or it can be a more complex sound. It also can be permanent or itmay come and go in a random manner. Pulsatile tinnitus is in time with a person’sheart rate. Physical or psychological stress usually worsens any type oftinnitus. It can affect on or both ears or seem as if it is coming from the head.Tinnitus is always caused by problems within the inner ear or it has somethingto do with hearing loss. Excessive exposure to loud noises can also be thecause. Tinnitus can also be caused bywhiplash, head injury, hypertension, jaw joint problems, ear infections,otosclerosis, excess wax in the ear, Meniere’s disease, acoustic neuroma,middle ear effusion and high doses of certain types of medications.

Diagnosis

In order to diagnose the tinnitus properly one needs to takesome tests. All symptoms must be considered and certain blood tests must bedone as well as balance and hearing tests. In some cases the doctor may need toperform ultrasonography, angiogram, computed tomography or a magnetic resonanceimaging scan.

Treatment

In order to treat tinnitus one should keep the stresslevels down indulge in exercise on a regular basis use special relaxationtechniques keep the background noises at low levels and perhaps join a supportgroup. Infections that are associated with tinnitus should be treated withprescribed antibiotics while low doses of antidepressants can be helpful inrelieving the condition. Sometimes a hearing aid can be helpful in amplifyingthe external sounds.

Noise generators and tinnitus retraining therapies canalso give great results, especially when combined. Positive thinking also helpsa lot a makes tinnitus much more manageable. If the cause of condition is abenign tumor a surgery must take place in order to remove the tumor. There arealso a few complementary therapies that can be helpful in certain cases. Theseincludes reflexology, yoga, meditation, acupuncture, hypnosis, massage andreflexology. There are some other treatments that have not been proven yet.