Ringing in the Ears – Do I have Tinnitus?

Ringing in the ears can border on painful. Victims of tinnitus experience a wide range of symptoms capable of jeopardizing hearing, employment, and even relationships. The Tinnitus Cognitive Center can identify tinnitus and developed a therapy to help you control the effects of the condition.

What are the symptoms of Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is an audial condition which presents itself as a ringing, whooshing, high-pitched noise, or even a song. The noise occurs when the brain attempts to make sense of sound within certain frequency ranges. The intensity of this condition can become extremely discomforting and painful.

The perceived sound related to tinnitus ranges from quiet background noise to one that blocks out everything. For most people, this problem does not merely disappear. Symptoms often present themselves when environmental background noise reaches a particular frequency.

Tinnitus may be an intermittent or continuous condition. It may be slightly or significantly uncomfortable.

A common misdiagnosis of tinnitus occurs in patients with Radio Frequency hearing (RF Hearing). RF Hearing is a condition that causes individuals to hear high-pitched transmission frequencies.  Under special circumstances, people can hear frequencies ranging from 2.4 megahertz to 10 gigahertz.

Is Tinnitus a serious problem?

While tinnitus symptoms are present in a significant percentage of the population, the condition is subjective and difficult to measure objectively. The tinnitus Handicap Inventory is used to measure the seriousness of the issue. This subjective test measures the issue based on an impact scale assessing the effect of the issue on a person’s quality of life.

Sufferers of tinnitus can experience panic attacks, increased depression, exhaustion, and a host of other issues. The brain perceives the ringing in the ears as dangerous which results in the production of adrenaline and a fight or flight response.

The fight or flight response creates a negative feedback loop which results in increased stress levels which, in turn, worsens symptoms. If left untreated, the effects will continue to grow worse.

When tinnitus symptoms become too great, quality of life may be impaired. Speaking with others, remaining well rested, and maintaining a daily routine are all affected by the symptoms. Forty-two percent of people suffering from the condition report adverse work affects.  Victims have even reported suicidal thoughts.

What causes Tinnitus?

The origins of tinnitus range from sensorineural hearing loss or congenital hearing loss to traumatic brain injuries and taking certain medications. The most common source of the condition is noise-induced hearing loss. This form of hearing loss is common in most industrialized countries.

There are a wide number of triggers which cause the noise. This includes common wiring and sound signal transmissions.

How do I stop the ringing in my ears?

Stress relief, the removal of irritants, being open about the condition, or cognitive training helps reduce the symptoms. However, tinnitus does not entirely disappear for most people.  Instead, efforts to control tinnitus focus on management of the symptoms rather than finding a complete cure.

When the roaring, whooshing, and ringing in the ears becomes too much to bear, the Tinnitus Cognitive Center can help. The center developed a unique therapy, cognitive retraining therapy, which retrains the brain to allow you to continue to live a normal and healthy life. Contact Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R for more information.

Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R
19 West 34th Street
Penthouse Floor
New York, NY 10001
646-213-2321