Are You Suffering From Any of These Symptoms as a Result of Tinnitus? Call Today for a Consultation.
■ Mild to severe anxiety
■ Depression
■ Insomnia
■ Negative thinking
■ Triggered fight or flight
■ Crying spells
■ Hopelessness
■ Ringing in the ears
■ Suicidal thoughts
Are you growing more isolated? Do you feel like life will never be the same? Are you refraining from activities that you enjoy? Are you fearful of losing your job? Do you find that your thoughts tend to be negative?
If you answered yes to 3 or more of these questions or symptoms, then we can help. You may be a candidate for Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy, or TCRT.
With over 20 years of clinical experience, Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R developed Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy and founded the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ in response to the growing number of Tinnitus sufferers coming to his private practice.
He discovered that by helping people to retrain and reinterpret the thoughts around their Tinnitus, anxiety and depression symptoms began to improve. But even more important so did the Tinnitus.
What are sound disorders? Speech and hearing related health problems are now gaining more awareness among the public. This allows patients and their families to recognize symptoms and get help at earlier stages. A speech sound disorder occurs when a person struggles with producing speech sounds. As a result, they are unable to communicate properly.
Of course, it is normal for little children to say words incorrectly and find difficulty in communicating their thoughts. But, it should concern you if they struggle to make the correct sounds even past their vocabulary-learning age. Then, you might want to consult a medical professional and seek treatment in a timely manner. Continue reading to learn more about speech sound disorders.
Sound Disorder
Speech sound disorders are simply communication disorders that affect how a person perceives sounds and the way they say them. Generally common in children, people with speech sound disorders experience trouble in making correct sounds and speaking clearly.
Some children even struggle to produce some specific sounds only or find difficulty controlling their voice. Others with sound speech disorders also suffer from speaking problems like stuttering lisp or stutter. In such cases, their speech is so incoherent that people around them are unable to make what the child is trying to say.
A speech sound disorder is not the same as a language disorder. In fact, speech sound disorder only refers to difficulty in making sounds, whereas language disorders involve problems understanding and speaking a language in general. Children with sound disorders do not have any problem with understanding language.
By the age of 8, most children know enough vocabulary to communicate their thoughts effectively. However, if your child still hasn’t mastered the basic words, they may be struggling with a speech sound disorder.
Speech sound disorders involve phonological process disorders and articulation disorders.
Phonological process disorder: pattern of sound mistakes such as leaving out certain letters when pronouncing a word.
Articulation disorder: problem with producing certain sounds like the ‘sh’ or ‘ch’ sound.
What are the Symptoms of Speech Sound Disorder?
It is normal for children to struggle initially as they learn to speak, but most kids speak very clearly by the time they turn 3. In case a child’s speech is not developing with age, they might be suffering from a speech disorder.
Some common symptoms include:
Trouble moving lips, tongue, and jaw
Difficulty in making specific sounds
Not speaking as well as other children of the same age
Not speaking clearly
Sudden changes in pitch and volume
Nasal or hoarse voice when speaking
Panting while talking
Stuttering or lisping
Struggle with using facial muscles such as while chewing or blowing nose
Although speech sound disorders usually show up during early childhood years, they may also appear later in life.
Only saying one syllable in multiple syllable words (for example: saying ‘bay’ while trying to say ‘baby’)
Repeating syllables in a word to simplify the word (for example: saying ‘baba’ while trying to say ‘bottle’)
Leaving out the sound of consonants in a word (for example: saying ‘at’ while trying to say ‘rat’)
Changing the sound of a consonant in words (for example: saying ‘tat’ while trying to say ‘cat’)
What Are Sound Disorders? Conclusion
Speech sound disorders usually appear in the early childhood years, but some adults also show signs later in life. Although the real cause for sound disorders is still unknown, experts believe it has to do with gender, pre and peri-natal problems, and family history. Treatment plans can help patients suffering from articulation and phonological process disorders through the use of different strategies and activities.
Tinnitus refers to a prevalent hearing disorder in which you hear strange and constant noises such as ringing, buzzing, whooshing, and so on in the ears. You might hear these strange, debilitating sounds constantly in one or both of your ears. However, you may not be able to find an external source for these sounds. This condition is “tinnitus.” Better known as “ringing in the year,” it occurs internally due to musculoskeletal or cardiovascular movement.
While these sounds cause you anxiety, depression, pain, and stress, people around you might not even get a hint of the sound. Experts refer to this type as “subjective tinnitus.” On the other hand, if people in close proximity to you can listen or feel the sound closely, experts call it “objective tinnitus.” Although it is usually a sign of aging, it can occur due to underlying serious medical issues as well.
Symptoms of Tinnitus and Sound Disorders
The most common symptom of tinnitus that many people mention is ringing in the ears. Nevertheless, there is a broad range of these strange noises and sounds that can affect your daily life. Here are some:
Roaring
Clicking
Whistling
Buzzing
Whooshing
Humming
Hissing
Normally, people affected with tinnitus experience the subjective type, in which they are the only ones who can hear these constant noises and sounds. These noises range between high and low in terms of pitches. Often, they may be as disturbing as a constantly high-pitched squeal. Therefore, you may understand how devastating their impact on a person’s lifestyle may be. The sounds can be loud enough to obstruct your concentration and rest. In some cases, they may interfere with your ability to hear external sounds.
Rare cases of sound disorders and tinnitus can result in whooshing and rhythmic pulsing noises. This occurs in a type of tinnitus known as “pulsatile tinnitus.” The noise, in this case, beats rhythmically with your pulse and may also be perceivable by another person examining you.
General Causes of Tinnitus and Sound Disorders | Buzzing in the Ear
There are various health conditions that experts believe lead to hearing loss and tinnitus alike. While there is no concrete evidence as to how these interconnect, they do affect tinnitus and worsen it in many cases. The general causes include:
Hearing loss: Cochlea deformity due to several medical reasons, including any accidents or injuries.
Ear infections: Probably due to ear wax buildup or bacteria accumulation that harms the health of the inner parts of one or both of your ears.
Medications: Specific medicinal drugs have a health effect that often impacts your ears’ inner condition adversely. Consulting your previous medications with your doctor can help to determine whether it is a cause of tinnitus in your ear.
Neck and head injuries: These pertain to damage to the internal sound-sensitive organs in one or both of your ears which results in hearing disability and tinnitus.
When is Immediate Medical Care Imperative?
You might not know when your hearing has worsened until you experience chronic symptoms. Speaking of sound disorders like tinnitus, you should know the right time to procure medical attention. While it is best to seek early treatments and diagnosis when experiencing acute to mild symptoms, you should seek medical care when the sounds become constant, high-pitched, frequent, and/or vary in pattern.
Furthermore, if tinnitus is starting to affect your daily life, such as when you are not able to comprehend external sounds, concentrate, or suffer from anxiety (or any other psychological issue), you should seek medical care.
In addition, if you feel dizzy, light-headed, or become depressed, you should immediately see a medical expert for quick treatment and long-term evaluation.
What Treatments are Available for Sound Disorders and Tinnitus?
Medication
Your doctor might prescribe antibiotic ear drops, anti-inflammatory pills/ear drops, and similar medication to help alleviate the discomfort and symptoms. Though, remember that tinnitus is mostly incurable, so you can’t expect the medication to cure it instantly. Aside from that, your doctor may also advise prescription drugs to counter anxiety and depression.
TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy)
TRT treatment works in conjunction with and presence of an audiologist who is an auditory expert. The main concept of this treatment method is to combine the most effective approaches: professional counseling and the use of sound-minimizing/masking devices along. The sound masking decreases your attention and bothersome awareness towards tinnitus noises, while the directive counseling helps you ignore them.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT Therapy is also a form of counseling that requires a trained psychologist or similar professional. They help you define your thought process on tinnitus noises that leads to anger, anxiety, depression, and other effects. From then on, they help you construct a thought process of your own that is less bothered by tinnitus noises. Hence, you ignore the noises and perceive them as neutral sounds.
Buzzing in the Ears: Conclusion
Are you or a loved one currently experiencing tinnitus symptoms? If so, you should get in touch with Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R at the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™, who specializes in dealing with tinnitus and related health conditions.
Give us a call to set an appointment for an online consultation or treatment today.
Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R 19 West 34th Street Penthouse Floor New York, NY 10001 646-213-2321
What are some of the latest treatments for sound disorders? Medicinal Technology is continuously developing more effective means of treatment and disease management. The latest treatment options offer a range of additional benefits, from healing diseases to coping with major symptoms of severe/chronic health conditions. However, our focus in this article will be on sound disorders, also referred to as hearing disorders in this article.
It is a rare type of hearing disorder that affects the functions of the auditory nerves in our ears. The disorder refers to the inability of auditory nerves to send electrical impulses to the brain after hearing sound through the ear. It can result in hearing loss which varies in effect from person to person. In this disorder, the affected person perceives distorted external sounds and noises that are difficult to comprehend in the form of speech. Through continual monitoring of the condition’s status, experts provide treatment for this type of disorder.
· Conductive Hearing Loss
This disorder is often temporary and leads to partial or full hearing impairment. In simple words, because of this disorder, when you receive sound through your middle or outer ear, it appears muffled. Normally, this can occur due to wax, fluid, or foreign substance buildup in the eardrum or canal. It can also be a birth deformity that might require surgical treatment. Irregularity of the small bones more likely leads to conductive hearing issues.
· Tinnitus
Tinnitus itself is a symptom, but many people perceive it as a disease. When you have tinnitus, you will experience different internal sounds in the ear that create a ringing sound. The ringing sound is the most common, but there are also other sounds such as humming, hissing, clicking, buzzing, and roaring. The intensity of these sounds can vary as they start with a low pitch before reaching high frequencies. These sounds interfere with your ability to hear properly and concentrate on other sounds in the environment, such as the sound of another person speaking. Sometimes, you may also experience whooshing sounds that go along with your heartbeat. Pulsatile tinnitus is when the person standing next to you can hear the sounds as well, and it signals that you should undergo a proper medical examination.
· Mixed Hearing Loss
As the name suggests, this disorder or hearing loss occurs when the person experiences a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing issues. Therefore, treatments also involve the use of multiple techniques and medical intervention. Moreover, hearing aids can also work for this hearing loss issue.
· Central Auditory Processing Disorder
This central auditory processing disorder affects the hearing sensitivity in an individual. While a person may hear external sounds in this disorder, they are unable to cope with the condition. In short, it means that they do not fully understand and perceive the information that they are receiving. It can involve trouble in detecting the essential parts of what was said. Further, it can get difficult to listen fully when there is excessive background noise.
· Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss issues occur when the cochlea in the ear suffers from damage. It has hair cells that move when we receive sounds. This movement sends impulses along with the nerves to the brain to comprehend what you heard. In this disorder, a person requires the sounds to be loud for them to understand. Hence, the medical treatments for this disorder revolve around hearing aids, therapies, and more.
Latest Treatment Options for Sound Disorders (Hearing Disorders)
For the hearing disorders discussed above, here are some of the latest treatment options. Keep in mind that these treatment methods are not only for the hearing disorders above, but they can potentially help to treat an array of different hearing issues.
· Implants in the Middle Ear
Your surgeon will place a tiny device inside your ear (middle ear) to make sure that the middle ear bones move with more strength to produce strong vibrations for the inner ear. This implant treatment is effective for sensorineural hearing loss disorder. They are a recent advancement in tinnitus and other hearing loss issue treatments. They stick right in the middle of your ear, which keeps them hidden for as long as your specialist would suggest.
Hearing aids are a common name for treatments that deal with placing devices in, on, or over the ear to aid in listening and comfortably comprehending noise. Bone-anchored hearing aids fit behind the ear. This is from where these implants pass on sound through your skull to your inner ear. As they offer nearly the same hearing assistance and sound transmission to the inner ear as surgical implants, the non-surgical implantation feature is a success as the latest treatment option.
· Hearing Aids: Analog
Analog hearing aids convert external sounds into electrical signals. They also make these sounds louder through electrical signals before transmitting them to the inner ear and brain. Think of this as a microphone in an amplifier.
· Hearing Aids: Digital
Digital hearing aids give you more flexibility since you can adjust the hearing loss and electrical signal transmission for the specific frequencies you have issues with.
· Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implants in the inner ear bypass the damaged inner parts of the area to stimulate your hearing nerves in the ear directly. This helps to reduce the hearing loss that occurs due to hearing disorders.
· Surgical Procedures
Abnormalities of the ear (inner and middle ear) are not easily treatable with only hearing aids or implants. Therefore, surgical procedures correct congenital hearing disorders by removing infections, excess fluids, and other types of damages to the inner ear.
· Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) CBT is a form of psychotherapy used to treat people with anxiety disorders. Do you or someone in your family have an anxiety disorder? CBT helps change the way you might think, behave, and finally, react in a fearful or anxiety-causing situation (or an object). CBT employs social skill practices that assist in treating disorders similar to social anxiety. Read more about CBT therapy here.
· Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy (TCRT)
The major goal of the tinnitus retaining therapy is to manage your response towards the stimulus. There is no evidence, which shows that the therapy has completely cured the situation. Many healthcare providers will also suggest tinnitus masking if you suffer from such chronic disorder. Tinnitus masking is, using music or any sound to mask the tinnitus. The healthcare provider might suggest you wear a hearing aid. Read more about TCRT therapy for sound disorders here.
Latest Treatments for Sound Disorders: Conclusion
Do you suffer from any hearing disorders? Is tinnitus a growing concern for your physical and mental health? Do you feel any of the symptoms of hearing disorders (sound disorders)?
Genetics is an important factor for hearing and sound disorders in children. Our bodies are a make-up of trillions of tiny cells. Within each one of those cells, we have thousands of genetic materials, which act like instructions that decide how our body will grow and develop. They are also the determining units that make us unique amongst others.
Why Genetics is Important in People with Sound Disorders?
This brings us to the question, are sound disorders also just a defect of our genes? Well, our genetic coding is responsible for all of our physical features. This includes our height, the color of our eyes, and everything else.
Similarly, we also have genes that have the coding to how our ears grow and function. The complexity of the human ear is unfathomable. Once you look into it, you find that it comprises many small organs that function in great harmony together so that we can hear and perceive sound.
Hundreds and thousands of genes inside your body help determine the functionality of the ear and its condition. Therefore, if one of one those genes are not working properly, sound disorders can occur.
There are many reasons why someone has to suffer from sound disorders, such as tinnitus. One of the reasons includes overexposure to loud noises; while other times, it is a result of a serious illness. However, we also know that changes in genes have the most influence on sound disorders.
This means that the mutation in genes is often the cause of tinnitus. Most of the people who suffer from sound disorders have a genetic mutation that makes their ear unable to function and, therefore, make wrong perceptions of sounds.
If you have a family history of sound disorders, then it can transfer on to you as well, making it a hereditary condition. Knowing if there is a hereditary problem in terms of sound disorders in the family is a great way to deal with your sound disorder.
This is because the symptoms of sound or hearing disorders may occur later in life. Hence, knowing beforehand makes you prepare for them and possibly counter them, mitigating their effects. Sound disorders that occur from a genetic mutation will mostly also associate with other medical conditions.
Identifying a sound disorder and anticipating it may also help stabilize the effects if you take the right precautions. Understanding that there is a hereditary chance of a sound disorder also gives a chance to the health care providers to formulate a better strategy so that you can cope with it better without having to sacrifice your quality of life.
Types of Hearing Disorders
There are different types of hearing disorders, some closely associated with the dysfunctions of the ear, while others are mostly cognitive problems. The three most common disorders of hearing sound are hearing loss, Hyperacusis, and Tinnitus.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus can be a buzzing or a tingling sound in the ear without any external source of the sound. It is a faulty perception by the brain. It is a conscious realization and hearing of a sound that you hear involuntarily. There is no particular cause of this hearing disorder; instead, it is the symptom of another underlying condition.
The Mechanism of Tinnitus
A huge number of active nerve centers in the brain transmit electronic signals, and they all have different roles. There is a very specific area in the brain, the auditory cortex. This region is responsible for processing sound information.
The arrangement of the auditory cortex is in such a way that it helps determine different pitches and frequencies of sound. Any disruption in the auditory cortex leads to either hearing loss or sound disorders such as tinnitus or hyperacusis.
The nerves that make up the auditory cortex can sometimes start to activate without any external stimuli. This usually occurs due to aging. The firing of the nerve endings together causes the brain to perceive sounds that do not exist.
Therefore, this causes you to experience tinnitus sounds. In other words, if the ears stop connecting to the auditory center, then they begin to give out an unregulated signal, causing the experience of tinnitus.
Are Sound Disorders Hereditary? Conclusion
With the help of specialists like Stephen Katz LCSW in New York, founder of the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™, people can look forward to more advanced and effective treatments of tinnitus. If you or anyone you know suffers from tinnitus or hyperacusis, make sure to get the most cutting edge treatments anywhere in the world. Call us today at (646) 213-2321.
Do you have problems with sound sensitivity? Hyperacusis is a hearing disorder that makes it very difficult to hear daily sounds. Experts also call this condition noise or sound sensitivity. If you suffer from sound sensitivity, specific sounds might feel very loud, but people sitting beside you may not even notice it. Hyperacusis is uncommon. Out of every 50,000 people, Hyperacusis only affects one. Another condition linked to hyperacusis is tinnitus.This is normally a ringing or buzzing sound in your ear. A lot of people suffering from this condition can also hear normally.
Hyperacusis symptoms can also affect your daily life. These symptoms are:
Trouble in connecting with others (avoidance and social isolation)
Relationship problems
Ear pain
Anxiety
Depression
With this condition, some sounds may seem louder than they are, such as:
A loud conversation
A car engine
A kitchen appliance such asa dishwasher and a refrigerator
A running faucet
For some people, the sound only disturbs them without causing any further symptoms. Of course, others may experience symptoms like seizures or the loss of balance.
Types of Hyperacusis
Hyperacusis is of two kinds; vestibular and cochlear. Cochlear is the common kind, and it causes a general feeling of intolerance, frustration, and pain in the ear for daily sounds. The second type is vestibular, which induces feelingslike imbalance, nausea, and dizziness.This happens when particular sounds are nearby. Both kinds of hyperacusis can be a reason forphonophobia, whichinvolves a fear of normal sounds, social isolation, depression, stress, and anxiety.
Most people confuse recruitment with hyperacusis, but both conditions are different. In recruitment,the ears exaggerate the sound perception that comes under their range of frequency of hearing loss. We can understand the difference by saying that hyperacusis makes every sound too loud, and recruitment makes only specific sounds loud and uncomfortable. An audiologist will perform a loudness discomfort test to identify which condition you are experiencing.
Causes of Hyperacusis
Some causes of hyperacusis are:
Medical procedures such as clearing the ear canal which will increase the sensitivity for sound temporarily
Paralysis of the facial nerve causing the mechanism of the middle ear which helps in protecting from the loud noises
Surgery to the ear
Head injury
Certain medication
Working ina loud and noisy environment can create exposure to loud noises
A slap on the ear
Exposure to loud noise such as an explosion
Changes in hearing quality due to aging
Sound Sensitivity: Other Causes of Hyperacusis
It can affect people of all ages and can impact your hearing in both ears or in one ear. People do not have this rare condition when they are bornbut develop it later on. It can occur suddenly or over a period of time. Some rare causes of hyperacusis are:
Viral infections affecting thefacial nerve or the inner ear
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Williams’s syndrome
Tay-Sachs disease
Bell’s palsy
Lyme disease
Head injury
Exposure to loud noise
Treatment for Hyperacusis
Experts have yet to find a specific cure for hyperacusis. Most often, common reasons include aging, physical damage, or noise damage in the inner ear.To avoid this condition, you need to protect your ears from loud noise. Other disorders similar to hyperacusis are treatable, so many people confuse the two and delay a visit to the ENT doctor. However, that can be worse as this condition needs immediate action.People can control their sensitivity to sound is controlled in many ways. This includes:
1. In Noisy Environment Wear Hearing Protection
Wear earplugs while working with loud tools or in a place with loud noise or music. If you do not protect your ears in a loud environment, you can cause sensitivity or tinnitus, which will impair your listening.
2. Desensitization
You need to reintroduce sounds that you hear every day as much as you can.
Ask others to speak in a low voice if loud noises irritate you. Explain your condition to them and how loud noises can make you uncomfortable.
4. Talk to your Friends and Family about Your Condition
If you are feeling anxiety or any other reaction as a result of your condition, talk to your family or friends. You can also discuss your condition with a psychologist or counselor.They will help you understand your condition from a different perspective. They can also help you copewith symptoms by tolerating it.
5. TRT or Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
In this therapy, you need to wear special hearing devices, also known as noise generators. This device reduces your sensitivity towards sound over time. Noise generators will help you adapt with barely audible sounds such as white noise so that you can ignore loud noises.
6. Sleeping Medication
You need this medication when your condition makes it difficult for you to sleep.
Sound Sensitivity Conclusion: Consult With An Expert
If you are experiencing a hearing condition, contact our specialized and professional ENT specialist Stephen Katz LCSW. He will guide you on how you can reduce hyperacusis and other hearing conditions. For appointments and consultation through your cellphone, contact us at 646-598-2251. For further details,visit our website.
Tinnitus & Sound Disorders are a problem for many. Your ear has three main parts: inner, middle, and outer. To perform the function of hearing, you use all the parts. Sound waves enter your ear through the outer ear and then reach the middle part. In the middle ear, these waves vibrate your eardrum. There are three tiny bones in your middle ear called ossicles. These bones send the vibration to your inner ear. The inner ear is a snail-shaped organ that makes nerve impulses and sends them to your brain through sensory nerves. Your brain then recognizes these impulses as sounds.
You may feel severe pain if you have an ear infection because of the fluid buildup and inflammation in your middle ear. This infection can be acute or chronic. Acute infections are painful, but they only last for a short period. Chronic infection can last for a long time. It can reoccur and cause permanent damage to the middle ear.
Causes of Ear Infections
An ear infection occurs when your Eustachian tube becomes blocked or swollen. The Eustachian tube connects your middle ear with your nasal cavity and upper throat and is an exit for the fluid. Any blockage in this tube can cause fluid to build up in your middle ear.
The following can be the reasons for Eustachian Tube blockage:
Air pressure changes
Allergies
Sinus infections
Colds
Excess mucus
Smoking
Swollen or infected adenoids
Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a common problem causing a ringing noise in the ears without an external source. Tinnitus can result from a variety of diseases or some damage to your inner ear. It happens due to hearing loss, circulatory system disorder, ear injury, etc. It can improve with treatment. Usually, your doctor will identify the cause of Tinnitus and treat. Because of that, your Tinnitus goes away. Masking techniques also work well in making this noise less noticeable.
Meniere’s disease is a condition that affects your inner ear and causes you to feel vertigo. You may experience a specific type of dizziness as though you are spinning. Meniere’s disease occurs in one or both ears, and can cause permanent hearing loss.
Causes of Meniere’s Disease
An infection in your ear causes fluid buildup in your labyrinth, which is a part of your inner ear. When this part of your ear fills with excess fluid, it interferes with the signals that your brain receives. With interference in the signals to the brain, you may feel hearing problems and vertigo.
It isn’t yet clear why people get infected with this disease, but researchers suggest following theories as the possible causes of fluid buildup:
This condition is a result of pressure differences between the outside and inside of the ear. Ear barotrauma can cause you pain, and in some cases, permanent hearing loss. The middle has air in and contains three small bones helping send the sound to the inner ear through vibration. The Eustachian tube also connects with this part of the area
The pressure inside the middle ear and outside environment should match. If there is any change in pressure, the Eustachian tube opens to equalize the pressure. Sometimes, this tube doesn’t open, damaging the eardrum due to change in the pressure. The eardrum is separating the middle and outer ear. A change in pressure causes damage or bleeding in the inner, middle, or outer ear. This condition can usually happen during air travel and diving.
Causes of Ear Barotrauma
Ear barotraumas occur due to pressure imbalance between the outer environment, and the environment inside the ear. The imbalance can occur due to an issue with the Eustachian tube. The fluid buildup or inflammation around the Eustachian tube can cause ear barotrauma. Some of these factors include:
Sinus congestion
Allergies
Anatomical abnormalities
Certain hormonal changes
Exposure to smoke
Cold or any other infection
Conclusion
Contact the TinnitusCognitive Center at (646) 213-2321 to get help with your condition as soon as possible. Our specialist, Stephen Katz LCSW, can help you live a normal life by treating a variety of issues with sound disorders, especially Tinnitus.
Do you have a sound disorder such as tinnitus? Tinnitus is a condition that causes a constant ringing or buzzing sound, hence the name “Ringing in the Ears”. This sound may be continuous, or it may occur off and on. Tinnitus sounds can be frustrating and lead to depression, stress, and anxiety. Tinnitus is not a disease itself, but a condition that arises because of other diseases.
Tinnitus is the sensation of hearing sounds without any external source. The symptoms of Tinnitus include phantom noises in your ear, such as the following:
Ringing
Roaring
Hissing
Buzzing
Clicking
Humming
The noises may occur in different pitches in one or both ears. In some cases, the intensity of sound can be so loud that it affects the concentration of the person or drowns out other sounds from the surroundings. There are two types of Tinnitus:
Subjective Tinnitus
Only you can hear subjective Tinnitus. This type of Tinnitus is common. The region from where this condition originates is the inner, middle, and/or outer ear. It can also occur due to the problems in your hearing nerves or the sensory part of your brain.
Objective Tinnitus
Objective Tinnitus can even be heard by your doctor while examining. This Tinnitus is a rare type and can occur due to a blood vessel problem, muscle contraction, or a bone condition in the middle ear.
Common Causes of Tinnitus
Many different health conditions can cause Tinnitus. Finding the exact cause is sometimes hard. Tinnitus may be a symptom of the following conditions:
Age Factor
Hearing gets worse with age and can lead to Tinnitus. The chance of getting Tinnitus grows significantly after the age of 60. This type of hearing loss is medically known as presbycusis.
Exposure to Loud Noise
Loud noises from chainsaws, heavy equipment, and firearms are common causes of hearing loss. The continuous use of headphones for hearing loud music can result in noise-related hearing loss. It is advisable to keep your headphone volume low or take breaks while hearing music to reduce the chances of getting Tinnitus.
Earwax blockage
Earwax helps trap dirt and slows down the growth of bacteria in your ear canal. Too much earwax is hard to drain causes a blockage in the ear, resulting in irritation or hearing loss. If not addressed on time, this situation can lead to Tinnitus.
Changes in Ear Bone
When bones get stiff in your middle ear, they can cause hearing loss and Tinnitus. This condition usually runs in families.
Other Causes of Tinnitus
These are some other common causes of Tinnitus:
Meniere’s disease
Meniere’s disease is a disorder that occurs due to abnormal fluid pressure in the inner ear. Tinnitus may be an indicator of this disease.
TMJ disorders
Misalignment of the temporomandibular joint, which is present near your middle ear, can cause Tinnitus. This joint connects your lower jaw with your head.
Head or Neck Injury
Head or neck injury can affect the inner ear, brain function, or hearing nerves linked. Generally, this condition only occurs in one ear.
Acoustic Neuroma tumor is non-cancerous and develops on the cranial nerve. This nerve controls your balance and hearing and runs to your inner ear from your brain. This condition also occurs in only one ear.
5. Dysfunction of the Eustachian Tube
When the Eustachian tube remains expanded, you may feel fullness in your ear. This tube connects your middle ear with the lower throat and nasal area. It helps in removing excess fluid from your ear. The causes of such dysfunction include pregnancy, loss of weight, and radiation therapy.
Inner Ear Muscle Spasm
A neurological disease like multiple sclerosis can cause this condition. Sometimes, it can happen with no explainable reason. This condition can also be a result of muscle spasm inside your inner ear. You may feel Tinnitus, the fullness of ear, or hearing loss.
Conclusion
If you have Tinnitus, you should visit a Tinnitus treatment specialist as soon as possible as this condition can get severe with time. Tinnitus treatment specialist, Stephen Katz, can help you with your Tinnitus.
