Hearing Rehab Center, Longmont 

WHAT IS TINNITUS?
 
Tinnitus is a perception of sound occurring in the ears or head.  Typically, no one else can hear it.  It is not a disease, but rather a symptom similar to a headache or fever.  Also, tinnitus will not cause disease; as it is not a disease.  It will also not cause hearing loss or death. 
 
There are two main types of tinnitus that originate from either the middle ear or the brain. The middle ear is home to your ear drum and the three smallest bones in the body.  In fact, the bones are so small they fit on the size of a dime with room to spare!  Middle ear tinnitus is transmitted through the middle ear cavity and can often be heard by your audiologist.  Sensorineural tinnitus originates in the auditory section of your brain, which is home to your organ of hearing and auditory nerve.  It has been described as ringing, buzzing, humming, hissing etc.  It can manifest softly, loudly, or vary in intensity.  It can manifest in one ear, two ears, or midline in the head and it can change pitch. 
 
Tinnitus affects many people regardless of age, gender, or hearing capabilities.  So, you can have normal hearing and still experience tinnitus.  Tinnitus will not cause you to lose your hearing.  It may be exacerbated by certain factors such as: exposure to loud noise stemming from work or leisure related activities, degree of hearing loss, stress, lack of sleep, injury to the ears or head, side effect to certain medication, or develop as a natural part of the aging process.  Many causes of tinnitus remain unknown. 
 
TIPS FOR COPING WITH TINNITUS:
 
1.  Hearing evaluation to determine the overall health of your auditory system:  We are not just looking for a hearing loss.  We are looking for tumors or lesions which may be contributing to the tinnitus.

2.  Tinnitus Retraining Therapy:  There is a system in your body called the limbic system.  The limbic system regulates your emotional response to sound and activates your autonomic nervous system.  Tinnitus' activation of the limbic system produces negative emotions such as stress, anxiety, fear, and in turn, over stimulates the autonomic system to inhibit sleep and impede many other daily functions of your life.  Your negative emotional response to tinnitus is a response that needs to be altered.  By altering your emotional response to tinnitus, you alter the neuronal activity resulting from the perception of tinnitus and the tinnitus will diminish to leave you happily unbothered by it.  Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is designed to help alleviate your negative emotions towards the tinnitus. 

3.  Use hearing aids if appropriate:  Hearing aids help tinnitus by improving communication and reducing stress.  Further, hearing aids may reduce the loudness of tinnitus by amplifying the clarity of speech. A new type of hearing aid, the open-fit, has been found to be particularly useful in alleviating tinnitus. The open-fit hearing aid can reduce the effects of tinnitus while still maintaining the clarity of speech.

For the entire list of tips for coping with tinnitus, please click here.

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