Tinnitus

Tinnitus is the sensation of hearing sound that is inaudible to others. It is a subjective – and often very annoying – sound experience. Tinnitus often accompanies hearing impairment.

Tinnitus can be perceived as all kinds of sounds, such as a rushing or ringing sound or white noise. Tinnitus can vary in intensity and be constant or periodic. Tinnitus is more common in people over 40 years of age than in younger people.

Tinnitus can be very annoying and result in problems with concentration and sleep.

Typical causes of tinnitus

Hearing impairment

Diseases of the ear

Accumulation of ear wax

Foreign objects in the ear canal

Stress

Fatigue

High blood pressure

Excessive use of certain drugs, e.g. painkillers with acetylsalicyl acid.

Tinnitus and hearing impairment

A lot of research on tinnitus is being done, but an exact cause – or cure – has not yet been found.

Many of the factors that cause hearing impairment, such as noise, also cause tinnitus.

Treatment of tinnitus

If a person has tinnitus due to earwax, stress or high blood pressure, they will be treated for that problem. There is, however, no cure for tinnitus if no external cause can be found.

The follwing treatment options exist:

A well fitted hearing aid can often reduce tinnitus in people with hearing loss.

A tinnitus masker, which is an electronic instrument designed to be placed in the ear and emit noise that fully or partially mask the presence of tinnitus.

Help from specially trained people, e.g. specialists, psychologists, etc. who can teach people with chronic tinnitus to live with the sound - and maybe in time learn to ignore it.