What is tinnitus? Symptoms & treatment

Explore options to better manage tinnitus, including audiology counseling & hearing aids

If you experience sound that no one else hears, you may have tinnitus. According to the American Tinnitus Association, you're not alone. Around 50 million Americans experience tinnitus. 

Everyone experiences tinnitus differently and symptoms can vary widely. These can range from ringing that's barely noticeable to buzzing, static, or chirping that affects sleep. Our Audiology Team at Jabra Enhance is here to help you understand different ways to treat tinnitus. While tinnitus can affect your life, it doesn’t have to control you. We’ll go over the causes of tinnitus, the range of symptoms, and available treatment options designed to gain control over your tinnitus. 

What is tinnitus?

Tinnitus is the perception of sounds in your ears when there is no external source. In other words, tinnitus can sound like ringing in your ears even, when no one else in the room can hear it. Tinnitus can sound different to everyone: ringing, buzzing, hissing, clicking, humming, or roaring, or even musical. It can be constant or intermittent, range widely in severity, and can occur in one or both ears.

Causes of tinnitus

Tinnitus is typically not a standalone issue. It’s usually a symptom of something else. Causes may include hearing loss, age, medications, an underlying health condition or injury. At Jabra Enhance, we typically work with people who are experiencing tinnitus related to hearing loss.

Common causes of tinnitus, according to the Mayo Clinic:

• Hearing loss (from age, loud sounds, etc.)
• Blockage from earwax
• Ear infection or dysfunction
• Head, neck, or ear injuries
• Medication side effects
• Chronic illnesses (vascular, autoimmune, etc.)

Types of tinnitus

Because tinnitus can sound different to everyone, audiologists group “ringing in the ears” into four main categories: subjective, neurological, somatic, and objective. By identifying the type of tinnitus, we can better understand your unique hearing challenges and how to help you. 

Subjective
As the most common type of tinnitus, subjective tinnitus is when only you — not anyone else — can hear ringing, buzzing, or other noises. 

Neurological
Neurological tinnitus can be the result of a neurological or auditory processing disorder that may cause you to feel off-balance. 

Somatic
This type is associated with physical causes, such as muscle spasms in the ear or neck or dental or jaw problems. 

Objective
Unlike subjective tinnitus, objective tinnitus is rare and can also be heard by someone else. With a stethoscope, a doctor may be able to hear a clicking, murmur, or other noise.

Tinnitus treatments

Regardless of the type of tinnitus, we understand the constant background noise can interrupt your everyday life, and we want to help. Although there is no cure for tinnitus, the good news is that it is treatable for many people.

Hearing aids can often reduce the severity of tinnitus, in addition to helping you hear better. That’s because hearing aids allow you to hear more of the sounds around you, so you focus less on the ringing in your ears. 

Some hearing aid wearers find that they need additional help to find relief and may want to explore using a sound generator.

And for people whose mental health is affected by tinnitus, professional counseling in combination with sound generators has been shown to help. Counseling can include cognitive behavioral therapy to address how people perceive tinnitus and their emotions.

Hearing aids & tinnitus relief

At Jabra Enhance, we’ve helped thousands of people with tinnitus find relief through a combination of advanced hearing aid technologies and professional counseling. According to the Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) survey, 83% of our customers who reported struggling with tinnitus symptoms experienced an improvement with the help of our licensed Audiology Team.

How our Audiology Team helps with tinnitus

Dealing with tinnitus can be challenging, especially when you don’t know where to turn. Here at Jabra Enhance, we offer a free online hearing test designed by audiologists as a starting point to help you learn more about your unique hearing profile. This includes results around your ability to hear low, mid, and high frequencies that may indicate hearing loss. From there, we can custom-program hearing aids based on your test results or audiogram. 

At your first appointment with our Audiology Team, we can assess your hearing history and goals. Afterward, we’ll work with you to improve your overall hearing experience with follow-up appointments and personalized consultations.

For many with tinnitus, relief is possible, and we’d love to help you. Modern hearing technology and personalized counseling can help you quiet the noise, so you can reconnect with your world.