Tinnitus: from the Latin word tinnire which means “to ring”
Tinnitus is not a disease but a symptom that can result from a number of underlying causes. One of the most common causes is noise-induced hearing loss.
The diagnosis of tinnitus is based on a person’s description of what they are experiencing. Tinnitus diagnosis is assisted with an audiogram (hearing test) and an assessment of how much tinnitus is interfering with a person’s life.
Tinnitus can be in one or both ears or in the head. The noise can be described in many ways. As ringing, a high- pitched whining, electric buzzing, hissing, humming, tinging or whistling sound, ticking, clicking, roaring, crickets or tree frogs, musical tunes, beeping, sizzling, human voices or whooshing sounds. People with chronic tinnitus experience it continuously or regularly, such as during the night when there is less environmental noise to cover the sounds.
Prevention involves avoiding loud noise. An audiogram (hearing test) may facilitate fitting of a hearing aid which will boost the attenuated frequencies to partly mask tinnitus by raising the background level of sounds. Masking may significantly suppress the discomforts of chronic tinnitus.
“I have dealt with ringing in my ears and what was diagnosed as vertigo for several years. Many doctor appointments and trials of medication.
This condition caused me a lack of sleep, barely getting 4 hours per night. Nausea and vomiting impaired my ability to drive.
Upon meeting with Travis King the Hearing Aid Specialist at Hearing Aid Services a hearing test showed that I have a significant hearing loss. Within a matter of days, with the purchase of hearing aids, the ringing stopped and I no longer had the vertigo symptoms. I now sleep a full 7-8 hours per night.
The diagnosis of hearing loss has totally changed my day to day life.”
Larry