What Tinnitus Means?

The actual word “Tinnitus” is derived from Latin and means “ringing, to ring or to sing loudly” and describes the sounds which are heard by the sufferer but which don’t have any actual acoustic signal from the surrounding environment. Tinnitus Masking Software is the most common form of relief for Tinnitus sufferers. Listen to free tinnitus masking sounds here

There are two Key Types of Tinnitus - Subjective and Objective Tinnitus

There are essentially two types of Tinnitus which are categorized according to the ability of the sound to be heard by an external examiner such as an audiologist or Doctor and they are called:

Objective Tinnitus

Objective Tinnitus which is when the sounds can also be heard by the external examiner with listening devices and equipment i.e. can be heard by other people.

These sounds are generally caused by a muscular or vascular disorder including , high blood pressure, unusual activities of the palatal muscles, muscular abnormalities in the ear canal, irregular activity of the stapedius muscle in the inner ear, open eustachian tubes, abnormalities in the different blood vessels near the ears, tumors in the middle ear, temporal bone fractures, bad connections between arteries and veins in the inner eat canal, narrowing of the carotid walls and hypo thyroidism.

Objective Tinnitus is very rare and can sometimes be treated with surgery.

Subjective Tinnitus

The much more prevalent type is Subjective Tinnitus which is only heard by the actual sufferer i.e. the sounds can only be heard by the actual person affected.

To create a treatment the patient and the Doctor must work together to define the sound and then see if it is possible to treat.

The causes of Subjective Tinnitus include: closed head injuries, loud noise induced hearing loss, age related hearing entropy, ear infections, wax build-ups, problems with the eardrum, otosclerosis, brain chemistry disorders, drug and substance abuse, poisons, metabolic disorders, multiple sclerosis, encephalitis, meningitis and brain diseases.