The 4 Different Types of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is the medical name for constant, prolonged ringing in the ears. Most people who experience tinnitus will hear high-pitched ringing in one or both ears. Symptoms can be constant or appear almost at random, making it very hard to know when and where they will strike next. There are four different tones that describe the type of tinnitus a person has.

How Tinnitus can Affect Your Hearing?

Tinnitus can be intermittent or pulsating. Patients with this type of tinnitus may hear a single tone that changes pitch, volume, and duration over time. In addition, the frequency of the ringing may vary from person to person and from day to day for any given individual.

The hearing loss often occurs in one ear and may be mild to severe. Some people with tinnitus have normal hearing in both ears, while others experience only partial deafness. In addition to ringing sounds, some patients hear buzzing, clicking or hissing noises that may vary in pitch from high to low frequency. These types of sounds can come and go over time or remain constant.

The severity of tinnitus symptoms varies from person to person and depends on several factors, including the cause of tinnitus and how long it has been present. Here are four different types of tinnitus that can affect your hearing.

Subjective tinnitus

Subjective tinnitus is a condition in which people hear a ringing or buzzing sound that is not caused by an external source. Subjective tinnitus can be experienced as a continuous or intermittent noise, or it may only occur when certain sounds are heard.

The severity of subjective tinnitus varies from person to person. Some people with the condition report not noticing the noise daily, while others describe their symptoms as severe and debilitating.

There are many possible causes of subjective tinnitus. The most common cause of subjective tinnitus is hearing loss, which can occur due to exposure to loud noises over time. Other causes include head injury; ear infections; middle ear disease; circulatory problems in the head and neck; sinusitis; temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD); jaw misalignment; Meniere’s disease; and stress-related disorders such as depression or anxiety.

Objective tinnitus

Objective tinnitus is a type of tinnitus that can be measured. It occurs when the sound is audible to an observer but not to the person who has it. This can happen in two ways: either the patient’s ears are hearing something that’s not there, or there is an external source of noise that’s audible to the examiner but not to the patient.

Objective tinnitus is often caused by damage to hair cells in the cochlea, which results in sounds that are heard even when there isn’t enough pressure on those cells to cause them to vibrate. This is called sensorineural hearing loss and can also cause permanent hearing loss.

Somatic tinnitus

Somatic tinnitus is a condition that causes you to hear ringing or buzzing in your ears, but the source of the sound is not actually inside your ear. Instead, somatic tinnitus is caused by a disturbance in the nerve pathways that connect your brain to your body.

This type of tinnitus can affect your hearing, but it does not cause permanent damage. However, if you continue to experience somatic tinnitus symptoms for more than six months, it’s important to see a doctor.

The ringing or buzzing sounds associated with somatic tinnitus are usually most noticeable at night when you’re trying to fall asleep or when you wake up early in the morning. The noise may even wake you up from sleep and make it difficult for you to get back to sleep again.

Neural plasticity tinnitus

Neural plasticity tinnitus is a form of tinnitus that is caused by changes to the way the brain processes sound. A number of factors, including medication, stress, and hearing loss, can cause it.

The auditory system comprises many parts, including the cochlea and the brain stem. When we hear something, it travels through these parts and is interpreted by our brains as sound. Neural plasticity tinnitus occurs when something causes changes in how the brain interprets sounds that were previously interpreted as normal. This can cause the brain to interpret certain frequencies as noise, which may cause ringing or other sounds in your ears (tinnitus).

Neural plasticity tinnitus can be caused by changes that happen with age or illness. For example, some people develop it after exposure to loud noises or medications such as antibiotics.

If you think you have tinnitus, then it’s important to see a doctor so they can assess your symptoms and determine whether or not something more serious is going on. Get in touch with the Audiology and Hearing Aid Center by calling (920) 486-6922 if you have any questions about tinnitus or hearing loss.