Worried about ringing in your ears?
Do you hear a ringing, roaring, clicking, or hissing sound in your ears? Do you hear this sound often or all the time? Does the sound bother you a lot? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have tinnitus and you should see a hearing professional.
What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a noise that you can hear in your head that isn’t coming from the environment around you. One in ten people in the UK suffers with some degree of tinnitus.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a symptom associated with many forms of hearing problems. (It can also be a symptom of other health problems.) Tinnitus is typically caused by:
Blocked ears/ ear infections – If your ears are blocked with wax/debris it can cause tinnitus.
Hearing Loss – Most people who have tinnitus also have some kind of hearing loss.
Loud Noise – Exposure to loud noise can cause permanent hearing loss and tinnitus. Continued exposure can make the tinnitus and hearing loss become worse.
Medication – More than 200 medicines, including aspirin, can cause tinnitus. If you have tinnitus and you take medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether your medicine could be the cause.
What should I do if I think I have tinnitus?
First of all let’s make it clear that tinnitus is only very rarely an indication of a serious problem. However, it can be, so it is a good idea to come and see us and have it checked out particularly if the onset was sudden or if it is only present in one ear. The key thing is that you shouldn’t worry about it, because stress can actually make your tinnitus worse. Because tinnitus can be associated with disease of the ear and other anatomical disease, It is important that we find out what the underlying cause of your problem is. More often than not, tinnitus is caused by an underlying hearing loss. Sometimes however it can be caused by other problems that are not appropriate for treatment by us. If we find that your case is not suitable for treatment we would refer you on to an ENT Specialist to rule out any health-related conditions that could be the cause of your tinnitus or could be treated through medical and/or surgical intervention.
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