Our senses are our most valuable assets. Vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell are how we perceive the world. They become so familiar to us that we often take them for granted, especially our hearing. We rarely consider our hearing until we begin to lose it. Nonetheless, hearing deterioration is widespread. So when that ominous ringing starts, it is time to see the best ENT specialist in Mumbai.
Tinnitus is the likely cause when you can hear a dull humming, ringing, or whistling sound that you cannot identify. Hearing sounds in the ear in the absence of external sound is a characteristic of tinnitus. It could manifest in one or both ears and may be constant or sporadic. Yet, more often than not, tinnitus goes unnoticed or ignored.
Causes of Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a sign of an underlying problem, not a sickness in itself. These problems include age-related hearing loss, exposure to loud noises, earwax accumulation, head or neck trauma, and TMJ disorders. A blood vessel disorder can sometimes trigger tinnitus. It can also be caused by stress, physical ailments, infections, and foreign objects in the ear. To accurately determine the source of tinnitus and its underlying condition, visit the best ENT specialist in Mumbai.
Tinnitus may intensify with alcohol consumption, smoking, and caffeine consumption. In addition, stress and exhaustion appear to aggravate tinnitus for reasons experts do not fully understand.
Why Do Your Ears Ring?
Many tinnitus patients perceive the sound in their ears as a “ringing sound,” although some describe it as a hum, whoosh, hiss, whisper, buzz, or thrum. But what produces that noise? It is usually caused by damage to microscopic hairs in your inner ear. It alters the messages they transmit to your brain, influencing how you interpret sound. As a result, it might be short-lived or continue for the rest of your life.
Five Reasons You Should See an ENT Now
Living with a constant ringing in your ears can get frustrating. Moreover, it can negatively influence the quality of life. But now that you know tinnitus is a symptom of another condition, it becomes ever more crucial to consult a doctor and seek treatment.
You know it’s time to visit the best ENT specialist in Mumbai when:
- You begin to experience ear pain, headaches, dizziness, fluid leaking from the ear, or hearing loss.
- The noise level begins to fluctuate in volume, duration, or frequency.
- Sensitivity to sounds, especially loud sounds, increases.
- The noise is negatively affecting your quality of life. The ringing may result in irritability, issues with concentration, anxiety, depression, and sleep disruptions.
- It mimics your heartbeat. When the sound in your ear sounds like your pulse, it’s called pulsatile tinnitus. Pulsatile tinnitus might signify a major health problem and could be the first indicator of an underlying ailment. It is an uncommon tinnitus variant characterized by ringing, clicking, or other disturbances in one or both ears.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Tinnitus
When diagnosing tinnitus, your ENT specialist will use the patient’s concerns and comments to analyze the possible source and underlying cause. Additionally, a hearing test will also be performed to ascertain whether the patient is suffering from hearing loss. The nasal passage is also examined to determine if the region around the ear is linked to tinnitus in any way. Apart from ear and nose inspections, the following tests may also be administered:
- Examination of the neck, spine, and jaw.
- Noise analysis.
- Otoacoustic emissions, where the inner ear’s ability to transmit sound is tested.
- Balance and stability tests.
- Brain stem audiometry or the objective hearing test.
- Blood tests.
- CT scans and MRIs of the head.
Based on the test results, the ENT specialist will determine the type and degree of tinnitus, and the appropriate treatment will be recommended. It should be noted, however, that regardless of the cause, not all tinnitus can be removed or decreased. Also, check other health blogs.
Tinnitus Treatment
Treatments may be used as a combination or solitary. Some examples of treatments for tinnitus are:
- Medication for ear infections, pain, or anxiety.
- Removal of cysts, calcium deposits on the ear bone, or tumors through surgery.
- Earwax removal.
- Hearing aids if the tinnitus is accompanied by hearing loss.
- Masking devices are devices similar to hearing aids that play a more pleasant sound than the internal noise created by tinnitus.
- Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, or TRT, in which the patient’s brain is trained to habituate the sound, which may result in the brain filtering the noise. This therapy may take anywhere from 12 to 24 months and is proven to be quite effective.
- Cognitive therapy helps the patient adjust their reaction to tinnitus. It is often used in conjunction with masking devices or medication.
- Orthodontic treatment for TMJ.
Conclusion
Early assessment is beneficial when tinnitus first manifests since it allows for quicker identification of potential causes and avoiding any associated problems. If you suffer from tinnitus, seek counsel from the best ENT specialist in Mumbai to understand more about tinnitus and how to control it.
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