Do you experience a ringing, sizzling, buzzing or crackling sound in your ears that no one else can hear? If you answer “yes,” you may be suffering from tinnitus. According to the Tinnitus Association of Canada, more than 360,000 Canadians experience this condition and almost half of those people report that it has a serious effect on their sleep, concentration, job performance and other aspects of their daily lives.
Tinnitus can affect you at any age. The ringing sounds you hear can be mild or severe; they may be continuous or they may come and go and you may also feel pressure or pain around your ears.
Causes of tinnitus
If you’ve lost some or most of your hearing, that could contribute to your tinnitus problem – although you can still experience tinnitus while having perfectly good hearing.
That annoying sound in your ears might also be the result of:
- exposure to loud noise;
- a blow to the head;
- earwax blockage;
- drug side effects;
- ear or sinus infections;
- physical or emotional stress.
In many cases, an exact cause is never found.
What to do about it
If you think you might have tinnitus, you should have it checked out by an audiologist, especially if it’s affecting your quality of life. The audiologist can test your hearing, evaluate your tinnitus and then discuss an appropriate solution.
In many cases, there is no specific treatment for tinnitus but there are many ways of helping people to cope better with the noise. They may include hearing aids, but if the tinnitus is not hearing-loss-related, you may be able to benefit from a masker – a small, hearing-aid-like device that produces special sounds to drown out the ringing in your ears. Medications, counselling, stress management, alternate approaches, dental treatment and nutritional counselling are also options.
The hearing care professionals at Pure Audiology & Hearing Aid Services can evaluate your tinnitus problem and discussed solutions based on the results of your assessment. To book your evaluation, call them at 289-837-1137, or learn more about their services by visiting their website, www.pureaudiology.ca.
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