I Keep Hearing Noises In My Ears, What Can I Do?

Ringing, hissing, clicking, or humming sounds in your ears is annoying. Occasionally, all people will hear these noises, especially after being exposed to loud noises like at a concert. For some, these noises are mild and temporary. But for some people, these noises are a constant source of long-term frustration.

The medical term for ringing or buzzing noise in the ears is tinnitus. Tinnitus is sometimes called “ringing in the ears.” But it’s often more than ringing. If you have tinnitus, you might also hear hissing, roaring, clicking, humming, or pulsing.

You’ll hear sounds in your ears, but there is no external source. There is nothing close to your ears making the sounds you’re hearing. Tinnitus can be mild or severe.

Tinnitus can interfere with hearing real, external sounds. This can leave you frustrated, stressed, anxious, and even depressed. It can be experienced in one ear or both. Anyone can develop tinnitus, but older adults are at higher risk.

If you keep hearing noises in your ears and wonder what you can do, let the Hearing Associates of Las Vegas guide you through this complex issue.

Types of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is either objective or subjective. Objective tinnitus is when both you and others hear noises in your ears. This is generally because of abnormal blood vessels in or around your ears. With every heartbeat, you (and others) hear a pulsing sound. This is a more rare form of tinnitus.

More common is subjective hearing. This means that only you hear the humming, roaring, or ringing in your ears. These sounds can start as mild and relatively unobtrusive and progress to a long-term or severe problem that affects your life.

Where Do These Noises I Hear Come From?

Most of the noises of tinnitus come from damage to the middle or inner ear. Since your middle and inner ear works together to send electrical impulses to the brain, damage to your inner ear will affect the way your brain interprets sound.

For sound to be conducted properly, your eardrums and all the small bones in your ear need to be working correctly. Sound will not be adequately conducted if any part of the inner workings of the ear is damaged.

So with tinnitus, what specifically can cause the damage to your ear resulting in this debilitating annoyance?

• Loud sounds– The most common reason for tinnitus. Regular exposure to loud sounds in a work environment like construction, or aviation, will damage your eardrum. Even your favorite tunes on your Airpods can cause damage if used regularly with high volume.
• Medications– Ototoxicity can occur with some people because of drugs they’ve taken, resulting in tinnitus. These drugs can bring on tinnitus:
  • Bumetanide
  • Too much aspirin
  • Antimalarial drugs
  • Select antibiotics like erythromycin or gentamicin
  • Select anticancer drugs like vincristine
• Tumors– Either in the ear or growing on the auditory nerve will cause a ringing.
• Medical conditions– Ringing in your ears can also occur from a variety of medical conditions.
  • Hearing loss because of aging
  • High blood pressure or cholesterol
  • Middle ear muscle spasms
  • Meniere’s disease
  • Neck or head injury
  • Temporomandibular joint condition
  • Too much earwax

Diagnosing Tinnitus

Once that ringing or buzzing gets to be too much, you will probably have self-diagnosed tinnitus as a possibility. Now it’s time for a professional examination. Your doctor may want to use an MRI or CT scan to identify any physical damage or abnormalities depending on your symptoms.

If no physical damage is apparent, your doctor will administer a hearing test to determine the severity of your issue and whether tinnitus is present. The hearing test is a fairly simple procedure. You’ll be asked to listen for some sounds through a headset and respond when you hear them in either ear. The sounds will be of varying volumes and pitches.

Comparing the results of your hearing test with previous tests or average tests among those in your age group will reveal the extent of hearing loss or distracted hearing.

How To Treat Your Tinnitus

Your doctor will use your physical examination, hearing test, and scans to determine what’s causing your tinnitus. Some underlying medical conditions can be treated. That’s where your doctor will start.

Reducing your tinnitus symptoms by treating these underlying causes can sometimes reduce the noises you are hearing. Ways to treat physical causes include:

• Excess earwax removal. Removing extra earwax blockage can help with tinnitus symptoms.
• Changing medication. Since medications can influence tinnitus symptoms, reducing the use of a drug or trying an alternative can be a big help.
• Treating blood vessel issues. Tinnitus caused by an underlying blood vessel can be treated with medication or even surgery.
• Hearing aids. Hearing aids can help with tinnitus brought on by noise-induced or age-related hearing loss. These can be daily hearing aids or extended use hearing aids.

Additional Treatments for Tinnitus

If none of these issues cause your tinnitus, Hearing Associates of Las Vegas is prepared to help you end the frustration of tinnitus. The following therapies are available.

• Sound Therapy
  Tinnitus sound therapy uses a process known as habituation to retrain the way the brain interprets tinnitus. Sound therapy helps a person “forget” about the unwanted sound.
• Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
  Tinnitus retraining therapy attempts to retrain how your brain, central nervous system, and auditory system receive, process, and interpret sound. This approach uses sound therapy and directive counseling over 12-24 months.
• Neuromonics
  Neuromonics are a pattern of acoustic stimuli designed to retrain the neural pathways.
  Customized for your hearing and tinnitus, they are delivered in two stages via a small medical device (Neuromonics processor) resembling an MP3 player and coupled to your ears via comfortable, high-quality earphones.
• Sound Generators
  Sound Generators are auditory devices with white noise to block out tinnitus ringing sounds. There are two types of sound generators: tabletop and wearable.
• Counseling and Tinnitus Education Programs
  Here at Hearing Associates of Las Vegas, we’ve developed a tinnitus management program specifically for you. Part of this program includes a tinnitus counseling and education program. Our program covers:
  • What tinnitus is and how it affects people.
  • People affected by tinnitus.
  • How to manage your tinnitus and control symptoms.
  • Learn what is typical with tinnitus and what signs are not.
  • Brain retraining technique
• Medication
  There are no FDA-approved drugs specifically for tinnitus. Medication cannot cure tinnitus but might provide relief from some severe tinnitus symptoms.
• Relaxation Techniques
  Several relaxation techniques are helping people with tinnitus deal with their symptoms. The effectiveness and reliability of these techniques vary from person to person.

Can I Prevent Tinnitus?

Preventing tinnitus is possible. Some of it is common sense but can be overlooked. Here are some reminders that can help steer you clear of tinnitus.

• Wear hearing protection if you are exposed to noise above 85 decibels, like traffic noise or a lawnmower.
• Watch volume levels on devices like headphones or even your television.
• If unexpected loud noise should happen, simply cover your ears until it passes.
• Read through the side effects of any new medications.
• Schedule regular hearing tests.