Ringing in the Ears (Tinnitus)

You may be able to learn to live with ringing in the ears, but there may not have to. Often, ringing in ears, technically called tinnitus, is due to underlying medical conditions. Effective treatment can reduce or remove that annoying buzzing in your head. It’s definitely worth visiting the best ear, nose and throat doctors in Brooklyn, Harlem and Manhattan at the Century Medical & Dental Center. Their experts determine if you’ll benefit from ringing in ears treatment or you just need to turn the music down when you’re wearing headphones.

What Is Tinnitus?

The medical term for ringing in the ears is tinnitus. It’s a common problem, characterized by hearing sounds in one or both ears that no one else can hear, such as ringing, buzzing, pulsing, humming or clicking. Tinnitus is often distracting and annoying. While it isn’t a medical condition by itself, it may be a sign of underlying medical conditions.
Sometimes, tinnitus persists for weeks or months.

It becomes annoying enough to affect your quality of life. The ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors at the Century Medical & Dental Center in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Harlem have the training and experience to identify the cause and the best ringing in ears treatment for tinnitus and other conditions that affect your ears, including:

• Hearing loss
• Ear infections
• Middle ear infections
• Fluid in an ear
• Ear wax buildup

What Causes Ringing in Ears?

Because of age-related changes, tinnitus is most common among people over 40, but it can affect younger people as well. Ringing in the ears can be triggered by several medical conditions. Sometimes, the cause is never identified.

Possible causes of tinnitus include:

• Age-related hearing loss. Gradual hearing loss happens as you age, and it’s often accompanied by hearing sounds that aren’t there. Your New York City ENT physician determines if you’ve experienced hearing loss that’s causing the persistent noise with an array of advanced hearing tests.
• Hearing loss caused by noise. Exposure to loud noises can cause hearing loss and tinnitus. This happens from being exposed to loud noises over time or from one incident, such as an explosion.
• Ear blockages. Ear infections and earwax buildup affect your ability to hear and can be accompanied by ringing in the ear. When dirt or foreign objects become trapped in your ear canal, it causes pressure to build up in your inner ear. Prolonged fluid in the ears leads to tinnitus, as does untreated ear infections, causing permanent damage to your inner ear.
• Injuries. If your head or neck was injured in a trauma, either the brain or nerves in the ear can be impacted, leading to tinnitus.

Several types of medication, such as certain antibiotics and cancer medications, can cause tinnitus or worsen the intensity of the tinnitus you already have.

In rare cases, tinnitus can be caused by medical conditions, such as:

• Autoimmune disorders
• Temporomandibular joint disorders
• Blood vessel disorders
• Ear bone changes
• Head and neck tumors

What Factors Increase the Risk of Developing Tinnitus?

Some factors that increase your risk of developing tinnitus are avoidable, while some others aren’t. Rely on the advice of an experienced ENT doctor before making any changes to your lifestyle or trying any homemade ringing in ears treatment.

Examples of tinnitus risk factors include:

• Being exposed to loud noises in your work conditions
• Listening to loud music through headphones
• Playing in a band that relies on loudspeakers
• Getting older
• Smoking
• Abusing alcohol

Exposure tinnitus usually occurs over time, while other causes deliver a sudden attack of ringing in ears. Your risk of developing tinnitus increases if you’ve had an accident that involves trauma to your head or neck.

The risk also increases if you have certain medical conditions, such as:

• High blood pressure
• Thyroid disorders
• Anemia
• Multiple sclerosis
• Diabetes

What Are the Symptoms of Tinnitus?

You may experience tinnitus in different ways. Some people describe sounds besides ringing in the ear, such as buzzing, whistling, squealing or hissing.

Other ways tinnitus can vary from one person to another include:

• The noise you hear may be loud or soft.
• The volume and intensity of the noise may vary.
• You may hear the sounds constantly, or they may come and go.
• Sounds may be high-pitched or low-pitched.

If you’re like most people, only you can hear the noise in your ears, which is known as subjective tinnitus. Less often, people hear a sound that pulsates in time with their heartbeat. Your NYC ENT doctor may be able to hear this type of tinnitus, called objective tinnitus, using a stethoscope.

What’s the Best Ringing in the Ears Treatment?

Tinnitus can be either temporary or ongoing. Your ringing in ears treatment depends on identifying the underlying cause. While there’s not a cure for tinnitus, identifying and treating the underlying cause may relieve your symptoms.

Examples of treating an underlying cause include:

• Removing excess ear wax
• Treating fluid in the ear
• Using hearing aids for hearing loss
• Treating arthritis in your jaw joint
• Changing medications that cause or worsen your symptoms

Your doctor may recommend methods to relieve the perception of tinnitus by making the sounds less noticeable, such as:

• Keeping sound machines playing with soft noises like the ocean or falling rain
• Running a fan, air conditioner or humidifier to provide white noise
• Wearing earbuds that play white noise
• Participating in cognitive behavioral therapy to learn ways to make symptoms less evident

Tinnitus retraining therapy retrains your brain by combining counseling and sound therapy. This helps you get used to the presence of ringing in the ears while learning to be less focused on them. Anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication sometimes helps you cope with ringing in the ears.

When Should I See a Doctor about Ringing in Ears?

Your ringing in the ears may not be all that bothersome. But if tinnitus is an ongoing problem that’s causing difficulty sleeping, concentrating or communicating, find help.

If it’s creating symptoms of anxiety or depression, visit an ENT specialist, particularly if you:

• Recently had an ear infection or sinus infection that preceded buzzing noises that have persisted for more than a week
• Feel dizzy and unbalanced
• Experience hearing loss along with tinnitus
• Had a recent head injury

Visit your New York City ENT specialist if tinnitus is disrupting your day-to-day activities. Have your ringing in the ears evaluated by a doctor if the noise in your ears sounds like it’s pulsating along with your heartbeat. In Brooklyn, Manhattan or Harlem, your best choice is the Century Medical & Dental Center. If you have disruptive tinnitus that’s not going away on its own, contact the practice today to schedule an appointment with a skilled, compassionate ENT doctor.