Tinnitus refers to a subjective auditory sensation that occurs without the presence of an external sound source.
For example, if there are no cicadas around you but you feel the sound of cicadas chirping in your ears, this is tinnitus. According to statistics, the prevalence of tinnitus in the population is about 17%, which means that about one in six people experience tinnitus, most of them only notice it in quiet environments, but a minority of people have tinnitus that persists and causes significant problems in life, work and school. Therefore, today we will talk about what is tinnitus and what to do if it occurs.
First of all, it is important to clarify that tinnitus is not an independent disease, but a subjective symptom of the auditory nervous system.
It is a subjective symptom of the auditory nervous system. It can be caused by problems in any of the pathways from the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, auditory nerve to the brainstem, hypothalamus and auditory center of the brain;
Systemic underlying diseases such as anemia, hyperthyroidism, or adjacent organ lesions may lead to tinnitus symptoms.
Therefore, it is not scientific to treat tinnitus as a separate disease and try to “cure” it with the same drug or therapy.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
Since tinnitus is a symptom related to many organs or parts of the body, the first thing to do is to identify the cause of tinnitus.
Generally speaking, a specialist will arrange the following tests according to the clinical characteristics of the patient.
1. Audiological evaluation and imaging examinations (including CT of the temporal bone, MRI of the internal auditory canal and pontocerebellar horn region, etc.) are performed for the auditory conduction pathways associated with tinnitus
2. Some patients also need to undergo blood biochemical, immunological and endocrine tests to maximize the clarity of the cause of the disease, which are all very necessary.
Misconceptions of patients at the time of consultation
1. Many tinnitus patients have unrealistic expectations when they visit the doctor: they hope that the doctor can “cure” their tinnitus by taking a look, prescribing some medicine or giving some injections.
2. A few patients are unwilling to have the cause of their tinnitus examined, or hope that a single outpatient visit will solve the problem.
3. In fact, in most cases, this is impossible. Because most cases of tinnitus (especially chronic patients who have been suffering from the disease for many years) have to be diagnosed after several clinical audiological and laboratory examinations combined with imaging, which takes a lot of time and effort and requires patience and efforts from both doctors and patients.
How to treat tinnitus?
After evaluation, tinnitus with a clear cause should be treated according to the cause, such as acute or chronic suppurative otitis media, cerumen embolism, otosclerosis, etc., with appropriate medication or surgery.
Tinnitus treatment and recovery process may be full of twists and turns, which need to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and adherence to treatment is often a necessary prerequisite for complete recovery.
In our clinical work, there are some patients who are unable to clarify the cause of their tinnitus despite the completion of a full set of examinations and evaluations. For this group of patients, we should make reference to the latest international authoritative guidelines, take into account the patient’s hearing loss and the degree of life disturbance, and develop an individualized rehabilitation program for the patient, including hearing compensation, tinnitus habituation, sound masking, etc., which will not be detailed here.
Finally, it should be noted that otology and audiology is a very rigorous science, and workers in this specialty have different educational backgrounds, clinical experiences, academic views and medical specialties, and naturally have different opinions on the diagnosis and treatment of tinnitus. Different academic views will always exist in the medical community, both ancient and modern. Therefore, I suggest that you listen to the opinions of different doctors in regular qualified hospitals, cooperate carefully with your trusted doctor’s examination and treatment, and find the best treatment plan for you based on the identification of the cause. This is the right way to recover from tinnitus as soon as possible.