Tinnitus Services

Tinnitus is the ringing you hear in your ears. It can sound like hissing, roaring, pulsing, whooshing, chirping, whistling, or clicking. It is important to realize that Tinnitus can have many different causes; it should be thought of as a symptom and not as a disease. It is most commonly a symptom of hearing loss, caused by a problem localized to the ear or occurring along the neural pathway between the ear and the brain. Some medicines can cause tinnitus, as can stress and anxiety. Tinnitus should be evaluated by your Otolaryngologist (ENT Specialist) and Audiologist to determine if there are any medical conditions which need to be treated.

If tinnitus is caused by hearing loss, there are many ways to treat this. Starting with simple masking, which means just using background sound to help mask or decrease the ability to hear the noise. When the brain has something else to listen to, the tinnitus is usually not noticeable. Meditation or other means to calm stress are extremely helpful as well. In the long run, hearing aids might be the best treatment and are also very helpful. 85% or more of people with tinnitus due to hearing loss notice a significant improvement when they wear hearing aids. Although by far the most common reason for tinnitus is hearing loss, other reasons include neck or jaw pain and or tension. These are actually very treatable, and if needed a physical therapist can use various methods including dry needling to completely get rid of the noise.