Why are my ears ringing: how should tinnitus be treated?

What is tinnitus?

Tinnitus is the name for hearing continuous noise or separate noises that are not from an obvious source. It is usually described as ringing or whistling in the ears and sometimes as separate booms or crashes. It is annoying, often extremely so, but it is not usually painful. Painful or sensitive hearing is due to real noise from an obvious outside source.

How to treat tinnitus

In February 2020 I attended a major event on tinnitus at a large theatre venue where the speakers were active researchers in the area. What I learnt was that people with tinnitus tend to think that something is wrong with their ears, but that this is not necessarily directly true.

I learnt that there are many causes of tinnitus and that professional help is necessary to establish and treat each individual case. That is outside the scope of this website. However ...

How is tinnitus related to hearing loss?

What particularly interested me was that tinnitus is often related to hearing loss. Apparently, with hearing loss, the brain compensates by boosting what it is hears, and this is not only the speech or music that one wants to hear but also the numerous very quiet background sounds that are always going on. This boosting is heard as tinnitus, but is a problem of the brain not the ears.

How can tinnitus due to hearing loss be treated?

Where tinnitus is due to hearing loss, it can readily be treated with hearing aids. It must be stressed, though, that tinnitus does have other causes and that professional advice is crucial for treating it.

Disclaimer: The information on this site is for a lay audience and I cannot be responsible for errors or omissions. The views, strategies, advice and suggestions etc are based on my personal experience and are not necessarily appropriate for anyone else. They should, hopefully, stimulate individuals to develop their own strategies.