Tinnitus Clinic in Kelowna

Tinnitus, or ringing in the ear, is a sound that you hear in your ear, but most often can’t be heard outside the ear. The sound can be present all of the time or it can come and go throughout your life. Tinnitus is most often a sign that there is an underlying condition happening.

Tinnitus Symptoms & Causes

The symptoms of tinnitus include a noise being heard in your ear when no external source in present. The volume of the sound can change and are most often heard when it is quiet. Some of these noises can be:

• Ringing
• Buzzing
• Whistling
• Hizzing
• Humming
• Roaring
• Clicking
• Heartbeat

Tinnitus isn’t a disease, but it is a symptom of an underlying health condition. To determine what the underlying cause of your tinnitus is you may undergo several tests. The most common cause of tinnitus is damage to the hair in the inner ear, though there are many other conditions that can cause tinnitus including excessive ear wax, age-related hearing loss, chronic health conditions, or an ear infection.

Pulsatile Tinnitus

Pulsatile tinnitus is a noise that beats at the same rate as the heart and is the sound of blood circulating in the body. Unlike other forms of tinnitus, pulsatile tinnitus has a physical source of the sound as it occurs when the ear is aware of a change in blood flow in nearby vessels.

Tinnitus Treatment

If your tinnitus is a symptom of an underlying medical condition, the first step would be to treat that condition and see if the tinnitus goes away. If the tinnitus remains after treatment of the condition, or if it is a result of being exposed to loud noises, we may recommend masking devices such as hearing aids.

It should be known that not all tinnitus can be eliminated or reduced, no matter the cause and sometimes it does go away on it’s own.