The noise commonly occurs inside a persons head or ear(s) in the absence of auditory stimulation, similar to ringing, although in some people, it is a high-pitched whining or electric buzzing, among numerous other sounds. Tinnitus may be intermittent or continuous. In some individuals, the intensity may be changed by shoulder, neck, head, tongue, jaw, or eye movements.The specific type of tinnitus called objective tinnitus is characterized by hearing the sounds of ones own muscle contractions or pulse, which is typically a result of sounds that have been created by the movement of jaw muscles or sounds related to blood flow in the neck or face. Course
Due to variations in study designs, data on the course of tinnitus showed few consistent results. Generally, the prevalence increased with age in adults, whereas the ratings of annoyance decreased with duration. Psychological effects
Although an annoying condition to which most people adapt, persistent tinnitus may cause anxiety and depression in some people. Tinnitus annoyance is more strongly associated with the psychological condition of the person than the loudness or frequency range. Psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and concentration difficulties are common in those with strongly annoying tinnitus. 45% of people with tinnitus have an anxiety disorder at some time in their life.Psychological research has focused on the tinnitus distress reaction to account for differences in tinnitus severity. The research indicates that conditioning at the initial perception of tinnitus linked it with negative emotions, such as fear and anxiety.
Treatable conditions may include middle ear infection, acoustic neuroma,
concussion, and otosclerosis.Evaluation of tinnitus can include a hearing test (audiogram), measurement of acoustic parameters of the tinnitus like pitch and loudness, and psychological assessment of comorbid conditions like depression, anxiety, and stress that are associated with severity of the tinnitus.One definition of tinnitus, as compared to normal ear noise experience, is lasting five minutes at least twice a week. However, people with tinnitus often experience the noise more frequently than this. Tinnitus can be present constantly or intermittently. Some people with constant tinnitus might not be aware of it all the time, but only for example during the night when there is less environmental noise to mask it. Chronic tinnitus can be defined as tinnitus with duration of six months or more. Audiology
Since most persons with tinnitus also have hearing loss, a pure tone hearing test resulting in an audiogram may help diagnose a cause, though some persons with tinnitus do not have hearing loss. An audiogram may also facilitate fitting of a hearing aid in those cases where hearing loss is significant. The pitch of tinnitus is often in the range of the hearing loss. Psychoacoustics
Acoustic qualification of tinnitus will include measurement of several acoustic parameters like frequency in cases of monotone tinnitus or frequency range and bandwidth in cases of narrow band noise tinnitus, loudness in dB above hearing threshold at the indicated frequency, mixing-point, and minimum masking level.