Tinnitus refers to a sound heard in the ear or ears. It can be a ringing sound, buzzing, humming, clicking or throbbing sound. If, however, the sound that you hear is music or voices, you may need to see a psychiatrist rather than an ENT Specialist!

Throbbing or pulsating sound may be caused by infections or high blood pressure, but if they are persistent, you should visit your ENT specialist. Investigation should be done for conditions like abnormalities of the blood vessels or vascular growths in the head and neck region.

While the majority of other sounds are innocent, they should be investigated at least once. A small percentage of tinnitus is caused by a growth on the hearing nerve or by other causes of hearing loss which may be treatable. A thorough hearing test will be done, following which your ENT specialist will decide on further tests and will advise you about management.

You may have heard: “nothing can be done for tinnitus”. While this may be true for medication and operations being ineffective, there actually is a lot which can be done. It all comes down to re-programming or rewiring of the brain, as has been shown in research done by Prof. P.J. Jastreboff, currently from the Department of Otolaryngology, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. You will be able to read more about this subject here as well.