Symptoms of tinnitus
Tinnitus (pronounced tin-ni-tus) affects about 15-20% of people and is commonly caused by hearing loss or an ear injury1. Often tinnitus is experienced as a ringing in the ears that only you can hear, but it can be any of the following sounds:
People with tinnitus can also experience hearing loss.
People with tinnitus often experience hearing loss too. Our quick online quiz can help you understand if you might have tinnitus and / or hearing loss and what you can do about it.
Your answers indicate that you may experience symptoms of tinnitus and hearing loss. We recommend that you visit one of our clinics. There are hearing aids that can treat your hearing loss and might give you relief from your tinnitus.*
* The result of the test may only be used for guidance. Official conclusions about hearing loss/tinnitus can be provided by our certified hearing care experts.
Your answers indicate that you may experience symptoms of hearing loss but no symptoms of tinnitus. We recommend that you visit one of our clinics to to see if you have a hearing loss that should be treated.*
* The result of the test may only be used for guidance. Official conclusions about hearing loss/tinnitus can be provided by our certified hearing care experts.
Your answers indicate that you may experience symptoms of tinnitus. We recommend that you read about tinnitus treatment options to learn about how to cope with and find relief from tinnitus symptoms.*
* The result of the test may only be used for guidance. Official conclusions about hearing loss/tinnitus can be provided by our certified hearing care experts.
Your answers indicate that you do not have tinnitus - or that you have non-bothersome tinnitus that is not currently affecting your everyday life. If you experience symptoms of tinnitus in the future, we recommend visiting your local health care provider.
* The result of the test may only be used for guidance. Official conclusions about hearing loss/tinnitus can be provided by our certified hearing care experts.
What causes tinnitus?
There are many possible causes of tinnitus. The most common cause is exposure to excessive noise, which damages the tiny hair cells in the inner ear. The ringing in your ears is the result of your brain trying to compensate for the loss of hair cells.
Common causes of ringing in the ears include:
There is no cure for tinnitus, but there are many ways you can manage it and reduce its impact on your life. The following management techniques can be rather effective in turning a potentially negative and emotionally charged sound (tinnitus) into a neutral presence.
Sound therapy can provide relief from ringing in the ears
Although sound therapy cannot eliminate tinnitus, it can be a helpful tool for managing the symptoms. With sound therapy, you listen to different, carefully selected sounds, which can help you feel that your tinnitus is reduced or temporarily gone.
It then becomes easier to hold your attention away from your tinnitus. Plus, it helps you to focus on something more pleasant. You can find the sound therapy that gives you the most effective relief from ringing in the ears by working together with your hearing care expert.
Sound therapy can be provided through:
Hearing aids not only help with hearing loss, they simultaneously mask the sound of tinnitus by amplifying the sounds around you. This can result in reduced listening effort, a perceived reduction in tinnitus volume, and an improved ability to communicate with ease.
In addition, most of our hearing aids offer sound therapy sounds that are customized to your individual needs and preferences.
View a list of our hearing aids with tinnitus masking features:
Tinnitus and hearing loss – do you have both?
Research shows that most people with tinnitus have some degree of hearing loss without being aware of it, and many of them can benefit from hearing aids.
80% of people with tinnitus also have hearing loss
Hearing aids can help transmit more sounds into the ear and brain, thereby making the symptoms of tinnitus less bothersome. Moreover, improved hearing helps you to focus on sounds other than tinnitus, and for many people, this improvement is enough to experience relief.
Some tinnitus sufferers become sensitive to places with constant talking or loud music, so they begin to avoid such social situations altogether. To others, it is so disturbing that a full night’s sleep can become difficult to achieve. Tinnitus, if left untreated, can lead to the following consequences:
Some people are able to ignore their tinnitus most of the time, but leaving it untreated can have a negative impact on your life if it is experienced over extended periods of time.
Audiologist MNZAS CCC, MAud(Hons) BSc
Alex graduated from the University of Auckland Audiology course in 2012 then started his Audiology career in the public sector for seven years at both Manukau SuperClinic, Greenlane Hospital, and Starship Children’s Hospital.
He is now into his sixth year working at Audika New Zealand, working as both a clinician and clinical trainer. He is also an NZAS (New Zealand Audiological Society) CCC’s examiner which he has done for the past seven years. "It is a rewarding experience being able to see how helping someone hear better brings joy to not only the hearing aid user but their family as well".
One of Alex's passions is supervision and helping audiologists grow in both knowledge and clinical skills, which was the driving force for him taking on the role of clinical trainer.
Throughout his time in audiology he has supervised a large number of university students through their public and private placements, as well as provisional audiologists through their CCC’s year.
Last reviewed 2024-07-01
1. Al-Swiahb, J., & Park, S. N. (2016). Characterization of tinnitus in different age groups: A retrospective review. Noise & health, 18(83), 214–219. https://doi.org/10.4103/1463-1741.189240
2. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003043.htm
3. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/03005368509078983
