Treatment of Tinnitus

Tinnitus describes the perception of any sound in the ear in the absence of an external stimulus and presents a malfunction in the processing of auditory signals. A hearing impairment, often noiseinduced or related to aging, is commonly associated with tinnitus. Clinically, tinnitus is subdivided into subjective and objective. Objective tinnitus describes the minority of cases in which an external stimulus is potentially heard by an observer, for example by placing a stethoscope over the patient’s’ external ear. Common causes of objective tinnitus include middle ear and skull base tumors, vascular abnormalities and metabolic derangements. In the majority of cases, tinnitus is subjective and frequently self-limited. In a small subset of patients with subjective tinnitus, its persistence leads to disruption of daily life. While many patients habituate to tinnitus, others may seek medical care if the tinnitus becomes too disruptive.