Tinnitus Symptoms
Tinnitus most commonly goes by the term, ‘ringing in the ears’. However, the symptomatic analysis shows that tinnitus may encompass a variety of other sound patterns than ringing. Besides the acoustic disturbance, tinnitus poses a significant emotional challenge to the sufferer. The characteristic of subjective tinnitus, that it is perceived by the sufferer alone, makes it a solitary battle, which the sufferer has to fight alone or with little help in the initial stages of the disease onset. In contrast to the physically ‘visible’ illnesses and injuries, those around the subject have a hard time acknowledging the severity of the situation. This makes it hard for them to adjust with the patient on a social, professional and psychological level. This aspect of tinnitus is what adds signs and symptomatology to the psychological state and increases the chance of other co-morbid conditions.
Phantom noise
Phantom noise is the characteristic feature of tinnitus. Noise can be of variable acoustic features, which differ in different people. Variations can be summed up as:
- The noise can have different patterns of sound, such as ringing or buzzing. A low frequency humming, whooshing, whistling are other possible patterns. Some patients may also describe it as an engine roar, or an airplane passing overhead.
- The tinnitus sound pattern, then corresponds to different frequency ranges, and amplitude values. Amplitude values are an indicator of how loud a sound is. Frequency and loudness both are a measure of tinnitus severity, based on the individual perception. Some people may find even mild tinnitus very annoying, and others may be able to manage with a greater degree of loudness.
- Tinnitus can also vary in sufferers on the basis of laterality. It means that it can involve either one or both ears, which is termed as unilateral or bilateral tinnitus respectively.
- Phantom noise can also be judged as tonal or atonal tinnitus. Tonal tinnitus is felt as continuous sound waves of a single frequency or multiple frequencies overlapping. Atonal does not show a continuous pattern and may show with beats, or breaks in between the frequencies.