Tinnitus - Naperville & Wheaton, IL

Tinnitus is an annoying ringing, buzzing, or whistling sound that only you can hear. The sound seems to be in your environment, but it’s only in your ears. Roughly 50 million Americans struggle with tinnitus, and it can be a mild annoyance you rarely hear, or a constant companion. Tinnitus increases stress and anxiety, makes it difficult to concentrate, leads to poor sleep, and causes moodiness and irritability.

Symptom of Tinnitus

The symptoms of tinnitus vary from person to person, but tinnitus is often described as a sound resembling:

• Ringing
• Buzzing
• Hissing
• Whistling
• Whooshing
• Clicking

Regardless of your symptoms of tinnitus, these sounds can impact every area of your life, and often point to an underlying condition such as hearing loss, or severe stress.

Causes of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is caused by damage to the cells of your inner ear, the same damage that often leads to hearing loss. Even though these cells can no longer detect sounds in your environment, they still sometimes send signals to the brain, and you’ll hear a sound that’s not actually there.

Tinnitus can be caused by:

• Hearing loss
• Exposure to dangerously loud noise
• An illness or ear infection
• A head or ear injury
• Certain medications
• Earwax buildup
• Meniere’s disease
• Vascular disorders