Alleviating the distress of tinnitus: a phantom sound

Tinnitus is a common otological symptom that is best viewed as a phantom sound. In general, the underlying cause of tinnitus is unknown and there is no known cure for the symptom; however, much can be done to alleviate the distress that it can cause.

Key Points

Tinnitus can be classified as subjective, involving sounds that only the patient can hear, or objective, involving sounds that the patient and others can hear.
Subjective tinnitus is the most common type, and often an underlying cause cannot be found.
Objective tinnitus is less common; affected patients need a full otological assessment as a serious underlying cause can often be found requiring specialist referral and treatment.
Causes of objective tinnitus include an audible arterial bruit originating from a vascular skull base or temporal bone tumour, dural arteriovenous malformation, carotid artery stenosis, and a hyperdynamic circulation experienced in pregnancy, anaemia and thyrotoxicosis and in patients with acute or chronic anxiety.
In many cases of tinnitus, the natural history is habituation, and repeated sound stimulation of the auditory pathways (either from the tinnitus itself or a masking sound) leads to a decreased sense of perception of the stimulus.

Sunday 5 July 2026

Alleviating the distress of tinnitus: a phantom sound

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