Tinnitus

What is it?

Tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease…

It is a high or low parasitic noise. Felt as intracranial (in the head) or intra-auricular (in the ear). On one or both sides. It is not an auditory hallucination.
This perception is variable in intensity, tone (buzzing, whistling, etc.) and duration (permanent or alternating). The noise heard varies from one individual to another. Its appearance is unpredictable, but annoyance, periods of anxiety or fatigue accentuate it.

Objective tinnitus

It can be heard by outsiders (other than the sufferer). It is detectable with a stethoscope by the doctor and can usually be treated. There are very few cases of objective tinnitus.

Subjective tinnitus

Only those who suffer from it can hear it. This is the majority of cases, 95% of people with tinnitus.

This makes it much more difficult for science to explain and therefore to treat this type of tinnitus. The most common origin is the cochlea, but it can occur at any level of the auditory pathways, from the outer ear canal to the brain.

%

approximately of the population suffers from tinnitus

%

of tinnitus is caused by exposure to very loud noises

%

of tinnitus occurs in people who can hear well

%

of tinnitus has no known cause

%

of people can tolerate their tinnitus without too much difficulty