Tinnitus Types – Objective or Subjective?

by bigtee on February 17, 2010

We call any noise in the ear ‘tinnitus’. There are two tinnitus types – a constant noise, and a pulsating, or heartbeat, noise. Those who suffer from tinnitus experience a wide range of noises inside their ears. Tinnitus is of two types, objective tinnitus and subjective tinnitus.

If the person who suffers from tinnitus can only hear the noises and sounds – and nobody else – then this would be known as subjective tinnitus. But if a doctor can actually hear the same noises and sounds after putting special audio instruments to use, then this would be known as objective tinnitus. In most of the cases, objective tinnitus implies a pulsatile tinnitus which is often unilateral that means that only one ear is affected.

The two tinnitus types feel different

The symptoms associated with tinnitus are pain in the ear, dizziness, headache, a sense of fullness in the ears, etc.

Tinnitus types as objective tinnitus are relatively rare. It is sound created somewhere in the body, usually in the ear, head, or neck, and has a muscular or vascular provenience. Objective tinnitus which is a sound sensations created by an acoustical source within the body, should rather be described by the condition causing this sensation and not be described as tinnitus. Tinnitus can consequently be defined as “a sound sensation in the absence of an internal or external acoustical source or electrical stimulation”.

Unfortunately, there are people who suffer from both tinnitus types.

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