In the article, we will consider what it is - idiopathic tinnitus.
This is a fairly common phenomenon, the disease affects patients of the older age group. This pathology can occur under certain circumstances in the vast majority of people, but most often such noise is transient in nature.
What is statistics talking about?
It is also important to understand that existing statistics on the prevalence of this disease will not be highly accurate, since very rarely patients with tinnitus want medical attention. To the doctor, usually a neurologist or ENT specialist, such patients turn when it becomes impossible to tolerate such a noise. If the symptoms are stable and their progress is not observed, then treatment is often absent.
Unfortunately, the situation when the noise in the ears is so pronounced that the quality of life is greatly deteriorated will not be rare. Therapy of such ailments is often complicated by the fact that the cause of tinnitus remains unclear.
So, we will understand in more detail what it is - idiopathic tinnitus.
How is it manifested and how can it arise?
The tinnitus that patients hear is described differently. Usually there is no external source of sound vibrations. Sometimes a similar symptom appears only in absolute silence and life does not spoil. The noise has a uniform character, without differences. As if buzzing in the ear. Sometimes it manifests itself in the form of clicks, squeak, or even a sequence of clicks, similar to the transmission in Morse code.
Single and double
Tinnitus can be one-sided and bilateral, it may or may not be accompanied by hearing loss. The mechanism for the formation of symptoms of idiopathic tinnitus is different. The disease can be a consequence of diseases of the heart and blood vessels, while the noise is heard by the blood flow in the vessels, which passes near the eardrum, or with other structures of the inner ear. Most often, a provoking factor is a certain pathological process.
However, this noise is secondary, as it causes a certain disease. If you carry out the appropriate therapy for this ailment, the sound intensity will decrease or even pass. Everything will depend on the cause that caused it.
In some cases, the symptom is characterized as primary. Then he is considered an idiopathic tinnitus. What is this talking about? But the fact that the cause of tinnitus was not found out.
Classification
Tinnitus (tinnitus) may be:
- Primary or idiopathic tinnitus. Hearing loss may accompany him. But also it can be a completely independent manifestation. It is still not possible to find out the cause of this condition, which prevents the appointment of adequate treatment.
- Secondary. It can be a symptom of some other disease, and not an independent ailment. The reason for what is buzzing in the ear may be a lesion in the structures of the organ of hearing itself, as well as pathology of the heart and blood vessels, brain, and pathways.
- Recent. According to the assurances of the patient, tinnitus manifests itself as discomfort and anxiety for less than six months.
- Permanent. He is considered such if he continues to bother a person for more than six months.
- Importunate. With this variant of tinnitus, a marked decrease in the quality of life of the subject is observed, and this can significantly worsen human health. As a rule, due to such a sound in the ears, the patient turns to doctors for medical attention, since tinnitus seriously interferes with normal life. Sometimes an idiopathic tinnitus occurs after firing.
- An unobtrusive option. In patients with this type of tinnitus, life does not change much. They may not go to the doctors for years, because because of such noise there is no significant discomfort. However, in some patients, the desire to learn more about the causes, possible therapy and the further development of this ailment still appears.
How to conduct differential diagnosis of tinnitus
With various diseases of the auditory analyzer, tinnitus may occur. In this case, inflammatory processes lead to tinnitus, and in addition, violations of the outflow from the auditory canal of sulfur. In the event that water gets into the ear canal, a transient, short-term tinnitus may appear. Sometimes there is an excess of sulfur, this also leads to an unpleasant sound in the organs of hearing.
As a diagnostic measure of these causes, a history and complaints are used and an otoscopy is performed. To alleviate the condition, it makes sense to remove excess sulfur, which, as a rule, is performed by washing.
The inflammatory nature of the lesion
The inflammatory nature of the lesion in the ear structures also often accompanies tinnitus. In most cases, when conducting a differential diagnosis, difficulties do not arise, since in addition to tinnitus, patients experience pain, and that is accompanied by general intoxication. Often, body temperature rises.
Meniere's disease
An ailment such as Meniere's disease is often accompanied by tinnitus or in one ear. To find the difference between this disease from the idiopathic variant is quite simple. Meniere's disease, in addition to noise, leads to severe dizziness in a person, impaired coordination of movements, loss of a sense of balance. If the patient has idiopathic tinnitus, then such symptoms usually do not.
Heart and vascular disease and tinnitus
Noise in the ears is often accompanied by diseases of the cardiovascular system. The most common cause of pathology in such cases is hypertension. Sounds in the ears are caused by the noise of blood flow through the vessels, if blood pressure rises significantly, it becomes louder. Often rings in the right ear or in the left.
Also one of the possible causes is atherosclerosis. In vessels affected by this process, elasticity is lost. If, in addition, plaques are present, the turbulent flow of blood becomes even greater, which leads to the appearance of tinnitus. And here is the same pattern - the higher the blood pressure, the stronger the sound.
Diagnosis in such cases is also not difficult to carry out - idiopathic tinnitus is not accompanied by a rise in blood pressure. An instrumental method of investigation (such as ultrasound or arteriography) will also be useful. If the patient has idiopathic noise, then it is not possible to detect signs of atherosclerotic vascular damage, and the lipid profile will be normal.
Tinnitus in pathologies of the nervous system and differential diagnosis with primary noise
Auditory neuroma and type 2 neurofibromatosis can be considered a common cause of noise in neurology. At the same time, sound in the ears is caused by benign tumors, which simply compresses adjacent anatomical formations, this leads to the development of characteristic signs. Often pulsates in the ear, but does not hurt.
Sound in the ears may periodically disappear for a while, and then return. Patients often experience various types of disorders in the functioning of the cranial nerves. This can manifest itself in different ways. It is possible that there is pain, as well as paresthesias in the area where the innervation of the squeezed nerve is observed (manifestations occur most often on the very side where the neurinoma is located).
Other manifestations depend on the localization and growth characteristics. For example, speech is quite often disturbed, language sensitivity is lost, pathological reflexes appear. All these clinical manifestations are absent in the case of primary (idiopathic) tinnitus. The presence of a tumor is usually confirmed by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.
So, we found out what it is - idiopathic tinnitus.
Conducting drug and non-drug therapy
It can be quite difficult to cure primary tinnitus, since it is not entirely clear why these sensations generally occurred. If, in the presence of secondary tinnitus, it is possible to deal with the main pathology, and this will help reduce or even eliminate tinnitus, then with the secondary one, everything is much more complicated and uncertain.
It is advisable to use medication, as well as non-medication, for the treatment of idiopathic tinnitus:
- Sound treatment may be applied. They use a device that creates a constant sound background (surf, sounds of rain and the like). This leads to the fact that the noise in the ears subsides, because it is usually more intense in absolute silence.
- Sometimes, especially against the background of hearing loss, a good effect is given by hearing aids, which sometimes make it possible to cut off extraneous sounds.
- If the patient has primary tinnitus, it is important to use psychotherapeutic methods, which leads to an improvement in the patient's quality of life.
- Sometimes a positive effect arises due to the fact that antidepressants, for example, tricyclics ("Amitriptyline") were prescribed in a timely manner.
- Some patients feel better while taking anticonvulsants (this includes Clonazepam or Gabapentin), antihistamines, and even common non-narcotic analgesics.
conclusions
Thus, tinnitus is considered idiopathic if, after carrying out all the studies, the cause of tinnitus could not be detected. Sometimes this pathology is very difficult to control, since the mechanism of the sound is not clear. If a person has this symptom, it is imperative to get medical help. Of course, it may not be possible to completely get rid of tinnitus, but it will work out to reduce its manifestations and improve the quality of life.
Tinnitus, or tinnitus, is a fairly common symptom, especially in older people. We found that other diseases can lead to this unpleasant state, that is, it can be secondary. Or arise on its own and then it is considered an idiopathic tinnitus. What is it, it is important to find out in advance.
Only with a timely visit to a doctor, an accurately formulated complaint about the discomfort that has arisen, proper diagnosis and thorough treatment can a positive result be obtained in most cases. It is clear that it will be difficult to get rid of the symptom if the cause of its appearance is still not identified. We examined the causes of tinnitus and medications for treatment.