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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    What are the symptoms of tinnitus?

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    Dr Smariti Kapila

    Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgeon

    She has primarily been trained in Sydney, but also across Australia, including Darwin and several outreach communities, Adelaide, Gosford, and Sydney, including St Vincent's, Royal … View Profile

    Tinnitus is sound, in one or both ears, which affects up to 25% of people aged over 70 years.  It can sound like many things, and patients often report varied symptoms such as hearing buzzing, humming, clicking, crackling or pulsation.

    It can be:
    Objective - a ‘real’ sound generated by the body
    for example - pulsing noise due to high blood pressure, arterial or venous growths or abnormal anatomy, small muscle spasms in the ear/mouth
    Subjective - a sound in the absence of ‘real’ source from the body
    for example - inner ear hearing loss resulting in electrical signal abnormality and the perception of sound

    Tinnitus is often a simple result of hearing loss as one ages, however can represent a new one-sided hearing loss as the first sign of a growth or tumour, or a potentially serious vascular (blood vessel) problem. This is why it is important to have any tinnitus properly assessed and investigated.

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