Tinnitus Test
As you’ve seen on other pages on this site, there are several causes of tinnitus. Often we never find a specific cause and there is no simple tinnitus test that explains all situations, but if a situation seems unusual there are several tests that can be done.
Evaluation of tinnitus is often undertaken by a physician. If someone complains of ringing in the ears on of the first things they’ll do is check for exposure to loud noises as a possible cause. At the same time, they’ll review any medications a person is taking to make sure the ringing ears aren’t a side effect of a medication.
After that, the first testing will probably be a physical exam. A key point is to make sure the person’s blood pressure is normal. A simple ear exam looking in the ear with an otoscope can reveal some causes of ringing in the ears.
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The simplest is ear wax build up, in which case the tinnitus is cleared by cleaning the ears.
Other problems that might show up on exam are fluid trapped behind the ear drum, an ear infection or injury to the ear drum.
Beyond this, a physician will also listen with a stethoscope for abnormal noises over the major blood vessels in the neck. These noises are caused by hardening of the arteries disturbing blood flow and sometimes a person can hear them because the vessels pass so close to the ears. This type of tinnitus is referred to as subjective tinnitus.
In addition to this basic evaluation, the most common test done for tinnitus is a hearing exam (audiometry). Hearing loss is often associated with tinnitus. Some researches think that may be because if areas of the brain that normally process signals from the ear don’t get any messages they “fill in” their own, creating the ringing or buzzing noise people find so annoying. Whether or not the theory is correct, it’s a good idea to get the test done.
A rare cause of tinnitus is a tumor along the nerve to the ear associated with hearing. In this situation the ringing is usually only on one side. If a physician suspects this, they may order a CAT scan or MRI
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