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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffYour doctor will examine your ears, head and neck to look for possible causes of tinnitus.
- You'll need a complete hearing (audiological) exam. This can help rule out or identify possible causes of tinnitus.
- Your doctor will check your ears to see if earwax or another problem inside your ear may be causing tinnitus symptoms. In addition, he or she will attempt to hear noise with a stethoscope over the area of your head and neck around the ears.
- Be prepared to discuss when your symptoms started, how much they bother you and whether anything makes them worse. Your doctor will want to know exactly what your tinnitus sounds like, whether it occurs in one or both ears, and if it's a steady sound or if it comes and goes.
- Your doctor may ask you to move your eyes, clench your jaw or move your neck, arms and legs. If your tinnitus changes or worsens, it may help identify an underlying disorder that needs treatment.
- Depending on the suspected cause of your tinnitus, you may need radiologic (X-ray) imaging tests such as CT or MRI scans.
The exact sounds can help your doctor identify a possible underlying cause.
- Muscle contractions around your ear can cause sharp clicking sounds that happen in bursts. They may last from several seconds to a few minutes.
- Blood vessel problems, such as high blood pressure, an aneurysm or a tumor can amplify the sound of your heartbeat in your ears (pulsatile tinnitus).
- Meniere's syndrome can cause continuous low-pitched ringing sounds in one ear. Tinnitus may become very loud before a vertigo attack (a sense that you or your surroundings are spinning or moving).
- Stiff inner ear bones (otosclerosis) can cause low-pitched tinnitus that may be continuous, or may come and go.
- Earwax, foreign bodies or hairs in the ear canal can rub against the eardrum, causing a variety of sounds.
- Exposure to a very loud noise or a blow to the ear can cause a high-pitched ringing or buzzing that usually goes away after a few hours. However, if there's hearing loss also, tinnitus may be permanent.
- Long-term noise exposure, age-related hearing loss or medications can cause a continuous, high-pitched ringing in both ears.
- Acoustic neuroma can cause continuous, high-pitched ringing in one ear. After a few years, it can also cause hearing loss or distortion.
In many cases, the cause of tinnitus is never found. Your doctor can discuss with you steps you can take every day to reduce the severity of your tinnitus or help you cope better with the noise.
