Published July 07, 2025
If you experience a ringing, buzzing, hissing or even a roaring noise in your ears when no actual external sound is present, you have tinnitus.
It’s estimated that somewhere between 25 to 50 million American adults experience tinnitus in some form. While a large percentage of people report only a mild annoyance, about 2 percent of patients – at least several million Americans – find tinnitus disturbing, sometimes a profoundly life-altering disorder that impacts mental and physical wellbeing.
Those who are deeply impacted by tinnitus often experience anxiety, depression and insomnia; they struggle to function in work or social settings.
While the causes of tinnitus are not fully understood, “tinnitus appears to be a neurological reaction to some form of hearing loss,” said Patricia Lake, an audiologist with Lawrence + Memorial Hospital and Yale New Haven Health. “In many cases, the brain appears to be trying to fill a void from a missing signal from the ears.”
Hearing loss is typically the main cause of tinnitus, but other possible causes include:
In some cases, no specific cause is identified.
Subjective tinnitus is the most common; this is where only the tinnitus sufferer hears the sound.
The second kind – objective tinnitus – is exceedingly rare and often related to vascular or muscular issues; sometimes a doctor can hear the sound with a stethoscope.
The condition with no clear cause also currently has no clear cures. However, there are many tools patients can use to reduce the impact of tinnitus, Lake said. “We usually start with a hearing test, because, if your tinnitus is being caused by a hearing loss, then sometimes a hearing aid can help,” she said. “If you have mild hearing loss, and you put that sound back into the brain by amplifying it with a hearing aid, many patients experience at least partial relief from their tinnitus.”
Stress and lack of sleep are also contributors to tinnitus, “so sometimes just better sleep hygiene can help,” Lake said.
But sleeping with tinnitus is sometimes difficult, as the sounds in one’s head can seem louder when it’s quiet. That’s why Sound Therapy or white noise machines are helpful for masking the sounds people hear in their heads.
“Fans or humidifiers can help, and there are also apps you can download on your phone that offer mixing boards where patients can create their own blend of sounds to mask their particular frequency of tinnitus,” Lake said. “Some apps enable the patient to blend sounds such as crickets, waterfalls, trains, oceans and rain.”
Masking tinnitus, especially at night, “is a little like the ‘Where’s Waldo’ phenomenon of trying to find a single person in a crowded picture,” Lake said. “Mixing sounds often makes the tinnitus noise less significant for the brain, which can help with sleep and concentration. Some hearing aids also have special tinnitus masking settings.”
Other therapies for tinnitus include:
Tinnitus may be excruciating for some, but it is not, by itself, dangerous. “Dwelling on the sounds of tinnitus can make it worse, so we encourage our patients to engage in life,” Lake said.
“Participating in activities that are enjoyable can distract your brain and give you more positive feelings. Thinking positively can help many people cope with the frustrations of tinnitus.”
