All of the symptoms of tinnitus involve the perception of phantom noises in the ears which are, in 95% of reported cases, completely inaudible to everyone but the patient. These phantom noises include ringing, hissing, whistling, buzzing, or roaring sounds that vary in both tone and volume. For some, the symptoms of tinnitus may amount only to a low clicking sound that repeats intermittently. For others, the sound can be a deafening roar that persists for extended periods of time. The broad range of signs and symptoms is one of the reasons tinnitus is so little understood by so many health care professionals. One second you can be fine and then all of a sudden you hear a noise for a while no one else hears.

The symptoms of tinnitus can manifest themselves in a variety of ways, as phantom sounds are heard with pitch quality that ranges from a dull bass to a high treble or even a squeal. The tone of the sound can be single, multi-tonal, or a steady din with no tone whatsoever. In other words, afflicted persons may hear the sounds of one instrument, an orchestra, or just a mob of people screaming in the street. To make matters worse, the symptoms of tinnitus have no fixed schedule; the sounds may be ever-present or occasional.

For those who have to live daily with the never-ending flood of noise that only they can hear, the symptoms of tinnitus can be almost unbearable. The steady onslaught of inner audio can affect every aspect of the afflicted person’s life, causing physical discomfort, mental stress, and emotional imbalance.