Tinnitus to the inner ear can cause tinnitus, other apparent causes (e.g., temporomandibular joint dysfunction) are difficult to explain. It may be caused by increased neural activity in the auditory brainstem, where the brain processes sounds, causing some auditory nerve cells to become over-excited. The basis of this theory is that many with tinnitus also have hearing loss. Three reviews of 2016 emphasized the large range and possible combinations of pathologies involved in tinnitus, which in turn result in a great variety of symptoms demanding specifically adapted therapies. Even when tinnitus is the primary complaint, audiological evaluation is usually preceded by
Tinnitus retraining therapy loss, a tuned hearing aid that amplifies sound in the frequency range of the hearing loss (usually the high frequencies) may effectively mask tinnitus by raising the level of environmental sound, in addition to the benefit of restoring hearing. White noise generators or environmental music may be used to provide a background noise level that is of sufficient amplitude that it wholly or partially 'masks' the tinnitus (tinnitus masker). Composite hearing aids that combine amplification and white noise generation are also available. Numerous other non-TRT methods have been suggested for the treatment or management of tinnitus. Tinnitus retraining therapy Tinnitus