If you have started to notice that there is a ringing sound in your ears all the time, you need to get in to see your doctor immediately. That ringing sound in your ears is referred to in the medical community as tinnitus. Tinnitus is not a disease; rather, it is seen as a common symptom of a wide variety of different disorders. Once you let your doctor know that you are experiencing tinnitus, here are some of the tests they may run to determine the underlying cause.

Blood Pressure Test

One cause of tinnitus is high blood pressure. Your doctor can easily check your blood pressure in their office and determine if you have high blood pressure. If you already know you have high blood pressure, this may be one of the driving reasons you are currently experiencing tinnitus and you should let you doctor know.

Movement Tests

Your doctor may perform what seem like some simple movement tests. They may have you do a variety of the following movements:

• clench your jaw
• relax your jaw
• move your eyes
• move your head
• move your arms
• and move your legs.

With each movement, your doctor will ask you to focus on your tinnitus and let them know if your tinnitus gets softer or louder when you do each particular motion. Each of these seemingly simple movements could help your doctor make a connection and figure out the cause of your tinnitus.

Hearing Exam

Your doctor will probably send you to an audiologist for a hearing exam. During your exam, the audiologist will play specific sounds into earphones. You'll have to respond to the sounds that you hear to let the audiologist know that you heard each sound.

Sometimes, tinnitus is associated with hearing loss. This test will let your doctor and the audiologist see if your tinnitus is associated with hearing loss. If your hearing is fine, they will be able to rule that out as a cause of your tinnitus.

Advance Imaging Testing

If the above tests do not yield conclusive results, your doctor may have you get a CT scan, an MRI scan, or both. Both of these scans will allow your doctor to really see what is going on inside of your head. These scans allow your doctor to see if there are any underlying neurological issues behind your tinnitus.

Your primary care physician may end up working with both an audiologist and a radiologist to conduct all the tests necessary to determine what is causing your tinnitus.