Tinnitus or ringing in the ears is a specific health condition or feeling when a sound is heard in the ear, without external stimulation.
Patients hear sounds that they most often describe as buzzing, hissing, chirping, roaring, whistling, ringing, clicking, pulsating, hissing, or some other sound.
Tinnitus affects between 15 and 20 percent of the population. Most often, people over 50 years old, although children and adolescents can also experience this condition. Studies have shown that men suffer from tinnitus more often.
How does tinnitus occur?
Tinnitus rarely occurs on its own. It is almost always the result of some hidden health condition, usually harmless, but it can also be a sign of a serious illness. Tinnitus is not a disease but a symptom, so it is necessary to find out the cause of ringing in the ears and treat the underlying disease, he writes stethoscope.info .
Tinnitus occurs when there is an obstacle in the transmission of sound from the external environment to the hearing centers in the cerebral cortex.
In a person who does not have tinnitus, the middle ear collects sound waves and conducts them through the inner ear, where the waves are converted into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain. In the brain, these impulses are converted into the sound we hear. If there is an obstacle or damage on that path, it can cause tinnitus, among other things.
When it comes to the auditory canal, the cause of ringing in the ears can be the accumulation of earwax (cerumen).
In the middle ear, tinnitus can be caused by inflammation, otosclerosis, Eustachian tube disease, or secretions in the ear.
In the inner ear, where the largest number of causes of ringing in the ears is, there can be damage to the final parts of the auditory nerve (senile hearing loss, acoustic trauma, acute hearing loss, Meniere's disease).
On the further way to the center in the brain, various causes of ringing in the ear can be found: tumors of the auditory nerve, multiple sclerosis, as a result of a head injury, vascular diseases, hypertension.
Among the causes of this condition are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, anemia, allergies, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, atherosclerosis, hypothyroidism and circulatory problems.
Tinnitus can also occur as a result of listening to loud music or working with loud machinery, an injury to the neck, jaw or head, an ear infection or an accumulation of wax in the ear, but these are rare examples. Also, the use of certain medications can cause tinnitus as a side effect.
Treatment
If you hear ringing in your ears, it is necessary to contact an ENT specialist who, after the examination, will conduct the necessary tests such as laboratory analyses, tympanometry, audiometry, head MRI, CT angiography and, if necessary, consult a cardiologist, physiatrist, neurologist, endocrinologist and psychiatrist, and all in order to find the cause of tinnitus and reveal a potential hidden impaired health condition.
Tinnitus therapy can also be carried out with drugs to stimulate circulation, using a hyperbaric chamber. In cases where it represents a psychological burden, then the therapy is carried out with antidepressants. There is also the use of tinnitus maskers that produce pleasant and safer noises, then the use of hearing aids that amplify noises from the environment in order to achieve the effect of overpowering the tinnitus.
Suppression technique or tinnitus retraining therapy, which is based on the fact that the auditory system is set so that it does not register all sounds from the environment - it selects them (eg the sound of the refrigerator, or the clock).
Recommendations
People suffering from tinnitus must avoid complete silence. It is also necessary to avoid noise in order to prevent further damage to hearing and worsening of noise.
Lifestyle changes, such as regular movement, healthy and regular eating, quality sleep, avoiding stress, reducing alcohol and cigarette consumption, can also help reduce the problems caused by tinnitus.
Why it is important to examine and treat tinnitus
Tinnitus in itself is a harmless condition. However, in some cases it can be a signal of a more serious, hidden health problem, as well as the cause of stress, anxiety or depression.
As it is associated with hearing loss in 90% of cases, it is important to react immediately, consult a doctor, perform all the necessary analyzes to determine the cause of tinnitus and tinnitus, and seriously approach therapy.
Although the chances of getting rid of tinnitus completely are not great, there are many therapies and options to help reduce the sounds and general discomfort caused by tinnitus.
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