What Causes Tinnitus?

An article by Adrian Featherstone:

There will be few people who have gone to a discotheque or to a live band concert who will not have experienced the sounds of tinnitus. Walking away from any such event we all have a ringing in the ears attributable to the impact of very loud noise on our delicate hearing system.

Most people will give the matter little thought and will probably be blissfully unaware of the potential long term damage that could be building up for them. Few will even understand what the term tinnitus means and fewer still will associate the ear ringing they are experiencing with any particular medical condition. Fortunately for the majority those sounds of tinnitus only live with them for a very short time, at least at this point in their lives.

It is now quite the norm for younger people to live their lives with a set of earphones almost permanently plugged into the side of their heads. These same people often have the volume of the sounds they are delivering directly upon their eardrums turned up so loudly that anyone in their vicinity can clearly hear those sounds too.

So here we have the naively self inflicted beginnings of what can evolve for some into a personal nightmare. There are already many millions of people who suffer or have suffered from the ringing in the ears we know as the sounds of tinnitus. In the years to come this number is likely to swell almost exponentially as the long term effect of this constant assault on our ears comes home to roost.

Whilst the incidence of noise related propagation of tinnitus symptoms is high and getting higher it is by no means the only thing that causes tinnitus. Tinnitus can be initiated by something as simple as a heavy build up of earwax or an ear infection. However it can also be a warning of something more sinister going on so it should not be ignored.

Despite all the research that has been carried out on the subject there is still only very limited knowledge as to the causes of tinnitus or even exactly what produces the sounds of tinnitus in the head. There are on rare occasion identifiable physical issues with the ear mechanism itself and where this is the case there is a good chance that surgery will be effective.

Tinnitus does often become apparent as a partner to age related hearing loss. The use of a hearing aid especially one fitted with a tinnitus masker can be very effective in reducing the impact of ringing in the ears for these people.

Other common instigators of tinnitus are thought to be psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. Also on this list would have to be the side effects of certain drugs and anyone who notices the symptoms of tinnitus coincident with the start of a course of drugs should refer back to the prescribing doctor without delay.

Neurological disorders and the impact of head injuries can result in the onset of tinnitus as can multiple sclerosis and certain thyroid problems. The word here is to seek medical advice as soon as tinnitus becomes apparent. As with all medical conditions the earlier a problem is diagnosed the more likely it is to be resolved.

It is commonly the case that tinnitus causes are not found to be physical and that some form of alternative treatment should be looked at. Contrary to popular belief that the symptoms of tinnitus are untreatable there are proven alternative therapies that do often give massive relief and occasionally deliver a total cure.

More articles by Adrian Featherstone:

• Ringing in the Ear. The onset of a sound like a ringing in the ear can be caused by a sudden exposure to a loud sound, continuous exposure to noise or potentially to an underlying health issue.
• What Causes Ringing in the Ears.  What causes the ringing in the ears that we universally call tinnitus?
• Much Needed Tinnitus Relief.  Living a normal life with the sounds of tinnitus constantly ringing in your ears would seem an impossibility to most tinnitus sufferers.
• Tinnitus Cures That Might Work For You. With the realisation that the noises you are hearing in your ears or in your head are not going to go away comes the journey to either eliminate them or to learn to live with them.
• Alternative Tinnitus Treatment.  Most people who have found that they are living with the ringing in the ears which characterises the sounds of tinnitus will have been told by their medical practitioner that there is no known tinnitus cure.
• Subjective and Objective Tinnitus.  The sounds of tinnitus that will be so well known to those living with this condition are variously described as ringing in the ears, hissing,whistling or buzzing.
• Symptoms of Tinnitus.  Millions of people around the globe experience the symptoms of tinnitus. The ringing in the ears which characterises this complaint is especially common in the towns and cities of the industrialised western world.
• Symptoms For Tinnitus.  Ringing in the ear is one of the primary symptoms of tinnitus. Tinnitus being a condition which commonly affects about a fifth of the population aged 55 or over. 
• Finding Your Own Tinnitus Relief.  Only those of us who have lived with the sounds of tinnitus singing away in our consciousness and who have suffered the constant ringing in the ears that goes with it truly understand the trauma tinnitus creates. 
• The Early Days of Your Tinnitus. Whether they realise it or not most people have heard the sounds of tinnitus. After exposure to any very loud noise we all have a ringing in the ear to some degree. 
• Tinnitus Hypnosis.The use of Tinnitus Hypnosis and Tinnitus Hypnotherapy in the battle to clear tinnitus symptoms has long been recognised... 
• The Effects of Tinnitus. Tinnitus is widely described as a condition
  in which a person hears noises where no corresponding external noise exists.