Banish TinnitusWhat is Tinnitus and its causes?
Tinnitus, meaning ringing, is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.
Tinnitus is not a disease but a symptom resulting from a range of underlying causes that can include ear infection or wax in the ear, and injury from loud noises. Tinnitus can also be caused by hearing impairment and as a side-effect of some medications.
As tinnitus is often defined as a subjective phenomenon, it is difficult to measure using objective tests, such as by comparison with noise of known frequency and intensity, as in an audio-metric test.The condition is often rated on a simple scale from slight to catastrophic, according to the practical difficulties it imposes, such as interference with sleep, quiet activities, and normal daily activities.
Tinnitus can be perceived in one or both ears or in the head. It is usually described as a ringing noise, but in some patients, it takes the form of a high pitched whining, buzzing, hissing, screaming, humming, songs, or beeping. It has also been described as a "wooshing" sound, as of wind or waves. Tinnitus can be intermittent or it can be continuous in which case it can be the cause of great distress.
Most people with tinnitus have hearing loss, in that, they are often unable to properly hear external sounds which occur within the same range of frequencies as their original sounds.
The sound perceived may range from a quiet background noise to one that can be heard even over loud external sounds. The term "tinnitus" usually refers to more severe cases.
Persistent tinnitus may cause irritability, fatigue, and on occasions depression
and musical hallucinations.In some cases, actual sound can be perceived emanating from the patient's ears.
This is called
objective tinnitus. Objective tinnitus can arise from muscle spasms that cause clicks or crackling around the middle ear.
Some people experience a sound that beats in time with the pulse.
Pulsatile tinnitus is usually objective in nature, resulting from altered blood flow or increased blood turbulence near the ear, but it can also arise as a subjective phenomenon from an increased awareness of blood flow in the ear.
Objective tinnitus, however, is quite uncommon. Often patients with pulsatile tumors will report other coexistent sounds, distinct from the pulsatile noise, that will persist even after their tumor has been removed.
This is generally subjective tinnitus, which, unlike the objective form, cannot be tested by comparative methods.
Subjective tinnitus may not always be correlated with ear malfunction or hearing loss. Even people with near-perfect hearing may still complain of it. Tinnitus may also have a connection to memory problems, anxiety, fatigue or a general state of poor health.
The mechanisms of subjective tinnitus are often obscure. While it is not surprising that direct trauma to the inner ear can cause tinnitus, other apparent causes are difficult to explain.
Research has proposed that there are two distinct categories of subjective tinnitus: otic tinnitus, caused by disorders of the inner ear or the acoustic nerve, and somatic tinnitus, caused by disorders outside the ear and nerve but still within the head or neck.
Other studies suggest that tinnitus is caused by increased neural activity in the auditory brain stem where the brain processes sounds, causing some auditory nerve cells to become overexcited.
Tinnitus can have many different causes, but most commonly results from otologic disorders – the same conditions that cause hearing loss. The most common cause is noise-induced hearing loss, resulting from exposure to excessive or loud noises.Ototoxic drugs can cause tinnitus either secondary to hearing loss or without hearing loss, and may increase the damage done by exposure to loud noise, even at doses that are not in themselves ototoxic.
Tinnitus and hearing loss can be permanent conditions, and therefore precautionary measures are advisable. If a ringing in the ears is audible following lengthy exposure to a source of loud noise, such as a music concert or an industrial workplace, it means that lasting damage may already have occurred. For musicians and DJs, special musicians' earplugs play a huge role in preventing or banishing tinnitus and can lower the volume of the music without distorting the sound and can prevent tinnitus from developing in later years. For anyone operating loud electrical appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, and lawn mowers, earplugs are also helpful in reducing noise exposure.
It is also important to check medications for potential ototoxicity. If ototoxic medications must be administered, close attention by the physician to prescription details, such as dose and dosage interval, can reduce the damage done. That is why the Banish Tinnitus product is so vital.