So what IS Tinnitus exactly?
When Tinnitus is brought up in conversation, most people ask what is tinnitus?
Simply,the name Tinnitus comes from the Latin word meaning “ringing”. It is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.
Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes:
- abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period (but usually with some duration)
- ear infections
- foreign objects in the ear
- nasal allergies that prevent (or induce) fluid drain or wax build-up
- Withdrawal from a benzodiazepine addiction may cause tinnitus
- In-ear headphones, whose sound enters directly into the ear canal without any opportunity to be deflected or absorbed elsewhere, are a common cause of tinnitus when volume is set beyond modest or moderate levels.
Tinnitus can also be caused by natural hearing impairment (such as ageing), as a side effect of some medications, and as a side effect of genetic (congenital) hearing loss. However, the most common cause is noise-induced hearing loss.
As tinnitus is usually 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 audiometric test. The condition is often rated clinically 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.
What is Tinnitus and how common is it? ; about one in five people between 55 and 65 years old report symptoms on a general health questionnaire, and 11.8% on more detailed tinnitus-specific questionnaires so as you can see, it is a prevalent condition.
What is Tinnitus?-Characteristics
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, electric buzzing, hissing, humming, whistling sound changed by shouting or whistling sound, or as ticking, clicking, roaring, “crickets” or “tree frogs” or “locusts”, tunes, songs, beeping, or even a pure steady tone like that heard during a hearing test. 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. In some individuals, the intensity can be changed by shoulder, head, tongue, jaw, or eye movements.
Most people with tinnitus have some degree of hearing loss in that they are often unable to hear clearly external sounds that occur within the same range of frequencies as their “phantom sounds”. This has led to the suggestion that one cause of what is tinnitus might be a homeostatic response of central dorsal cochlear nucleus auditory neurons that makes them hyperactive in compensation to auditory input loss.
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. Heller and Bergman (1953) conducted a study of 100 tinnitus-free university students placed in an anechoic chamber and found 93% reported hearing a buzzing, pulsing or whistling sound. Cohort studies have demonstrated damage to hearing from unnatural levels of noise exposure is very widespread in industrialized countries.
For research purposes, the more elaborate Tinnitus Handicap Inventory is often used. Persistent what is tinnitus may cause irritability, fatigue, and on occasions, clinical depression and musical hallucinations.
As with all diagnostics, other potential sources of the sounds normally associated with tinnitus should be ruled out. For instance, two recognized sources of very high pitched sounds might be electromagnetic fields common in modern wiring and various sound signal transmissions. A common and often misdiagnosed condition that mimics tinnitus is Radio Frequency (RF) Hearing, in which subjects have been tested and found to hear high-pitched transmission frequencies that sound similar to tinnitus.
What is Tinnitus?Here are The Two Major Types …..
1. Objective tinnitus
In some cases,a clinician can perceive an actual sound 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, or vascular tinnitus). 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. Rarely, pulsatile tinnitus may be a symptom of potentially life-threatening conditions such as carotid artery aneurysm or carotid artery dissection . Pulsatile tinnitus may also indicate vasculitis or more specifically, giant cell arthritis. Pulsatile tinnitus may also be an indication of idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
Tinnitus Treatment options for Objective tinnitus:
* Gamma knife radiosurgery
* Shielding of cochlea by teflon implant
* Clearing ear canal
* Using a neurostimulator
2. Subjective Tinnitus
Subjective tinnitus can have many possible causes, but most commonly results from otologic disorders – the same conditions that cause hearing loss. The most common cause of what is tinnitus is noise induced hearing loss, resulting from exposure to excessive or loud noises. Tinnitus, along with sudden onset hearing loss, may have no obvious external cause. Ototoxic drugs can cause subjective 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.
Subjective tinnitus is also a side effect of some medications, such as aspirin, and may also result from an abnormally low level of serotonin activity. It is also a classical side effect of quinidine, a Class IA anti-arrhythmic. Over 260 medications have been reported to cause tinnitus as a side effect. In many cases, however, no underlying physical cause can be identified.
Tinnitus can also occur due to the discontinuation of therapeutic doses of benzodiazepines as part of the benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome. What is tinnitus can sometimes be a protracted symptom from benzodiazepine withdrawal and persist for many months.
Tinnitus Treatment options for Subjective tinnitus
- Drugs and nutrients
- Electrical stimulation
- Surgery
- External sound
- Psychological
Hopefully after reading my article, you will understand more fully what is tinnitus and how it may be avoided.
For more Tinnitus Information, please see these related articles:
What is Tinnitus
Tinnitus Relief
Tinnitus Symptoms
Tinnitus Remedies
Tinnitus Miracle System Review
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