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when the house In the dead of night, or in the morning after the kids go to school, I can hear a shrill, occasionally jarring sound. If I focus on it, the noise gets louder and even keeps me awake. At first, I suspected that a gadget in my house was the culprit – maybe a problem with the power adapter. But after no one heard, I consulted my doctor and I realized my tinnitus was tinnitus.
“It’s a phantom sound produced by the brain,” said the respected audiologist and anechoic hearing center“A lot of people perceive it at the ear level. They’ll say ‘my ears are ringing.’ But when you try to measure it in a person’s ear, there’s no signal.”
Tinnitus (correctly pronounced ti-nuh-tuhs or ti-night-us, although Prutsman prefers the former) is a very common condition.This National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders It is estimated that by 2020, 10% of U.S. adults will experience tinnitus lasting at least 5 minutes. Most cases of tinnitus are accompanied by underlying hearing loss, and most sufferers experience tinnitus, buzzing, or hissing, but it can even sound like music or singing.
What causes tinnitus?
Noise exposure is the number one cause of tinnitus, so it’s no surprise soldier and musician often tortured.This WHO (WHO) warns that almost half of people aged 12 to 35 are at risk of hearing loss due to prolonged and excessive exposure to loud sounds from personal audio devices and other sources.
“Loud noise exposure can cause changes in synapses in the inner ear, auditory nerve, or brain,” Prutzman said. “But there are other factors that can contribute to tinnitus, including earwax buildup, head injury, genetics and other health changes.”
Researchers used to think tinnitus was a sound coming from the hair cells of the inner ear, but that turned out to be incorrect. They also suspected it was the auditory nerve, but found that when you cut or severed the nerve, the tinnitus got louder, not less.
My tinnitus gets noticeably worse when I’m stressed or tired, and Prutsman says these are common triggers. Anxiety and depression are also associated with this condition, and it can even be a side effect of certain medications, including antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and chemotherapy drugs.
Coping with tinnitus
For most people, tinnitus is short-lived and does not require treatment. If it persists for more than a few days, it is best to seek advice and help from a medical professional. It is often said that there is no cure for tinnitus, but it is more accurate to say that there is no cure that works for everyone. research shows There are many effective ways to manage symptoms and reduce the impact on your life.
“Avoid silence and be in a sound-rich environment,” says Prutzman. “Many people think masking is the right way to mask tinnitus with louder sounds, but my experience is that you just keep increasing the level of masking. Low volume sounds are more calming and soothing, and can be mixed with tinnitus for distraction the attention of the brain.”
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