What is tinnitus?

Tinnitus is one of the physical condition in which person can experience the ringing sound or noise in ear as well as in head, without any external sound source. It may cause because of fault in the hearing system of an individual and so it is a symptom and not a disease.

Various types of sounds can be experienced by a person in tinnitus, which are like ringing sound, humming noise, buzzing sound, running water sound, whistling sound or may be a sound from a seashell.

Some common types of the tinnitus are as follows:

  • Tonal tinnitus - This is also known as ringing in the ears. In tonal tinnitus continuous single note sound is produced again and again.
  • Pulsatile tinnitus - In this type of tinnitus, sounds are continuous, irregular, or pulsating with time or with the heartbeat.
  • Some time in tinnitus sound is like buzzing, ringing, roaring, hissing or whistling noise are produced.
  • Beeping sounds, musical notes and Morse code type sounds are also experienced in some few number of tinnitus cases.
  • In very few tinnitus cases, it is also observed that numbers of sounds are experienced at a time .

Effect of depression on the Tinnitus:

Some people think that tinnitus is produced because of depression. After getting treatment on depression it gets relieved, but according to experts, depression is caused because of tinnitus and treatment is needed for depression.

The treatment may contain antidepressant drugs as well as the talk therapy. However the research has shown that the antidepressant drugs may make tinnitus symptoms worse.

With the help of stethoscope, doctors can here the sound heard by tinnitus patients. In the middle part of the ear, two tiny bones are present and after hearing sudden and loud noises, muscles contract temporarily for protecting inner ear from the over stimulation. During such conditions one or both the muscles start to contract and relax at the same time. These muscles are attached to tiny bones and therefore contraction results in clicking sounds.

In some cases rhythmic muscle contraction or the spasm may affect the muscles of the throat which is attached to eustachian tube. This situation is called as palatal myoclonus and it may lead to production of the annoying and clicking noise.

Following factors are responsible for making tinnitus more worse:

  • Loud noise - Sudden or long term noise may damage the hearing capacity and may lead to tinnitus and deafness. Tinnitus is mostly found in the people, who are working in industries, transport systems, farms and who use noisy lawn mower. One can reduce hearing of loud noise by taking precautions and using ear muff or earplugs. Leisure noise may be harmful like the boom boxes, rock concerts and loudly played walkman.
  • Stress and Fatigue - Fatigue and stress are the main reason to make the tinnitus worse. In order to get rid from this condition one should keep himself busy and stay away from tinnitus. Relaxation therapy is best solution for reducing the tinnitus in such conditions.
    Hypnotherapy from the qualified doctor is more useful along with the other factors like sports, yoga, hobbies, massage and reflexology for minimizing tinnitus.
  • Medications - If you are suffering from tinnitus then you must have to tell your doctor as the common drugs may also cause the tinnitus as a side effect and some medications may worsen the existing tinnitus condition. One should have to take care while taking medications for rheumatic diseases, arthritis, anti-depressants and some antibiotics.
  • Try easing off - In some people tea, coffee, chocolate, coca-cola caffeine and alcohol may worsen the tinnitus temporarily. Also one should avoid the quinine which is in tonic water. Blood vessels became narrow because of smoking which supplies less oxygen to ear and sensory cells, so avoid smoking.

Who can be suffered from tinnitus?

Anybody can be suffered from tinnitus as it is found commonly in many people with increasing age. As the person is growing, the chances of occurring tinnitus also increase. In comparison with general people, those people who are prone to hardening of arteries have great chance of suffering from tinnitus. People working in a noisy surrounding have great chance of tinnitus occurrence.

Is Tinnitus Serious?

At initial condition tinnitus is generally not so serious condition but sometimes it may lead to hearing loss. The people suffering from tinnitus may become totally deaf, but tinnitus is not the cause of total deafness. In very few cases of tinnitus brain tumor or the mental illness may also caused.

Facts related to tinnitus:

  • Tinnitus is a common problem.
  • Around the world, 17 % of people have tinnitus problem.
  • In United States about 44 million people are suffering from tinnitus.
  • Tinnitus may lead to hearing loss.
  • Noises associated with tinnitus seen loud to those people who are suffering from it. These sounds are described as unpleasant or annoying with whistling, hissing or roaring sound qualities.
  • Tinnitus people have many difficulties with normal day to day life activities because of tinnitus symptoms. It may affect to overall quality of the life.
  • Exact cause of the tinnitus is unpredictable, but in many cases it occurs as a result of other underlying diseases like blockage of ear canal, ear infection etc.
  • One of the treatment for tinnitus is masking the unpleasant sounds with other pleasant tone.