Tinnitus is a sensation of ringing, chirping, buzzing or hissing in the ears. This disturbance can be intermittent or continuous, it can be loud or low intensity. Usually the ringing sensation intensifies, when the background noises are absent, i.e. background noises mask the tinnitus. This condition worsens with age and time.
Tinnitus isn't a condition itself — it's a symptom of an underlying condition, such as age-related hearing loss, ear injury or a circulatory system disorder. Rarely the ringing sensation may synchronize with the heart. It is called as pulsatile tinnitus.
Tinnitus is of two types:
Subjective Tinnitus – This is the most common type of tinnitus, which only by the patient himself. This indicates an issue within the outer, middle and inner ear, auditory nerves or auditory pathways concerning the brain.
Objective Tinnitus – This is a rare type of tinnitus, which is felt by the doctor himself, while he examines the patient. This is caused due to disparity of blood vessel, middle ear bone conditions and muscle contractions.
The most common causes are: Age related disease usually worsening with age starting at 60 years, also called presbycusis. Sudden or continuous exposure to loud noise is also a predisposing factor. Stiffening or bone changes of middle ear bones also called otosclerosis. As a part of Meniere’s disease, due to abnormal inner ear fluid pressures. Benign tumors of the auditory nerve called Acoustic neuroma. Certain atherosclerotic changes in the auditory blood vessel can also lead to this disease. Head and neck injuries may also lead to tinnitus.
Tinnitus can be very irritating and disturbing especially while sleeping. The treatment involves finding out the root-cause and treating it. When we fail to find the cause, we are fortunate to have masking devices, which instantly reduce the ringing sensation in our ear. While there is little scope of medications in this aspect, but anti-anxiety drugs and anti-depressant drug have been found to be effective.
-Koya Satyasri
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