It is believed that more than 35 million Americans suffer from the hearing ailment, tinnitus. Many doctors consider it to be a symptom rather than a disease. So what exactly is tinnitus? Tinnitus is the condition when ringing, buzzing, whistling, hissing or any other noise is heard in the ear, when there is no such noise in the environment.
Click Here For A Surefire Way To Stop Tinnitus For Good
Earlier it was believed that tinnitus affects only those people who are more than 40 years old. Things have changed over the years, now young people exposed to loud amplified music or sound, frequent doctors with complaints of tinnitus. The bothersome ear noises can be soft as a whistle or loud enough to be completely draining. Tinnitus can have a far reaching effect on a person's over all health. Tinnitus can lead to sleep disturbances, concentration problem, and sometimes the problem gets so acute that a person has to forgo any kind of social life. Tinnitus is not considered to be a disease, but a symptom that tells that something is gravely wrong with the auditory system. There are a lot of theories which discuss the causes of tinnitus, but the actual reason has not been found out yet. No one has been able to tell where the sound originates from, yet it cannot be termed as the patient's imagination. Whether it is due to physiological or neurological disorder is yet to be established. Tinnitus can occur for short duration or permanently, either in one ear or both the ears whatever it is, no fixed cure has been found out.
Causes
Now the million dollar question arises, what causes or triggers tinnitus? Loud music, concerts, gunshots, long-term exposure to noise from welding equipment, power saws, jackhammers, vacuum cleaners, power mowers, snow blowers and some kitchen appliances may cause tinnitus. So a continuous exposure to loud noise can trigger tinnitus. Apart form continuous exposure to sound, allergies, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, ear wax buildup, tumors, Meniere's disease, medications (sometimes too much aspirin) and old age might also cause tinnitus. Irregularities in blood vessels around the ear lead to noise when muscles contract in the ear. Sometimes tinnitus can be cured if it is caused due to earwax buildup, high cholesterol or the presence of a tumor. If those conditions are cured, then on might be cured of tinnitus.
Diagnosis
A complete medical history of the patient is taken, as well as screening for hearing loss or other deficiencies is done. Sometimes if the case demands a formal hearing test maybe done.
