Tinnitus and Hearing Loss
What is this constant ringing in the ears? Why is it happening? If it as a blockage of wax, how can you properly hear everything? Is it tinnitus? Is it possible without hearing loss?
Tinnitus is ringing type sound which you hear without any external sound. It can be like buzzing, ringing or clicking. However, you may not lose your hearing ability. It only causes if you have a tinnitus problem due to Meniere’s disease. Patients feel irritated due to constant ticking sound in their ears while listening to music, talking to someone or even while sleeping.
Causes of Tinnitus
Tinnitus usually happens due to attending a loud rock music concert or while listening loud music through headphones, listening to a high pitch sound, roaring or any loud sound can cause tinnitus. It is also caused by aging.
It happens due to the loss or damage of tiny sensory hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear. Tinnitus isn’t a disease, but a symptom only which only coincidences are hearing loss. Your hearing doesn’t get affected every time you face this problem.
It can also be caused by hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, with the tumor that presses blood vessels in one’s head or neck. Other reasons include head or ear injury, ear infections, ear wax touching the ear drum, stiffening of the middle ear bones, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.
How to Treat Tinnitus
Tinnitus is curable in different ways. If you ever feel any ringing, buzzing, or clicking in your ear without any external sound try to consult your doctor, most of the times it can be treated earlier. Noise suppression tactics can also treat tinnitus, but you should better consult your doctor before taking any step. Although care is better than cure, you should use hearing protection and avoid loud volumes
Moreover, use calming and relaxing background sound by masking the noise in your ears by turning smooth background sound behind you. Try listening brown or pink sounds while going to sleep. And obviously avoid loud noises such as horns, roaring thundering, and beating, etc.
Tinnitus doesn’t go away with time, but it is the medical treatment that takes place slowly. Many people think that it can go away itself, but it does not. Some individuals who receive proper treatment experience complete silence and noise reduction from that irritating sound.
Other treatments for tinnitus include small doses of anti-anxiety drugs such as Valium or antidepressants such as Elavil. They help reduce tinnitus. For some people, the use of the steroid present in the middle ear along with the anti-anxiety medicine called alprazolam has the tendency to be effective.
Is Tinnitus Dangerous?
Tinnitus is not a dangerous disease. It causes sleep loss, anxiety, depression, and fatigue due to continuous sound waves that you feel in your ear. It can also lead to deafness if it is not treated properly. As we get aged, our auditory nerves begin to deteriorate which results in the misrepresentation of sounds that we hear the noise. In first stages, tinnitus does not affect hearing, although people with hearing loss complain more about it than the people who do not lose their hearing. Click here to find out how you can prevent or reverse your hearing loss.