Tinnitus and Other Noises in You Ears
Is ringing in your ears — or buzzing, or humming, or static, or clicking, or even people’s voices or music — driving you crazy? Don’t panic — most likely you’re not going crazy.
Instead you may be suffering from one of several common maladies that can create unwanted noise even in the quietest surroundings. The most common of these is “tinnitus,” where your brain starts hearing a lot of sounds when no environmental noise is present.
Tinnitus is often associated with hearing loss or damage to the hearing organs caused by everything from too-loud noises to physical trauma to disease to a bad reaction to certain medications. But it can also come on with no apparent cause.
While there is no proven surefire cure for tinnitus, there are numerous treatments. Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a form of habituation therapy that helps alleviate the symptoms of tinnitus. It often involves a combination of activities including counseling and use of noise generators to mask the internal sounds.
- Click Here to visit the American Tinnitus Association web site
- Click here to visit the Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Centre, London
Tinnitus is such a common malady that the major hearing aid companies provide optional tinnitus-masking sound generators in their hearing aids. The Widex Zen tinnitus system is a good example of a product designed specifically to alleviate tinnitus systems. In fact, many hearing-aid users first visit an audiologist seeking relief from their tinnitus symptoms, only to find that in addition to the tinnitus-masking noise-generator, they also need some amplification to address a loss of hearing.
Beyond Tinnitus
There are other sources of unwanted noises in your head. Hearing people talk to you who aren’t there can be a sign of schizophrenia or other mental affliction. But hearing people’s voices, or voices in a crowd as at a cocktail party, can also be a more benign auditory hallucination.
And have you ever not been able to get a song out of your head? There’s something known as musical ear syndrome where you not only seem to be thinking of a particular song, but you actually hear it, often with full chords.
There’s also something known as exploding head syndrome, where a loud noise much like an explosion suddenly seems to arise from nowhere, often waking you from your sleep.
There are many different diagnoses and treatments for tinnitus and other noises in your ears. Unfortunately, more is still probably unknown than known about these phenomena. But if you are experiencing any unwanted or unexpected noises in your head, the best first step is to consult a doctor for an appropriate diagnosis.
- Click here to find a qualified hearing health professional near you.
- Click here to learn more about hearing tests and audiograms.
- Click here for advice on how to buy a hearing aid.
- Click here to find out about types of hearing loss.
- Click here to find out about causes of hearing loss.
- Click here to learn about cochlear implants and other surgical solutions.
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