Tinnitus Causes

Tinnitus is perhaps one of the most misunderstood medical conditions. It is often misunderstood as a medical condition in itself, while it is actually a symptom of an underlying medical problem. A lot of those who experience this symptom then get confused and they end up not knowing what should be done. The best thing to do is to know what the real score is on tinnitus causes and aggravators.

There are a number of health conditions that actually causes and aggravates tinnitus, and there are also several cases wherein the tinnitus causes can never be identified. The most common cause involves damage to the hair cells in the cochlea which often occurs as the ears get exposed to very loud noise. When this happens, the ear cells get triggered and releases an electrical signal from the nerve in the ear that sends it to the brain. The brain receives this signal and interprets it as a sound. So when your hair cell in the cochlea gets damaged, it sends electrical impulses randomly to the brain, thus making you hear a ringing in your ears.

Some other causes include problems in the ear, chronic health problems, and injuries that affect the auditory nerves and hearing center of our brain.

The Most Common Causes of Tinnitus Are:

-Exposure to loud noise - Often the most common cause amongst teenagers who cannot seem to get enough of the music they are listening to with their iPods and MP3 players. Workers who use heavy equipments and do not use ear plugs and ear muffs also have this.

-Age-related hearing loss - Commonly known as presbycusis, it is actually manifested as a person reaches the age of 60. The organ of hearing deteriorates with age in this case.

-Impacted earwax - Our earwax functions as a protection of the ear canal as it traps dirt and prevents bacterial growth. For some people however, too much earwax is accumulated and causing it to harden and become impacted, creating hearing problems and eventually tinnitus.

-A change in Ear bone structure - For some people, the bones in the middle ear can stiffen and it can affect the hearing process, thus causing tinnitus. It is a hereditary problem that is caused by an abnormality in the bone growth.

Other causes that are less common includes: Meniere's disease, stress, anxiety and depression, head and neck injury, and acoustic neuroma.

On the other hand, there are also some causes that are associated with disorders in the blood vessels:

-Tumor in the head and neck
-Hypertension
-Atherosclerosis
-Turbulent blood flow
-Arteriovenous Malformation

Another popular known cause is ototoxicity. There are quite a number of medicines that can cause and even worsen an already existing case of tinnitus. It is said that prolonged use of the medication at higher dosage is what causes the ototoxicity.

Now that you are fully aware of the tinnitus causes, perhaps it is about time that we take extra care of our ears and steer clear from activities that can cause or aggravate tinnitus.