Tinnitus And Tinnitus Treatment

Tinnitus is a sensation of sound .

This noise is not actually present in the external environment. Tinnitus noise may be in one Ear, both Ears and the head.Tinnitus will be heard as ringing, buzzing, roaring, hissing, whistling, throbbing or booming.Tinnitus manifests as a single sound or a number of different sounds and developes either gradually or suddenly.

Prevalence

Most people experience Tinnitus at some stage of their life.
• 17% to 30% of the population experience persistent Tinnitus.
• Tinnitus is severe for approximately 2% of the population.
• Tinnitus severely disturbs the ability to function properly in 0.5% to 1.0% of the population.

What Causes Tinnitus?
The principal underlying cause of Tinnitus is irritated nerve endings in the Inner Ear. Almost everything that goes wrong with our ears can produce tinnitus as a symptom! A simple thing such as wax on the eardrum, or as serious as a tumour on the hearing nerve may cause Tinnitus. Otosclerosis (fixation of the tiny stirrup bone in the middle ear)  produces tinnitus; so also Meniere's disease. A major cause of tinnitus is EXPOSURE TO EXCESSIVE NOISE .

The actual mechanisms, or processes of tinnitus are not yet fully understood, but tinnitus is real, not imagined and it is a symptom of a malfunction, usually somewhere in the hearing system (includes ear and brain). The inner ear, or cochlear, is involved for many people.

What Makes Tinnitus Worse?
1. Loud noise - Exposure to high pitch or long-term noise will damage your hearing with resultant deafness and tinnitus. Reduce the noise source or protect your ears with earplugs. Leisure noise is also a hazard, e.g. rock concerts, boom boxes in cars etc.
2. Stress and Fatigue - They make tinnitus worse! Keeping busy - trying to focus your energies OUTWARD AND AWAY from the tinnitus - is an excellent idea, but stress and fatigue only undermine you. Minimise them by rethinking your lifestyle. Relaxation therapy helps greatly to relieve tinnitus.
3. Medications - tell your doctor about your tinnitus; some common medications cause tinnitus as a side effect or make your existing tinnitus worse.
4. Ease off the caffeine (tea, coffee, coca-cola, chocolate), and alcohol as they worsen tinnitus. Avoid quinine - as in tonic water, Nicotine and marijuana too. Smoking narrows the blood vessels that supply vital oxygen to your ears and their sensory cells thus agravating the tinnitus.
Tinnitus is an indication of a fault in the hearing system, so usually it is associated with hearing loss. Sometimes tinnitus is present with normal hearing and for no discernible reason.

TREAT TINNITUS AS A WARNING SIGNAL - PROTECT AGAINST EXCESSIVE NOISE AND TAKE ACTION
Tinnitus is not simple. Everybody's tinnitus noise is individual to them. Its causes are many (though excessive noise and some medications are the major PREVENTABLE causes). The range of tinnitus is very wide from mild to severe. If tinnitus is troubling you TAKE ACTION NOW get tinnitus treatment.