It is said that when someone hears a beep it is because they are talking about her or him. It has happened to everyone at some point. However, this popular belief stops being funny when these sounds are constant. In that case, it could be a real hearing problem, specifically tinnitus. But what exactly is this disconcerting annoyance? Tinnitus, also known as tinnitus, is the perception of a sound that does not come from outside, but is only perceived by the person who suffers from this problem.
It can occur in one ear or both, and affects a proportion of the population that ranges between 10% and 15%, although the numbers increase with age, so that, together, they reach up to 43%. Not in vain, a quarter of the population has experienced it at some point. Typically, people with tinnitus have some degree of partial deafness, known as hearing loss.
It can be an objective sound, such as a heartbeat, or it can be a non-objective sound, which is the most common, which is a beeping or motor noise at ear level.
The phenomenon can be classified into two types. One, acute tinnitus, of recent appearance. If the organic cause that causes it is resolved, it normally disappears. The other is chronic tinnitus, which never goes away. Dr. Albert Codina, otorhinolaryngologist at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona, explains that they can also be differentiated according to the sound they produce: “It can be an objectifiable sound, such as the heartbeat, or a non-objectifiable, more common sound, such as a beep or a ringing sound. engine”.
These noises can be continuous or pulsating, high-pitched, like a whistle, or low-pitched, like a motor, or like hisses or clicks. The cause is still unknown, but there are some theories about it. It may be due to damage to sensory cells, which produces an imbalance between the electrical signals that tell the brain if there is sound and those that tell it that there is not. One of the most widespread hypotheses is that, with this imbalance, auditory neurons generate signals spontaneously.
They could also be generated by an automatic reaction of auditory neurons, which compensate for the absence of electrical signals that reach the brain. And another hypothesis points to stochastic resonance, an adjustment of the auditory system to very weak, barely perceptible signals. Thus, tinnitus would appear as a side effect. What is known are the risk factors that favor its appearance, and the most common is hearing loss.
Sometimes this results from continuous exposure to loud noises. Ignacio Berdejo, audiometry technician at the Hospital Clínic, warns of this danger: “Noise greatly affects hearing, especially the inner ear, and causes deafness over time. If we work in noisy environments, we must wear earplugs or helmets to protect our ears.” Other risk factors may be chronic diseases, such as diabetes or obesity, alcohol and tobacco consumption, or medications such as antihypertensives or anti-inflammatory drugs.
Noise greatly affects hearing, especially the inner ear, and causes deafness over time.
Although there is no cure, tinnitus symptoms can be mitigated with hearing aids, especially in people with hearing loss. In addition, cognitive-behavioral therapy provides tools to cope with symptoms and make them less bothersome. Doctors recommend masking noise with other external sources of sound at bedtime, avoiding alcohol and stimulants such as caffeine, getting enough rest, exercising, and practicing relaxation techniques to reduce stress.
Dr. Codina sends a reassuring message to those diagnosed: “Most people get used to the sound, so it has little impact on their lives and they only notice it during episodes of stress or worse rest,” he says. Therefore, in his opinion, affected people should know that they will have to live with tinnitus, but if they follow the recommendations of professionals, their daily life will not be affected.
#ringing #tinnitus
