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Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Tinnitus Symptoms And Causes

By Adrian Fletcher


Noise that seems to be coming from inside your head is called tinnitus. Tinnitus symptoms can be temporary or permanent and can be rooted in a wide range causes. The most common causes of tinnitus are loss of hearing, drugs or medication, or prolonged or acute exposure to loud noises. Tinnitus is not a disease. Rather, it is a symptom of an underlying condition. The majority of Americans will experience tinnitus many times over the course of their lives.

Loss of hearing from disease, infection, trauma or aging can also give rise to tinnitus symptoms. The reasons for this are not completely understood and may be related to the phantom limb syndrome. In amputees it is common for the brain - interpreting input from nerves that are still functioning but no longer terminate in the amputated foot or hand, to register the missing body part as still existing. It is theorized this phenomenon creates tinnitus symptoms from malfunctioning auditory nerves.

A ringing in the ears is the most frequently reported tinnitus symptom. This is commonly, but not always, caused by loud noise. Have you ever walked out of a rock concert and had sounds from the outside world sound muffled, accompanied by a ringing noise inside your head? That is acute tinnitus caused by loud noise. If you are frequently exposed to loud noise over a long period of time, the hearing loss and accompanying tinnitus can become permanent.

Commonly used medicines that cause tinnitus symptoms include aspirin and quinine. Overuse of these medications can contribute to problems associated with auditory function. In addition, the aminoglycoside antibotic is known to cause tinnitus symptoms.

Tinnitus symptoms that are reported by some sufferers in addition to ringing are buzzing, a high pitched humming, roaring or whooshing, hissing, clicking, whistling and sounds like waves crashing.

Misalignments of the jaw and muscle spasms in the ear or throat haves been cited as causes of the tinnitus symptom of clicking. Ear sounds that follow the pulse of the individual's heart are called "pulsatile tinnitus" and are caused by blood flow in the blood vessels of the middle or inner ear. Pulsatile tinnitus can be a symptom of thyroid problems. Other conditions associated with pulsatile tinnitus are pregnancy and high blood pressure.

In rare cases tinnitus symptoms are caused by tumors. A tumor that presses on the ear's blood vessels will cause pulsatile tinnitus. A tumor on the nerve that carries the signals from the ear to the brain's acoustic processing center creates a condition known as acoustic neuroma. Unlike common tinnitus, this condition occurs in only one ear. For this reason single ear tinnitus should be investigated immediately.




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