What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is the continuous perception of noise that seems to be in the ear or head when there is no external sound actually present. Tinnitus is commonly referred to as ringing in the ears although the affected individual may experience hissing, buzzing or other types of sounds. Almost everyone experiences tinnitus at some point, but is usually masked by outside sounds. Tinnitus can arise in the outer or inner ear, middle ear, or in the head. It is not a disease in itself, but a symptom of an underlying condition. Tinnitus is usually associated with hearing loss, and a direct cause is not always found.
What causes tinnitus?
There are a huge number of medical conditions that can lead to having tinnitus as a symptom. Causes of tinnitus include exposure to loud environmental noise over a period of time or during an extreme incident (noise trauma), stiffening of the middle ear bones, ageing, Meniere’s Disease, inflammation and infection of the middle ear, wax or dirt build-up in the ear canal, tumours of the nerves involved in hearing (acoustic neuromas), exposure to certain drugs like aspirin, high blood pressure or high cholesterol, head trauma, psychological conditions such as depression and anxiety, and excessive use of caffeine, alcohol or other stimulants. These causes are so wide ranging that there is great difficulty in determining the exact cause of a person’s tinnitus.
The type of tinnitus that the Somtus™ therapy has been developed to combat is noise induced temporary tinnitus. Nowadays loud noise exposure is an extremely common cause of tinnitus. Noise induced tinnitus affects the cochlea, the part of the inner ear that converts wave vibrations to electrical signals before sending them to the brain. The cochlea is a very important part of the system that allows us to hear. There are thousands of tiny hair cells in the cochlea that are stimulated by the pressure of sound waves. When a sound is detected in the inner ear the tiny cochlear hairs move.
Then electrical signals are sent through the auditory nerve, which the brain interprets as sound. When the tiny hairs get bent, or even broken, they send electrical impulses randomly to the brain. These signals are interpreted as sound, even though there might be a complete absence of sound.
These tiny hair cells and auditory nerves are extremely delicate and are easily damaged if exposed to a sudden loud noise or you have been exposed to loud noises over a long period of time. Excessively loud noise from concerts, firearms and high intensity music like that from in-ear headphones, has a very harmful affect on the inner ear and the cochlear hairs.
These sensitive organs can also be damaged as a result of a severe blow to the head.
Damage Done By Loud Noise
Normal Cochlear Hairs
Moderate sound damage done to Cochlear Hairs
Serious sound damage done to Cochlear Hairs
What does tinnitus sound like?
Tinnitus presents itself in different forms depending on the individual. The most common reports of tinnitus describe it as a ringing, hissing, buzzing, chirping, whistling, whirring, screeching, high pitched noises or humming. Other examples include a pulsatile or beating sound, high-pitched rattles, electric buzzes, and high-pitched drill or interference on the radio. However it is not unusual to experience more than one of these or for the tinnitus sounds to change over time.
If you would like to hear some of the types of tinnitus sounds click on the audio clips below.
What is the difference between permanent and temporary tinnitus?
The main difference between permanent and temporary tinnitus is the time scale within which they are experienced. Permanent tinnitus occurs on a highly frequent basis, usually daily. The broad range of causes mentioned above give an indication of the varied and difficult to tackle sources of permanent tinnitus and as such there is no definitive cure for permanent tinnitus at this point in time. Most sufferers of permanent tinnitus try to habitualise the sound, to try some kind of management or distraction therapy and to learn to live with it. However there are many cases in which people take sick leave or are on permanent disability welfare due to the severity of their tinnitus and the degree to which it affects their life.
Temporary tinnitus is most often the result of noise trauma and lasts for anywhere between a few hours and a few days. Temporary tinnitus is usually experienced after exposure to loud noise or music at concerts, discos or in the workplace.
Tinnitus is one of the most common complaints of modern day living. You seldom see anyone out walking without a set of headphones protruding from their skull, music at concerts is deafeningly loud and frequency doing these activities is constantly rising.
A national UK survey conducted by Deafness Research UK found that 14 per cent of people spend up to 28-hours a week listening to their music player. "More than a third of people who have experienced ringing in their ears after listening to loud music, listen to their MP3 player every day,” it warns.
These figures, when combined with information on concert attendance levels, mp3 player usage rates and the intensity of sound delivered by these media, indicate the extensive impact of temporary tinnitus on the modern population.
Given the current prevalence of temporary tinnitus we felt that a remedy to this problem would be welcomed by many, one that acts quickly, is inexpensive and is easy to access and so we developed Somtus™.