Ringing of the Ears
The ringing in one’s ears is not a sound that can be heard by other people. The medical term of this is tinnitus. Very often it is not a serious condition. The noise may sounds like a ringing in the ear, whistling, hissing, roaring, or buzzing. Some tinnitus patients may describe the noise as a humming, clanging, beating, chirping, or whooshing sound.
Not only the type but also the severity of the sound can vary from person to person. For example, some tinnitus sufferers may hear sounds like a low roar while others hear a high pitched squeal. The noise may be so loud to some patients that they cannot concentrate on daily tasks or even get to sleep. Even the most focused person can be disrupted by the constant ringing sound within the ears.
For people with tinnitus, the ringing sound can occur in one or both ears, or it may alternate from one ear to the other sometimes. It also interferes with the person’s normal hearing and prevents him or her from hearing well.
Basically there are two categories of tinnitus. The first one is most common but less understood. This type of tinnitus is caused by the damage occurred in the inner ear canal. But it can happen anywhere in the person’s auditory system including anything from the ear canal to the brain.
In many cases the damage comes from loud noises. The loud sound can bend the hair cells within the inner ear. This is normally not permanent and the patients may find their tinnitus disappears after a few days.
However, loud noises can break off the hair cells entirely. When this happens, the damage is permanent and the patient may hear the constant ringing sound for the rest of his or her life.
The second type of tinnitus is called pulsatile tinnitus. Atherosclerosis is another name for it. The patients suffer from this kind of tinnitus hear a pulsing or rhythmic sound in their ears. It is a rare form of tinnitus and usually signals more serious underlying health conditions.
The major difference between pulsatile tinnitus and the first kind of tinnitus is that people who suffer from the first kind of tinnitus can only hear the sounds themselves while the doctor can hear the sound of a pulsatile tinnitus patient with a stethoscope placing near the patient’s neck or ear.
Typically what they are hearing is their own pulse that’s rushing through the ear. People who suffer from pulsatile tinnitus generally have other health issues such as high blood pressure or hypertension, or abnormal arteries or veins, glomus tumor, Eustachian tube disorder, heart murmur, or other cardiovascular diseases.
Tinnitus is such a common problem that research has shown that twenty percent of the population has some degree of tinnitus at least sometime in their lives. In the past the patient has to learn how to live with it but now there are natural remedies available that can cure the condition.
