Have you ever experienced a strange and unusual sensation of ringing or buzzing in your ears? If so, then you’ve probably searched for the source without success. Or, you may have been at a rock concert, or at an airport, or another location with loud noises and experienced these sensations there. If you have had this ringing in the ears more than once, without really knowing why, then you probably have what we call tinnitus. This article will outline the causes of this ringing in the ears and how it works.
Understanding how the ear functions
In order to understand why you can hear this ringing sound, you will first need to understand some basic facts about the ear. The ears are complex organs that consist of the inner ear and the outer ear. The ears detect sounds through delicate sensors that are located inside the ears and when a sound wave is detected, the sound wave travels from the outer ear into the inner ear. The cochlea is located inside the inner ear which is a spiral shaped organ filled with liquid and covered with tiny hair. Sound is produced when the sound wave travels inside the cochlea which causes the hair to stand up due to the vibration and finally signals are sent to our brain.
What Causes Ringing in the Ears?
Ringing in the ears is most often caused by damage in one way or the other to these hair-like cells in the ear. Damage to the inner ear and its organs is most typically caused by music at an excessive volume. Older generations experienced this damage through heavy construction work, but the younger generation’s damage tends to come from music playing devices that are too loud for ears to bear. Loud noises such as these can cause temporary ringing in the ears in anyone, but the more persistent, ongoing type of tinnitus is far more serious. The excessive volume of noise and music that leads to ringing in the ears will cause permanent damage to your hearing if you continue to be exposed to it.
Other possible causes for tinnitus also exist. Medical conditions - like sinus or ear infections - can also cause ringing in the ears. Your senses are all connected as a system, which means that something like a head cold will affect all of them at once. This is why you may have been sick and noticed ringing in the ears. Pressure on your inner ear caused by your ailment presses down on the hair cells and damages them. Stress also messes with your body’s sensory perceptions. If you’ve been stressed for longer than a few days, and have had ringing in the ears, then you know all about it.
If left alone, ringing in the ears can be serious. If these symptoms plague you and they occur more than a few times here and there, then you probably have had damage to your cochlea. If this is the case, then you should see a doctor as soon as possible. Even if you haven’t had damage, though, it is still good to know this information in case it occurs in your own life.
