Tinnitus

If you experience a buzzing sound in the ear that doesn’t let you be in peace, read on to know how you can tackle it.

 

Even when there is no noise or sound around, if a person perceives a buzzing, roaring, ringing or pulsating, irritating noise in the ears all the time, it is called tinnitus. It is not a serious ailment as such but it may lead to mood swings to the extent that the individual finds it tough to attend to routine tasks. The buzzing sound is just a symptom of a few diseases and resolving it is a challenge.

This abnormal sound can originate in the outer ear, middle ear, inner ear or even the brain.

* An accumulation of ear wax can cause disturbance in the sound waves reaching through the external ear and one would hear more of their own body sounds forming the first cause of tinnitus; this is frequently found in children.

* Any infection of the middle ear can cause accumulation of fluid and any blockage of the Eustachian tube into the throat which has to drain out the fluid to equalise pressure in the middle ear when not patent enough can cause tinnitus.

* But by far the most common cause of the problem is due to damage of the microscopic nerve endings of the hearing nerve in the inner ear. If this is prevalent in older people it may lead to loss of hearing and tinnitus.

* Exposure to loud noise is another common cause. Fireworks and crackers and high intensity of music can contribute to this problem.

* Some diseases of the inner ear like Meniere’s disease, wherein the balance of human body is affected leading to giddiness becomes predominant and can also later lead to this ringing issue.

* In rare conditions, this could be due to undesirable growth in the brain tissues.

The first way to approach the issue is to find out simultaneously if there is any hearing loss. This can be done using an audiogram or by a simple hearing test. If needed, further investigations like CT scan or an MRI is done to look for any probable growth which is an uncommon cause.

The common means to prevent this problem is to avoid exposure to high decibels of noise by using earmuffs. There are also some ways to see that the effect of tinnitus is reduced in intensity. To begin with, reduce salt intake and keep blood pressure under control. Coffee, tobacco, caffeine in colas can stimulate the nerve endings and it is necessary to cut down the intake. Adequate rest and exercise will also reduce the anxiety and stress due to tinnitus. Since most affected individuals suffer in a silent surrounding it would be useful to have some mild music playing in such environs which can mask the buzzing noise. Symptomatically, Natrum mur, China, Natrum salicylic, Glonine, Kali mur are few remedies which can help.

Dr.Venugopal Gouri
92463 7262 (mobile) drvenugopal@gmail.com

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