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Do Your Ears Ring, Chirp, Or Buzz? It’s Likely Tinnitus.

Do Your Ears Ring, Chirp, Or Buzz? It’s Likely Tinnitus.

Many people that come into our Fairfield County Audiology practice complain that they hear ringing, hissing, whistling, buzzing, chirping, or humming sounds without anything in the environment creating those sounds. This subjective experience of a sound that “isn’t there” is known as tinnitus. Approximately 30 million Americans experience this.

Some people notice their tinnitus most when they are in quiet environments – especially lying in bed at night. Others may also notice tinnitus throughout their day.

Many people find tinnitus to be nothing more than a minor annoyance, or aren’t bothered by it at all. However, a certain percentage of those experiencing tinnitus can find it very disturbing. In those individuals, tinnitus can lead to depression and in extreme cases even suicidal thoughts. Luckily, there is help for tinnitus sufferers. The first step is trying to identify the cause of tinnitus.

Causes Of Tinnitus

Let’s start by looking at some of the potential causes. The factor most highly correlated with tinnitus is hearing loss. The more severe the hearing loss, the more likely the individual is to experience tinnitus. Inside the inner ear are tiny hair cells that bend in response to sounds. Swaying of the hair cells is what tells our brain there is a sound in our environment. The hair cells can break over time due to noise exposure, medications, and genetic risk factors. Damaged hair cells have also been shown to send errant signals up to the brain, leading to the perception of sounds that are not there – tinnitus. When enough hair cells are broken, the individual will also experience hearing loss. Further, it is believed that the brain can also attempt to “fill-in-the-blanks” left by hearing loss; that process may lead to the experience of tinnitus.

That said, some people with no hearing loss report experiencing tinnitus from time to time. Besides hearing loss, a number of other factors have been shown to aggravate tinnitus in some individuals. These include: Caffeine consumption, alcohol consumption, salt, stress, poor sleep, some antibiotics, aspirin, many other medications, cardiovascular problems, smoking, exposure to loud sounds, and even poor diet. As you can probably imagine, determining the exact cause of tinnitus in an individual can be difficult. Many individuals may have one or more risk factors in their auditory and social histories.

The Next Step

While the vast majority of the time tinnitus has a benign cause, in a small number of cases tinnitus may indicate a condition requiring medical follow-up. It is very important to see an ear nose and throat doctor, who will have your hearing evaluated by an audiologist. At Advanced Specialty Care our ear, nose, and throat doctors work as part of a team with our audiologists to determine the needs of each individual we see. If you’re experiencing tinnitus, give us a call to set up an appointment today! We have offices conveniently located in Danbury, New Milford, Ridgefield, Norwalk, and Southbury CT.

– Caitlin Cann


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Multi-Specialty Private Practice with six locations in Fairfield County, CT