What is tinnitus?

Tinnitus affects around 10 million French people. For more than a million of them, this tinnitus is experienced as an aggression and is sometimes even qualified as unbearable. What are the triggers for tinnitus? What are the solutions to be relieved from tinnitus?

  • Subjective tinnitus or objective tinnitus?
  • How to recognize tinnitus?
  • What are the causes of tinnitus?
  • The health effects of tinnitus
  • How to prevent and relieve tinnitus

Tinnitus: a hearing disorder

Tinnitus is not a disease; it is symptoms of a dysfunction in the hearing system. People with tinnitus experience wheezing, buzzing, or purring sounds while the external environment is silent.

We can distinguish two types of tinnitus :

Subjective tinnitus : they represent 95% of tinnitus cases. They are only perceived by those affected and are caused by psychic factors;

Objective tinnitus : rarer, it is also perceived by the ENT doctor during the hearing examination. They are usually caused by blood flow passing through the neck and head or are caused by the contraction of a muscle in the ear.

How to recognize tinnitus?

To designate the sensations or noises felt, people suffering from tinnitus speak of pulsations, whirring, buzzing, clicking … These parasitic noises differ from one person to another. Either way, tinnitus can affect general health: insomnia, difficulty concentrating, pain are the most common consequences of tinnitus.

What are the causes of tinnitus?

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The origins of tinnitus are multiple. Identifying the cause makes it possible to set up an adapted treatment protocol. Here are the main causes of tinnitus:
  • Aging: at birth, we have auditory capital which cells cannot regenerate over the years. With age , hearing system dysfunctions appear , such as tinnitus;
  • Exposure to noise : a sound trauma (concert) or a sound shock (gunshot) can cause temporary tinnitus. Rest your ears in a quiet place to pass the tinnitus;
  • Hyperacusis (intolerance to noise): this auditory hypersensitivity can also cause tinnitus;
  • A plug of earwax that prevents sounds from reaching the eardrum;
  • Diseases : otosclerosis , Meniere’s disease, otitis …

How does tinnitus appear?

A healthy inner ear is made up of approximately 19,000 hair cells that carry sound from the ear to the auditory nerve and the brain. Hearing trauma or other causes can damage hair cells. These can therefore no longer transmit sound. Tinnitus therefore forms in the brain, and not in the ear.

The main cause is excessive noise which damages the tiny hair cells present in the inner ear. If you work in a noisy environment without wearing hearing protection, you run the risk of developing tinnitus or hearing loss . The louder the noise and the longer you are exposed to it, the greater the risk of hearing damage.

Always remember this: During any activity in a very noisy environment (eg rock concerts, hunting parties or fireworks), it is strongly recommended that you wear hearing protection.

Listening to music through headphones can also cause tinnitus or hearing loss if the volume is too loud . As young people listen to more and more music through headphones at a high volume level, they are frequently affected by tinnitus.

Discover our tips for listening to music without damaging your hearing. Tinnitus can occur at any age, but its frequency increases with age. In recent years, we have seen more tinnitus caused by emotionally charged events or stressful situations.

What are the health effects of tinnitus?

Some people manage to ignore their tinnitus most of the time. But if you don’t do anything, it can have a disastrous effect on your life . This can lead to stress, anger, problems concentrating, and even isolation and depression.

Some people with tinnitus become hypersensitive in places with constant talking and loud music playing, which is why they avoid going to these places and are deprived of these social interactions. Others suffer so much from their tinnitus that they don’t sleep well.

No matter how bad your tinnitus is, we’re ready to help reduce the burden and relieve your symptoms.

How to prevent and relieve tinnitus?

  1. Avoid certain foods
  2. Protect yourself from loud noises
  3. Relax and play sports
  4. Wearing hearing aids

Contrary to popular belief, there are solutions to mitigate the effects of tinnitus . First of all, taking care of your hearing is essential to limit the onset of tinnitus.

If you think you have the symptoms of tinnitus, don’t let them set in and make an appointment quickly with a hearing specialist for a free hearing test. Trained in hearing problems, The Hearing Matters teams will be able to advise and help you to relieve your tinnitus.