The Times, Gainesville, Georgia |
gainesvilletimes com
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Cause of that ringing in your ears could be a mystery By Charles Phelps
cphelps@gainesvilletimes.com Has there been a time when you heard a constant noise in your ear, and then it went away? If so, you may suffer from what’s known as tinnitus, or “ringing in the ear.” The noise can last for seconds, minutes, maybe even a month. However, there is not a known origin of tinnitus; there are only different factors and causes that are observed. “It’s really a mystery. We don’t know where it came from,” said Katie Mawhinney, audiologist of the ENT Institute. “Some medications cause it. ... It’s very common with hearing loss.” Mawhinney said someone with tinnitus would experience a noise similar to a buzzing, humming or chirping noise. “There’s all sorts of ways to describe it. However, it’s a subjective sound. No one else can hear it but the person it’s affecting.” Audiologist Jeanne Barno of the Northeast Georgia Otolaryngology, said some herbal remedies,most commonly seen in late night television ads and radio spots, do sometimes work to treat tinnitus,“but probably 50 percent of the time. Usually when they work, they have to finish out the supplement supply. “A lot of people want to know how to tell if it is a serious problem, or an aging thing,” Barno said. “They can monitor the tinnitus, like when does it happen, is it really bothersome, like range on 1-10 pain scale.” If it is pulsive tinnitus, or the sound seems in tune with with your heart beat, then that could be a sign of something serious in the vascular area, Barno said. Barno also said symptoms of tinnitus can include dizziness, headaches and hearing loss.
“Just monitoring it can guide them to if they need to see a doctor to discuss further,” she said. Both audiologists said loud noises that lead to hearing loss can also lead to tinnitus, and that wearing hearing protection can help prevent this from happening.They said that if you take medications, check to see if tinnitus is a side effect, because that can be a cause for development as well. If someone suffers from tinnitus, Mawhinney says hearing aids can help mask the noise. “Not in every case, but a lot of cases, hearing aids can mask over the sounds,” she said. She also said someone with tinnitus could be more prone to hear the noise at night. “If it’s constant, people need to see an ENT, or audiologist specialist,” Mawhinney said. Barno added that multi-vitamin therapy, lipoflavonoids, can be effective treatments as well. She also said, “tinnitus maskers, like sound generator machines and controlling the blood flow to the brain either through asprin therapy or cervical neck manipulation,” are effective as well. There’s also no predominant age range for people with tinnitus. It can happen to anyone. Barno said she has treated children as young as 9 and 10 years old who have tinnitus. According to a review in 2011 from audiology.org,“Tinnitus Prevalance,” approximately 30 million Americans have tinnitus and the prevalence of tinnitus is generally correlated with a degree of hearing loss. The finding also stated that approximately 1 in 4 tinnitus sufferers report it as loud, and 1 in 5 report their tinnitus is disabling or nearly disabling. Military members and musicians are at a high risk for tinnitus because of the loud noises they are around.
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