A Cause of Tinnitus - How Loud Noise Affects Our Hearing
Tinnitus is the ringing, buzzing or hissing type sound that you get in your ears from time to time.
If this doesn't last a long time then you tend to shrug it off as a temporary malfunction of your hearing.
However, if it lasts a long time or even constantly then you need to find a solution or relief from the symptoms.
Before an effective relief can be found however you have to know what may have caused the problem.
There are basically 4 causes of tinnitus, one of which is loud noise.
This article will go into depth about how loud noise damages your ears and why this results in the ringing sensation in your ears.
Sound waves are processed in the cochlea, which is part of the auditory system in the ear.
The cochlea is shaped like a snails shell and is composed of various fluids.
When a sound wave enters the ear this has an affect on the fluids (endolymph and perilymph) in the cochlea.
They are moved through the cochlea where they pass over hair cells.
The hair cells vibrate causing an electrical signal that is sent via neurotransmitters through the auditory nerve to the brain.
The brain then interprets these signals as sound that we hear.
Loud noise, like music at a concert, fireworks going off, industrial noise in a factory or even a bang on the head causes the endolymph fluid in the cochlea to move rapidly through the cochlea.
This violent movement can bend or even kill the hair cells.
Depending on the individual and the strength of the noise, this may only cause temporary damage to the hair cells but if this happens over a long period of time it is a fairly good assumption to say that the hair cells will be permanently damaged.
Damaged hair cells in the cochlea can not only lead to tinnitus symptoms such as ringing or hissing in the ears but can lead to hearing loss if the hairs are not given the chance to heal.
Thus it is important to avoid loud noises or use ear protection such as ear muffs or plugs if the noise is unavoidable.
If this doesn't last a long time then you tend to shrug it off as a temporary malfunction of your hearing.
However, if it lasts a long time or even constantly then you need to find a solution or relief from the symptoms.
Before an effective relief can be found however you have to know what may have caused the problem.
There are basically 4 causes of tinnitus, one of which is loud noise.
This article will go into depth about how loud noise damages your ears and why this results in the ringing sensation in your ears.
Sound waves are processed in the cochlea, which is part of the auditory system in the ear.
The cochlea is shaped like a snails shell and is composed of various fluids.
When a sound wave enters the ear this has an affect on the fluids (endolymph and perilymph) in the cochlea.
They are moved through the cochlea where they pass over hair cells.
The hair cells vibrate causing an electrical signal that is sent via neurotransmitters through the auditory nerve to the brain.
The brain then interprets these signals as sound that we hear.
Loud noise, like music at a concert, fireworks going off, industrial noise in a factory or even a bang on the head causes the endolymph fluid in the cochlea to move rapidly through the cochlea.
This violent movement can bend or even kill the hair cells.
Depending on the individual and the strength of the noise, this may only cause temporary damage to the hair cells but if this happens over a long period of time it is a fairly good assumption to say that the hair cells will be permanently damaged.
Damaged hair cells in the cochlea can not only lead to tinnitus symptoms such as ringing or hissing in the ears but can lead to hearing loss if the hairs are not given the chance to heal.
Thus it is important to avoid loud noises or use ear protection such as ear muffs or plugs if the noise is unavoidable.
