Tinnitus Support Group

Tinnitus can be objective (the sound, e.g., a bruit, can be perceived by a clinician) or subjective (perceived only by the patient). The sound may be a quiet background noise, or loud enough to drown out all outside sounds. While the term 'tinnitus' usually refers to more severe life impacting cases, a 1953 Heller and Bergman found in a study of 80 tinnitus free university students that 93% reported hearing a buzzing, pulsing or whistling sound. An increasing number of young people are developing tinnitus, as a result it is sometimes referred to as "the club disease" as many people experience tinnitus or "ringing ears" after attending loud clubs or concerts or using personal stereos at unsafe volumes.

The inner ear contains many thousand minute hairs which vibrate in response to sound waves. These hairs in turn send signals to the brain which is interpreted as sound. If these hairs become damaged, through prolonged exposure to excessive volume, for instance, then deafness to certain frequencies occurs. If these hairs become damaged then they falsely relay information at a certain frequency that an externally audible sound is present, when it is not.

The mechanisms of subjective tinnitus are often obscure. While it's not surprising that direct trauma to the inner ear can cause tinnitus, other apparent causes (e.g., TMJ and dental disorders) are difficult to explain. Recent research has proposed that there are two distinct categories of subjective tinnitus, otic tinnitus caused by disorders of the inner ear or the acoustic nerve, and somatic tinnitus caused by disorders outside the ear and nerve, but still within the head or neck. It is further hypothesized that somatic tinnitus may be due to "central crosstalk" within the brain, as certain head and neck nerves enter the brain near regions known to be involved in hearing.

Many types of tinnitus are temporary and will cease spontaneously while others are permanent in nature. Although there are no specific cures for tinnitus, anything that brings the person out of the "fight or flight" stress response helps symptoms recede over a period of time. Calming body-based therapies, counselling and psychotherapy help restore well-being which in turn allows tinnitus to settle. Chronic tinnitus can be quite stressful psychologically as it distracts the affected individual from mental tasks and interferes with sleep, particularly when there is no external sound. The affected individual may have to generate artificial noise that masks the tinnitus sound. White noise is particularly effective in masking tinnitus. In terms of tinnitus treatment a combination of external masking and psychological counseling known as tinnitus retraining therapy is widely practiced. While it does not actually cure the tinnitus, many report that it becomes much less disturbing and in some cases the offending sound is no longer heard at the conscious level (Habituation of Perception).