Tinnitus and hearing loss: what are the causes?

Tinnitus is very common signs ... Even a normal and healthy person has already experienced the perception of these sounds. However, when tinnitus becomes permanent and annoying, so here it is time to worry. The causes are many ...
Tinnitus, what is it?

Tinnitus are abnormal sensations felt by a patient in the ears, and are described as ringing or buzzing. These sensations may be bilateral or involve one side. Tinnitus is not related to outside sounds from the ear concerned (peripheral origin) or brain (central origin).

In most cases, tinnitus is not perceived by the entourage. They can be transient and casual, permanent or otherwise, when they are related to chronic diseases. Intensities also vary according to the causes.

The mechanisms of tinnitus remains poorly specified, it is assumed that the perceived noise is generated to compensate for a decrease or loss of hearing. This mechanism is controlled by the brain (central cause). In fact, tinnitus is not a disease but are often linked to a decrease or loss of hearing. The peripheral origin may be related to a lesion of the auditory nerve, or an infringement of the cochlea.

Other researchers have demonstrated a disturbance in the central auditory system, also involving genetic factors.

Thus, the features, but also the management of tinnitus mainly depend on the cause. Multiple origins, some require emergency treatment.

The presence of tinnitus is usually a sign that announces a violation of the auditory system, without treatment, tinnitus and hearing loss can be a handicap for the patient and impair quality of life. However, tinnitus is essentially subjective signs, it is sometimes difficult to establish the diagnosis and assess the severity actually. Intensities and forms (ringing, whistling, hissing, ...) is essentially a function of causes. In most cases, tinnitus is aggravated by fatigue or anxiety and noise abated by rest. Other patients report that tinnitus is of sudden onset, or were relatively stable but intense ...

However, whatever the causes of tinnitus associated with hearing loss, persistent and annoying, should not be neglected, and warrant specialized consultation and follow up with an ENT doctor.

The most common causes of tinnitus

The first admitted causes tinnitus cases and hearing loss are hearing trauma, causing shock at the hearing due to prolonged exposure to noise. Auditory trauma is usually related to intense and sudden noises, which are considered harmful to the auditory system: fireworks, firecracker, concert (near the speaker), music in nightclubs, sound of power tool in a workshop ...
Thus, all exposed excessive and prolonged exposure to loud noises people may, in the long run, hearing loss and tinnitus.

But there are also other causes that deserve to be known:

How tinnitus is treated?

The management of tinnitus is difficult and requires a lot of patience and time on the part of the affected. ENT doctor exams are focused on the exploration and consequences of tinnitus. It will take account of family and personal history of the subject, the beginning and the characteristics of tinnitus. His review will lead to multiple additional tests that will give the exact causes.

First line, it is to treat the disease in question.

However, tinnitus, once installed permanently and continuously, are difficult to treat. Indeed, although in most cases, tinnitus is a sign of disease, treatment of the cause does not always disappear this annoying sign.

Support is often based on psychological treatments and methods of re-education, aimed at changing behavior and lifestyle of the patient, in order to get used to living with tinnitus. Cognitive-behavioral therapies are currently the methods recommended by the High Authority of Health. The acoustic habituation therapy is also widely used today in many countries.

Medical treatments can substantially reduce the intensity of tinnitus and avoid major consequences of tinnitus on daily life: stress and psychological consequences, sleep disorders, pain, impaired concentration and even depression. These treatment methods are not systematic but depend mainly causes and indications and cons-indications:

- Medications: vasodilators, antidepressants, anxiolytics, antiepileptics / anticonvulsants

- Surgery, with raised auditory materials: hearing, sound generators, tympanostomy drain, hearing implants

- Electrical stimulation, acoustic stimulation