Have you ever gone to an isolated place and sat for a while, just marveling at the silence? Now imagine if you did that and a persistent noise in your ears remained. That’s what life is like for people experiencing tinnitus.

It’s a common problem, faced by as many as one in five people, according to the Mayo Clinic. One cause (by no means the only one) is long-term exposure to loud noises, on the job or elsewhere.

For example, many members of bands that play loud music develop tinnitus, as do even some people who listen to portable music players at excessive volumes. One way to reduce your risk of tinnitus is to wear appropriate hearing protection consistently if you work around loud equipment or in noisy environments.

 

Harm to ear cells

Tinnitus often is caused by damage to the cells of the inner ear. There, tiny and delicate hairs move with the pressure of sound waves, triggering ear cells to release electrical signals through the auditory nerve, which connects the ear to the brain. The brain interprets those signals as sound. If the hairs of the inner ear become bent or broken, they can leak random impulses to the brain.

The phantom noise tinnitus causes is not always a ringing. People with the condition may experience buzzing, roaring, clicking, whistling or hissing. “The phantom noise may vary in pitch from a low roar to a high squeal, and you may hear it in one or both ears,” says the Mayo Clinic website page on tinnitus symptoms. “In some cases, the sound can be so loud it can interfere with your ability to concentrate or hear actual sound. Tinnitus may be present all the time, or it may come and go.”

Tinnitus can be caused by short-term exposure, such as attending a loud concert or working for a day around loud equipment, but in those cases it usually goes away. Long-term exposure to loud noise can do permanent damage.

If you have tinnitus, loud noise may not be the reason. The condition can be age-related – many people gradually lose their hearing starting at around age 60. Other causes can be as diverse as stiffening of the bones in the middle ear, earwax buildup, stress and depression, jawbone disorders such as TMJ, head or neck injuries, blood vessel disorders, high blood pressure, and certain medications, including very high doses of aspirin.

 

Taking action

Tinnitus can make life rather miserable. Apart from the sheer annoyance, people with the condition tinnitus may experience fatigue, memory issues, trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, stress, anxiety and irritability.

There is no cure for tinnitus, although it can be managed. A doctor will first try to identify and treat the underlying cause, such as by clearing out accumulated earwax, changing the person’s medications, or treating a blood vessel condition.

A doctor may suggest using an electronic device such as a white noise generator with pillow speakers to suppress the sound and make it less bothersome during sleep. Hearing aids can be helpful if the person has hearing loss as well as tinnitus. Also useful for some people are devices worn in the ear that produce low-level white noise.

Some medications can help mitigate tinnitus, although they tend to be used only in severe cases and may have significant side effects.

The best way to deal with tinnitus is to prevent it to the extent possible. It can develop through no fault of the person, of course, but limiting exposure to loud noise is simply a good policy, caregivers say.

Hearing is precious and, as anyone can tell you who has experienced the quiet of a wilderness setting or a late night in the house: Silence is golden.