/?040710" Ringing In My Ears All The Time
Tinnitus, which is the Latin word for 'ringing,' gives us the noun, from whence comes the splendid verb 'tintinnabulate,' made famous by Poe and his bells. But that's basically what it is. A ringing in the ears, although as we've seen previously, it can be all manner of sounds coming from inside the head.Ringing In My Ears All The Time
If you experience tinnitus to a slight degree, merely experiencing a mild form which doesn't bother you or affect your life in any way, then it may be safely ignored - provided it remains in that form. If it increases, then is the time to do something about it.
In many cases, you may experience just a mild ringing or hissing over a period, which then leaves you. However, tinnitus can have a nasty habit of worsening for some people to such a degree that anxiety and depression set in. Indeed, depression is often a companion to chronic tinnitus.
On the face of it, this is hardly surprising. You have to live with a continual sound, day in and day out, even at night when you're trying to sleep. Sooner or later, it's going to take its toll on even the strongest person.
Depression, as we've seen in the past, drags you down. You find your interest levels of pastimes and hobbies dropping off, basically because you can't find peace. However, scientists are generally in agreement that the brain's hippocampus, the part which controls emotions and feelings, may well be affected by tinnitus. Certainly, it's known that people with severe tinnitus are very likely to suffer emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. So we see that tinnitus may affect the mind in this way, and of course this leaves the door wide open for depression and his little friends. /?040710" Ringing In My Ears All The Time
It often seems as though you can go out and shake a tree and another type of tinnitus will fall from it, but we'll concern ourselves here with just three more varieties.
Firstly, there's Tonal tinnitus. This is the true 'ringing in the ear' variety, and it produces a continuous ringing tone, a single unvarying note. Just imagine living with this day and night. In a mild form, not so bad, just as I've become used to the sort of hissing sound I experience. Frankly, though, I think I'd prefer the hissing to the ringing!
The second variety is Pulsatile tinnitus. This is a sort of 'thrum,' and keeps in time with your heartbeat. Usually, it's due to a small blood vessel, linked by fluid to your ear drum. Ninety five percent of the time, there's nothing serious about this particular condition. But there are just those few occasions when Pulsatile tinnitus can be the warning of an aneurysm, increased pressure on the head, (hydrocephalus), or hardening of the arteries. This latter symptom, quite apart from any studies that have been carried out, does show that tinnitus is more prevalent in older people.
Obsessive compulsive disorder too is another condition that can go hand in hand with severe forms of tinnitus.
One of the main reasons for tinnitus, not surprisingly, is what the scientists are pleased to call 'Noise Induced Hearing Loss.' All this means is being exposed to high intensity sound over a relatively long period. Adolescents with boom boxes draped around their necks, (although now I believe I pods have taken over), are prime candidates for this malady.
One way of securing temporary relief from tinnitus is by using 'white noise.' White noise is a gathering of all the sounds in the human hearing spectrum, and in fact simply turning on a fan is a good substitute. However, special units are sold now that apparently give you the relief you need /?040710" Ringing In My Ears All The Time
