Unless you are listening to a bell, a ringing sensation means you are suffering from tinnitus. Someone with tinnitus receives auditory sensations without any external auditory source. It is a chronic problem for millions of people.
Tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease in itself. Virtually anything that might disturb the auditory nerve is capable of causing tinnitus. Because the function of the auditory nerve is to carry sound, when the nerve is irritated for any reason the brain interprets the impulse as noise.
Some of the most common causes for temporary tinnitus are:
- Reaction to a loud noise.
- Vascular distress after a physical or mental trauma
- Allergic reaction to medication. (Many people who take more than 20 aspirin per day are subject to tinnitus attack.) Luckily, the symptoms usually disappear upon discontinuance of the drug.
Causes of more chronic tinnitus conditions are myriad. Here are some of the most common: clogging of the external ear with earwax; inflammation of any part of the ear; drug overdoes; excessive use of the telephone; vertigo attack; nutritional deficiencies (particularly a lack of trace mineral); muscle spasms in the ear; infections; allergies.
Chronic tinnitus sufferers have to live not only with annoying buzzing, but usually with accompanying hearing loss. Unfortunately, there is no simple cure fot the condition. Much research is being conducted on the role of nutrition in helping treat tinnitus, but for now, the emphasis is on teaching sufferers how to live with the problem.
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