A man has tinnitus in his ear. Was he exposed to loud noise? A specialist discovers how serious his hearing problem is.
The patient came to the consultation because he had been suffering from tinnitus in his right ear for six months. He said the noises in his ears bothered him a lot. The man, who was in his mid-thirties, didn’t say much more than that the tinnitus had appeared more or less overnight. We now know that noises in the ears don’t just happen. They are often the result of hearing loss, triggered by sudden hearing loss or noise. Noise, for example, destroys the sensory cells in the cochlea. These are tiny hairs that move in the fluid of the inner ear.
What was the trigger for the tinnitus?
You have to imagine them like the ears of corn in a cornfield: Normally, sound waves gently move the sensory cells back and forth. With very strong waves, i.e. high volume, the hairs break off, but can still recover. Extreme movements, such as those caused by a blast trauma, cause permanent damage to them. They do not straighten up again. This is followed by tinnitus. You can imagine it as phantom pain: the brain replaces the noises caused by the hearing loss. This is how it draws attention to the fact that something is wrong.
Source: Stern
I’m Caroline, a journalist and author for 24 Hours Worlds. I specialize in health-related news and stories, bringing real-world impact to readers across the globe. With my experience in journalism and writing in both print and online formats, I strive to provide reliable information that resonates with audiences from all walks of life.
