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Tinnitus is a disorder in which some ringing sound or noise is heard by the patient even in the absence of some external source that can create any type of sound. This disorder is found among 1 in 5 people and according to medical sciences, it is not really a disease, rather it is a symptom of some particular condition that involves ear injury, hearing loss due to age factor or any disorder in the circulatory system. The cause of tinnitus entirely depends upon the present health condition of the patient. Health condition is one major factor that can make the tinnitus happen or worsen. There are many cases reported in which no exact cause of tinnitus can be figured out.

 

Among all the causes of tinnitus, the major cause for this disorder is damage in inner ear cell. As this disease is directly concerned with hearing, so damage in the ear cells can cause serious problems of hearing in the future. The small delicate hairs inside the inner ear are of great importance. When the pressure of sound waves is exerted on these hairs, they move. Because of this pressure, an electrical signal is released to the brain from ear. These electrical signals are then interpreted as sound by our brain. But if the hairs are broken or bent a little, the random electrical pulses can get leaked which causes tinnitus.

 

Other causes of tinnitus include changes in ear bone, exposure to loud noise, blockage in ear wax and hearing loss due to increasing age. When the bones of the middle ear are stiffed, they can cause problem in hearing and can lead to tinnitus. Stiffening of bones is caused because of the abnormality in the growth of bones. The cause of tinnitus also depends upon the exposure to the loud noise. The tinnitus with short term exposure can be easily treated and is eliminated shortly but tinnitus caused by long term exposure my take time to eliminate or might stay there permanently. Too much accumulation of ear wax can also lead to tinnitus, because it causes irritation of the ear drum or loss in hearing.

 

Tinnitus is not only caused due to hearing problems but in some rare cases, the damage of blood vessel is also the cause of tinnitus. The tinnitus caused due to blood vessel damage is known as pulsatile tinnitus. Some of its causes include:

 

  • Turbulent blood flow

  • High blood pressure

  • Head and neck tumors

  • Atherosclerosis

  • Malformation of capillaries

 

We cannot limit the symptoms of tinnitus to a specific age group or gender; anyone can become the victim of this disorder. But some important risk factors that are specially taken into account for knowing the causes of tinnitus include age, gender, cardiovascular problems, loud noise exposure and smoking. It has been observed that men usually experience this disorder more as compared to women. With the passage of time, the chances of tinnitus get increase due to loss in hearing.

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