It is very distressing to experience a sudden onset of ringing in the ears. This condition is known as tinnitus. The noise of tinnitus may include ringing, screeching, buzzing, chirping, a hissing sound like steam escaping, or similar to the humming sound from high tension power lines.
While the sounds of tinnitus appear to be in the ears, they actually originate in the brain.
Many incidents can cause tinnitus; however the most common is the result or some exposure to loud noises or noises. The loud noise actually damages some delicate cells in the inner ear. This causes a loss of hearing to some degree, and the noise of tinnitus results. It's fairly common for people who work around loud noises to have such damage--called acoustic trauma. This group includes military personnel, police, industrial workers, and people who are around recreational gunfire or similar noises without adequate ear protection.
How loud are various noises, and what levels are safe? What we typically think of as the loudness of sound is actually a reflection of sound pressure, and is measured in decibels (dB.).
Some examples are:
A quiet room: 30 dB
Speaking normally with a friend: 45 to 60 dB
Home Vacuum Cleaner or Alarm Clock: 75 dB
Home Blender: 85 dB
In-sink garbage grinder: 90 dB
Large truck with no muffler: 90 dB
Shouted conversation: 90 dB
Power saw at 3 Ft away: 110 dB
Rock concert: 115 dB
Shotgun blast: 150 dB
Commercial jet engine, 125 feet: 140 dB
Large cannon within 15 meters: 200 dB
A "normal level" of sound (below 80 dB) will not damage your hearing. Prolonged or repeated exposure to sound levels above 85 dB will damage anyone's hearing. A single exposure to sound above 135 to 140 dB may cause permanent damage to anyone's hearing.
The hair cells lie inside a snail shaped structure in the inner ear called the cochlea. When exposed to a loud blast of sound, the sound vibrations enter the ear canal and strike the eardrum. Vibrations are then transmitted via three tiny bones of hearing to the cochlea, where the hair cells pick up the vibration. When the sound pressure is severe enough, it literally vibrates the delicate cells so severely as to cause permanent damage or cell destruction. Most commonly, the resulting hearing loss occurs in the higher frequencies of 4000 cycles per second and up.
Sound vibrations occur in the environment and are transmitted via the inner ear and eighth cranial nerve as electromagnetic signals to the brain. When sound is totally absent in the environment, these brain cells search for replacement sounds, and 95% of people with normal hearing will develop tinnitus.
Brain cells that are not receiving signals from external sound being transmitted actually become so sensitive that they listen to the electromagnetic signals of nearby brain cells. They interpret these signals as strange sounds that we describe as hissing, humming, ringing, etc. Cells are damaged by loud noise exposure cannot transmit normal signals, so this sets up the ideal situation for tinnitus to develop.
While the sounds of tinnitus appear to be in the ears, they actually originate in the brain.
Many incidents can cause tinnitus; however the most common is the result or some exposure to loud noises or noises. The loud noise actually damages some delicate cells in the inner ear. This causes a loss of hearing to some degree, and the noise of tinnitus results. It's fairly common for people who work around loud noises to have such damage--called acoustic trauma. This group includes military personnel, police, industrial workers, and people who are around recreational gunfire or similar noises without adequate ear protection.
How loud are various noises, and what levels are safe? What we typically think of as the loudness of sound is actually a reflection of sound pressure, and is measured in decibels (dB.).
Some examples are:
A quiet room: 30 dB
Speaking normally with a friend: 45 to 60 dB
Home Vacuum Cleaner or Alarm Clock: 75 dB
Home Blender: 85 dB
In-sink garbage grinder: 90 dB
Large truck with no muffler: 90 dB
Shouted conversation: 90 dB
Power saw at 3 Ft away: 110 dB
Rock concert: 115 dB
Shotgun blast: 150 dB
Commercial jet engine, 125 feet: 140 dB
Large cannon within 15 meters: 200 dB
A "normal level" of sound (below 80 dB) will not damage your hearing. Prolonged or repeated exposure to sound levels above 85 dB will damage anyone's hearing. A single exposure to sound above 135 to 140 dB may cause permanent damage to anyone's hearing.
The hair cells lie inside a snail shaped structure in the inner ear called the cochlea. When exposed to a loud blast of sound, the sound vibrations enter the ear canal and strike the eardrum. Vibrations are then transmitted via three tiny bones of hearing to the cochlea, where the hair cells pick up the vibration. When the sound pressure is severe enough, it literally vibrates the delicate cells so severely as to cause permanent damage or cell destruction. Most commonly, the resulting hearing loss occurs in the higher frequencies of 4000 cycles per second and up.
Sound vibrations occur in the environment and are transmitted via the inner ear and eighth cranial nerve as electromagnetic signals to the brain. When sound is totally absent in the environment, these brain cells search for replacement sounds, and 95% of people with normal hearing will develop tinnitus.
Brain cells that are not receiving signals from external sound being transmitted actually become so sensitive that they listen to the electromagnetic signals of nearby brain cells. They interpret these signals as strange sounds that we describe as hissing, humming, ringing, etc. Cells are damaged by loud noise exposure cannot transmit normal signals, so this sets up the ideal situation for tinnitus to develop.
About the Author:
Visit Tinnitus to discover everything you've ever desired to understand about tinnitus. Dr Smithdeal is a prior tinnitus sufferer and a board certified Otolaryngologist (retired.)
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