Tinnitus (from the Latin word meaning ringing) is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.  

We will try and keep this fairly simple. Some of the medical terms can be confusing. If you believe you have tinnitus then read on.  

Tinnitus is a symptom and not a disease. Your tinnitus is telling you something is wrong. Today we know there is a large number of underlying causes. They can range from diet, prescription drugs, allergies, lack of exercise, ear infections, high blood pressure and many more. Tinnitus can also be caused by natural hearing loss (as in aging), Today a common cause is prescription drugs side-effects. However, the most common cause for tinnitus is noise-induced hearing loss. 

As tinnitus is difficult to diagnose and is difficult to measure using objective tests, such as by comparison with noise of known frequency and intensity, as in an audiometric test. An audiometric test uses an audiometer to measure your hearing level. The condition is often rated clinically on a simple scale from "slight" to "catastrophic" according to the practical difficulties it imposes, such as interference with sleep, quiet activities, and normal daily activities.  

Tinnitus is common. About one in five people between 55 and 65 years old report tinnitus symptoms on a general health questionnaire and 11.8% on more detailed tinnitus-specific questionnaires. You're not alone if you think you might have tinnitus. 

Tinnitus can be perceived in one or both ears or in the head. It is usually described as a ringing noise, but in some patients it takes the form of a high pitched whining, buzzing, hissing, screaming, humming, tingling or whistling sound, or as ticking, clicking, roaring, crickets or tree frogs or locusts, tunes, songs, beeping, or even a pure steady tone like heard in a hearing test. It has also been described as a whooshing sound, as of wind or waves. Tinnitus can be intermittent or it can be continuous in which case it can be the cause of great distress. In some individuals, the intensity of tinnitus can be changed by shoulder, head, tongue, jaw, or eye movements.  

Most people with tinnitus have hearing loss, in that they are often unable to properly hear external sounds which occur within the same range of frequencies as their phantom sounds.  

The sound perceived may range from a quiet background noise to one that can be heard even over loud external sounds. The term "tinnitus" usually refers to more severe cases. A study was conducted of 100 tinnitus-free university students placed in an shielded, quiet room and found that 92% reported hearing a buzzing, pulsing or whistling sound. Cohort studies have demonstrated that damage to hearing (among other health effects) from unnatural levels of noise exposure is very widespread in industrialized countries.  

Persistent tinnitus may cause irritability, fatigue, and on occasions clinical depression and musical hallucinations.  

There are many causes associated with tinnitus. The ringing in your ears is not just caused by long term exposure to loud sounds. We will try and cover each known cause in later articles.

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