Tinnitus and Hearing Loss Explained

Every day, people from all over the world experience a very frustrating and sorrowful condition known to us as hearing loss. Hearing is one of your most important and cherished senses, without which life just isn’t what it should be. Therefore, it is incredibly vital that we learn about loss of hearing and its causes.

It is also crucial to learn more about the conditions that are associated with loss of hearing – like tinnitus – so that you can learn more about tinnitus and hearing problems and what you can do to limit their effects as much as possible.

What Exactly is Tinnitus?

The term hearing loss is pretty self-explanatory. Tinnitus, though, is different. People may not know the definition of tinnitus, but they have probably heard something of its characteristics, and many may actually have this condition. Tinnitus in a nutshell is “ringing in the ears”. Basically, tinnitus is when a person hears a persistent noise without any apparent outside cause of the sound. People who have attended a rock concert usually hear ringing in their ears, but tinnitus occurs when there is nothing on the outside to cause what you hear on the inside.

What Causes Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is more accurately labeled a symptom rather than a condition, and is caused by inner ear nerve damage, the same condition that causes hearing gloss. The inner ear is quite sensitive to outside influences. Inside are small organs that help the brain process sound waves into sound signals, and eventually into sound. The cochlea is one of these organs, and it contains hair-like nerves that vibrate whenever sound waves run into them.

When sound waves that are too powerful crash into these hair cells, the cells are damaged, resulting in damage to the inner ear itself. The nerve is also injured and loses part of its ability to transmit those signals to the brain. The result usually is a loud and continuous ringing that is audible. This is called tinnitus. Loud noise is the main culprit behind this symptom and can actually lead to hearing loss itself. As shown below, tinnitus and hearing loss have a very prevalent relationship.

The Relationship between Tinnitus and Hearing Problems

You may be wondering how exactly these two concepts are related. Loss of hearing results from the same nerve damage that causes tinnitus. The main difference is just how much damage occurs, since you can still hear tinnitus but can’t hear anything with hearing loss. In fact, if you experience prolonged tinnitus that becomes severe in intensity, then you are experiencing a symptom of hearing loss.

The nerve cells in your ear are very delicate and can be injured to the point where they can’t interpret sound signals anymore. Therefore, if you start getting this ringing in your ears, be advised that what is causing this ringing could also cause hearing loss. Thus, tinnitus and hearing loss are related, and this connection can be used to limit your exposure before it’s too late to do so.