Tinnitus and High Intensity Sound
Most cases of tinnitus today are at least partly caused by exposure to loud sounds, and as the rate of tinnitus cases continues to increase, the noise damage factor can be expected to keep rising also. There is little reason for wonder. Our culture filled with industry and technology is also filled with a lot of loud noise, yet few seem aware of the hazards of hearing damage or tinnitus.
Exposure to loud sound can hurt the inner ears in a couple of ways. In one case, a sudden blast of high decibel sound, as coming from an explosion nearby, can break the stereocilia or hair cells of the cochlea within the inner ear, inducing loss of hearing and tinnitus.
Second, prolonged and repeated exposure to loud sounds, such as what is experienced in a machine shop, rock concert, or night club, can also damage stereocilia and cause ear tinnitus, though usually more gradually over time. With extended exposures over time, minus ear protection, tinnitus may begin nearly imperceptibly and intermittently. For instance, after a day at a loud machine shop, one’s hearing may seem muted and a low degree of ear ringing may be heard for a couple of hours or more. With repeated exposures to loud sound, the intermittent pattern may continue for months or even years, while the tinnitus gradually becomes more noticeable and longer lasting. Ultimately, the tinnitus grows continuous, and more subjection to high volume noise exacerbates the ear ringing to the point when it intrudes into one’s quality of life, often challenging one’s capacity to bear with it.
Regrettably, the damage done by acoustic trauma can be irreversible, actually killing the stereocilia, the microscopic cells that transform the energy of sound waves into electrical nerve impulses which then go to the brain. Research is underway currently to determine if regeneration can be made possible, but as of now it cannot. When the hearing receptor cells are ruined, the loss is irreversible. When the stereocilia are damaged through prolonged exposure to excessive sound levels, deafness to certain sound frequencies results. The ear ringing experienced, in that case, may be due to distorted signals from particular wavelengths, but no one really understands why yet.
Recently, the media has begun paying attention to what causes ringing in ears with the advent of the incredibly loud iPod and related sound systems, using ear buds which are headphones that actually sit in the concha, the cup shaped area around the ear canal in the center of the outer ear. When used properly, at safe volume levels, ear buds can deliver sound to the listener very beautifully. Yet one’s hearing can suffer substantial impairment whenever the decibels exceed safe limits. The danger with using ear buds at high volume is two-fold: First, one can be exposed to high decibels for extended periods of time, and second, due to how the ear buds fit in the ear, sound waves are projected straight down the auditory canal with the greatest possible force for doing irreversible harm.
One should be aware that the tiny hair cells of the inner ear are prone to breaking down as people age, a process known as presbycusis. So, if a person incurs noise-induced harm at a young age, when he or she grows older ear ringing symptoms can become much worse. Hence, it only makes sense to treat your ears well, guarding your hearing in the early years of your life. Nearly all noise damage to the inner ear is preventable by staying away from sources of loud sound or noise, listening to music at moderate volume levels, and by protecting your hearing with ear plugs or ear muffs if you must be around sources of loud sound.