Tinnitus

THE TONE

Most humans on this planet can be in a silent room and hear nothing. But a small percentage of the human population hears a high pitch whine in that same room. It is ever present, quite loud at times, and very annoying. It is called tinnitus and can start from an illness, or an injury.

Tinnitus affects approximately 50 million Americans today. Most think tinnitus causes hearing loss, while others believe hearing loss causes tinnitus. Both are wrong, but at the same time both are correct. Some with tinnitus experience an acute increase in hearing.  

Tinnitus can be caused by an injury, of course, but it can be from something as innocuous as being in the military and working around loud sounds like a forklift in the storage building or worse yet, the flight line around active and running fighter aircraft. It can also begin from an infection in the ear and dissipate once the infection is cleared up, or it may be permanent. There is no way to tell.

This is not limited to those humans in the military, by no means, although more military veterans are afflicted with tinnitus. Civilian airports have flight lines and their share of people who will, not may, become afflicted with this malady. Most of the time if you have tinnitus you learn to compensate, like always having white noise in the room just a hair louder than the noise, or whine, you hear in your head all the time. 

90% of the people with Tinnitus acquire it from being in proximity to loud noises for a prolonged period of time. Sadly, listening to loud music can produce tinnitus; listening to loud music with headphones is a more effective way to injure your hearing.

The permanent damage caused by the loud noise is to the sound sensitive cells of the cochlea; which are also the cause and culprit of the ever-present tone heard only by you. In some rare instances a doctor can listen to your tone using a stethoscope but occurs in very rare instances.

So, what can you do? Protect your hearing at all times. Loud sounds will cause the damage. If you go to the range for some target practice, wear hearing defenders, there are a wide variety of types, choose the best you can afford. You get one set of ears, so listen to yourself, protect your hearing.