subject: Loud Sound and the Tinnitus Connection [print this page] 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 industrial and technological culture is producing a very noisy world, and there seems to be little awareness about the danger of noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus.
Exposure to loud sound can hurt the inner ears in a couple of ways. First, a single, sudden exposure to extremely loud noise, such as what is produced by an explosion or gunfire at close range, can destroy tiny hair cells, called stereocilia, inside the cochlea of the inner ear, and that can cause hearing distortions and hearing loss, and engender ear tinnitus symptoms.
In the second instance, extended exposures to loud sound, experienced again and again, as one gets in a machine shop or night club, can damage the hair cells and precipitate tinnitus, too, but incrementally growing worse each time. In the case of lengthy exposures without ear protection, growing tinnitus may be barely perceptible at first and it may come and go. By way of illustration, when one comes out of a loud night club, one's hearing may seem dull, accompanied by mild tinnitus for a short time. When such encounters with loud sound keep occurring, the progression of hearing damage may go on for months or years, as the intensity of the tinnitus grows more and more. In the end, the tinnitus becomes unremitting, and with yet more exposure to loud sound the ear ringing begins to disturb life quality, often becoming difficult to tolerate.
Sadly enough, noise trauma can do permanent damage to the stereocilia, the hair receptor cells that convert sound waves into electrical energy that is then transmitted to the brain via nerves. Investigation is underway to find a way to reproduce stereocilia, but to date no one has found a way to make that happen. Once the hair cells are gone, they are gone. Once the damage to the stereocilia is done, loss of hearing occurs for particular sound wavelengths. Ringing in ears may result, then, from false signal relays at certain frequencies, but the exact mechanism is not yet fully understood.
Now that iPods and similar sound players have come on the scene, with ear buds that are worn right in the hearing pocket, delivering very loud sound, the leading cause of tinnitus is starting to get some media attention. When the volume is kept within reasonable limits, one can enjoy receiving excellent sound through ear buds without harm. However, listening at excessive volume levels can do real damage. Listening to high decibel sound through ear buds holds two dangers. In the first place, one can be subjected to harmful volume levels for protracted intervals of time, and in the second place, ear buds are designed to deliver sound energy directly to the ear drum with maximum force, which means that maximum damage can be incurred.
It is good to keep in mind, here, that as people grow older they become subject to presbycusis, in which the hair-like receptor cells of the inner ear begin to give out. Noise damage acquired in earlier years, then, often exacerbates ear tinnitus symptoms in later years. For what it is worth, let this be a word to the wise: Take care of your hearing in the days of your youth. Usually, tinnitus brought on by noise damage can be averted by steering clear of loud sound environs, keeping the volume down on sound systems, and by using ear plugs or ear muffs whenever exposure cannot be avoided.
