Causes of Tinnitus
Tinnitus is neurological condition that causes a person to perceive a continuous phantom sound. It is a surprisingly common ailment that can often leave people unable to complete everyday tasks. The persistent ringing makes it difficult to hear things in your surroundings which can make holding a conversation incredibly hard and can also keep you up for hours as you try to fall asleep. More mild forms of tinnitus have treatments that help patients cope with the condition. However, severe tinnitus is often detrimental to everyday life where the sufferer cannot function. TMS is the only treatment option for severe tinnitus with results that reduce the sound and restore the sufferer’s ability to function.
What Causes Tinnitus?
There are many potential causes for tinnitus, but a primary cause of ringing in the ears is a loss of hearing. This loss of hearing could occur as a result from a single event of severe acoustic trauma or from prolonged exposure to loud noises, both of which could deaden your nerves. As your brain tries to receive information from these damaged nerves, it only interprets a hum or ringing sound.
Other potential causes of tinnitus include:
- Thick wax buildup
- An injury such as whiplash
- Ear infections
- Large doses of aspirin
- High blood pressure
- Anemia
Treatment for Ringing in the Ear
With such a wide variety of causes for tinnitus, it’s not surprising that there are also numerous ringing in ear treatments that attempt to reduce or mask the ringing. For instance, someone experiencing ringing in the ears because of excess wax will get some relief by having his or her ears professionally cleaned. Another example would be someone who has taken too much aspirin, they can wait for the drug to wear off as the annoying ringing will then disappear.
Fixing a Persistent Ringing in the Ear
For the patients who have no known reversible causes, there is an effective, non-systemic treatment available for tinnitus. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has shown unparalleled potential to help tinnitus sufferers. TMS works by activating specific areas of the brain to change their behaviors over time. After several weeks, TMS can normalize activity in the specific region responsible for the ringing in the ears.