Tinnitus - Have You Experienced It Yet? Essay -- Biology Essays Resear

Tinnitus - Have You Experienced It Yet? Can you ever recall hearing a strange annoying noise in your ears that remained constant for days or seemed recurrent? If you answered yes to this question then you may be one of the 50,000,000 individuals in the U.S. who suffer from tinnitus. Almost everyone at one time or another has experienced brief periods of mild ringing or other sounds in the ear and it is estimated that one out of every five people experience some degree of tinnitus (1). The presence of tinnitus is a very common and annoying occurrence that affects about 17% of the general population and 33% of the elderly (2). With such statistics, could it be that we are all most likely destined to become a victim of tinnitus? Tinnitus is the internal perception of sound when there actually is no external sound present. It is a symptom that can occur in either or both ears or can seem as if it is coming from somewhere in the head. Tinnitus can sound like a bell, whistle, roar, screech, hum, crickets, tone, something else, or any combination of the above. It can be continuous, pulsatile, or can fluctuate in character or loudness (3). Tinnitus is classified into two forms: objective and subjective. Objective tinnitus, the rarer form, consists of a sound that may be audible to people other than the sufferer. The noises are usually caused by vascular diseases or abnomalies, repetitive muscle contractions, or inner ear structural defects. The sounds are heard by the sufferer and are generally external to the auditory system. Benign causes, such as noise from the jaw joint, openings of the Eustachian tubes, or repetitive muscle contractions may be the cause of objective tinnitus. It can be an early sign of increased intracrania... ...on sufferers are so seriously debilitated that they cannot function on a day-to-day basis. The upsetting notion of tinnitus is that it can strike people of all ages and, for most, it does not go away. Tinnitus is just a nuisance for some, but for others it is a stressful, life-altering condition (7). WWW Sources 1) Tinnitus FAQ- Discovering and Understanding http://www.cccd.edu/faq/tinnitus/discover.html 2) Tinnitus Information Network http://members.aol.com/MyTinnitus/English/definition.html 3) Tinnitus & Loudness Sensitivity Center http://www.earaces.com/tinnitus.htm 4)Tinnitus Relief Center: FAQ http://www.tinnitusrelief.com/faq3.html 5) Tinnitus Relief Center: About Tinnitus http://www.tinnitusrelief.com/abouttinnitus.html 6) ASHA Brochure - Tinnitus 7) American Tinnitus Association http://home.teleport.com/~ata/FAQS~RC.HTM