The source of that Irritating Ringing in your Ear

I'm sure some of you have heard this ringing or whining sound in your ear, especially when it is quiet, after your ears are exposed to some loud sound or sometimes just out of the blue. Well, I certainly have, and I have always found it irritating cos it sometimes comes when I am trying to listen to someone or when I'm trying to sleep.

The medical term for this is Tinnitus (pronounced ti-NIGHT-us or TIN-i-tus). Now before you all go rushing to see a doctor, tinnitus is generally not anything serious and, in fact, affects millions of people, with no significant effect on their lives. However, if there is pain accompanying the ringing or the ringing sound is so loud that it disrupts your life, then it might be a problem.

Anyway, doctors have always assumed that tinnitus was caused by some problem in the inner ear. However, new research is showing that, in most cases, the problem may stem from the brain itself. This revelation came when doctors found that some patients still heard the ringing sound even when their auditory nerve had been severed and investigated these cases using modern brain-imaging techniques.

Well, I hope all this research will lead to a cure. Till then, I'll just have to go with my mom's advice that the ringing is caused by "heatiness", which incidentally (according to my mom) causes a myriad of other diseases and physical problems too. ;)

For years, scientists believed that structures in the ear produced the annoying ringing that millions of Americans with the condition tinnitus hear in their heads.

Now research makes many conclude that in most cases the real culprit is in the brain. Recent studies that involve brain-imaging techniques link the ailment to irregular activity in a variety of brain areas, including those involved in the normal sound processing pathway. The research provides a clearer understanding of tinnitus, which is helping with the development of new treatments.

The concert’s over. Musicians, dancers and revelers are long gone. Yet in the quiet of the stadium, a ringing persists. If you suspect that it’s bad feedback from a leftover mike, think again. Think tinnitus.

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