What Actually Is Tinnitus; How Does It Happen?

Here’s what’s going on when your hearing dials itself up to eleven:

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First, tinnitus is: tinnitus is hearing sounds such as ringing, buzzing, hissing, or clicking when there is no external sound producing them. About one in seven people worldwide experiences it.

Next, how hearing normally works: sound waves vibrate structures in your ear and displace fluid in your cochlea, triggering chemical reactions that become electrical nerve signals. These signals travel through your hearing pathways to your brain, where they are interpreted as sound.

Now, where tinnitus comes from: in most cases, tinnitus does not originate from an actual sound in your ear. It is usually generated by neural activity within your central nervous system.

And as for how that happens: loud noise, disease, toxins, and age-related deterioration can damage cochlear cells, making your auditory system less sensitive. With fewer cells transmitting information, some incoming sounds become weaker or disappear. In response to this, your brain increases activity within the hearing pathway, much like adjusting a radio to pick up a weak signal. This can unintentionally raise the baseline activity that represents silence, causing you to hear things that would normally be far beneath the human ability to hear, and/or perceive sound when no external sound exists at all.

Since there is currently not yet any well-evidenced cure for tinnitus, just management strategies, most treatment often focuses on understanding the condition and reducing the brain’s negative response to the sound:

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Want to learn more?

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Take care!