Tinnitus: How does the beeping in the ear and what helps against it?
It beeps, rushes, hisses or clatters: Anyone who suffers from tinnitus, perceives sounds that should not actually be there. The phantom sounds have no external sound source and persistently stick in the ear. How does the annoying noise come about? and how does it become more bearable for me in everyday life?
Almost everyone knows about ear noises. They suddenly appear, but luckily they just go away as quickly. In some people, however, the sounds nest over days, weeks, months and even years: the tinnitus is a constant companion. For around three million people in Germany, he is part of everyday life.
Beeping and other annoying noises
As a sufferer of tinnitus, I often hear high whistling and beeping sounds. Occasionally, the proverbial "beeping" in the ear is also very different. such as rattling, hissing, hissing or low hum. But where do the sounds that I hear come from?
In very rare cases, an objective source of sound is actually responsible for the sounds in the ear. For example, if blood flows through narrowed vessels near my ear, I can hear it sometimes. Even a doctor examining me is in such a case able to perceive these sounds.
As a rule, the annoying tones are phantom noises. That means only I can hear them. In medical jargon, doctors therefore speak of subjective tinnitus. And that does not arise in the ear, but in the brain? Scientists today largely agree on that.
Noise damage as a trigger
The possible triggers for this phenomenon are manifold. Tinnitus often develops as a result of hearing system disorders such as hearing loss, sudden hearing loss or noise. Loud concerts, workplace noise, or explosions are just some of the situations that can destroy the hair cells in my inner ear. Such defects then cause me to hear certain frequencies less well or not at all.
The brain tries to compensate for the missing auditory input. A common theory assumes that neurons of the auditory cortex, which receive no signals from the damaged hair cells, resort to information from neighboring nerve cells. The frequencies that represent them are over-represented by this miscarriage? and now form the disturbing noise.
The one specific cause of the phantom noises, but perhaps not succeed in my case. After all, physicians can find in up to 45 percent of all those affected no clear physical trigger of tinnitus, it is called idiopathic tinnitus. If the annoying ringing in the ear lasts for more than three months, my tinnitus becomes chronic.
When tinnitus becomes a burden
How much the sounds in my ear disturb me is also related to my personality. Maybe I can cope well with the constant and recurring accompanying noises in everyday life, but maybe they also mean a high level of suffering.
If I experience tinnitus as a burden, it can have far-reaching consequences for my mental and physical health. For example, complaints such as hypersensitivity, sleep and concentration disorders as well as mental stress and depression are not uncommon symptoms of chronic tinnitus. Conversely, stress can make tinnitus worse.
Therapy goal habituation
So that it does not come so far, I should actively oppose my Phantomgeräuschen. Although chronic tinnitus is not curable, I can still do something about the beeping in my ear.
Because drug treatments are controversial, several approaches such as the so-called retraining today increasingly rely on the subjective perception of the ear noises. For if the sounds in the ear become a burden for me, is also a question of attention and emotions. If I attach much importance to my tinnitus and associate it with negative feelings, I can barely hide it. Stress and anxiety then amplify the noise.
On the other hand, with the help of behavioral therapies, music, and special noise generators, can I learn to pay less attention to tinnitus? in short: to get used to it. The brain is also stimulated by such therapies to suppress the ear noise stronger.
From suffering to the marginal phenomenon
Ideally, I succeed in this way, the tinnitus subjectively disappear or at least let it be quieter. But even if the ear noise stays, I learn in the course of tinnitus therapy to live better with it. Instead of a worrying "suffering" is the beeping in the ear then only a marginal phenomenon as many other phenomena of my body and everyday life too.
