Scientists know that ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, is associated with hearing loss, aging, head or neck injuries, and exposure to loud noises. But what’s actually happening in the body to cause it is less understood.
New research published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports supports a theory that an underlying cause of tinnitus may be similar to phantom limb syndrome — a condition in which people experience pain in limbs they no longer have.
“Anything that is being done to better understand what might cause tinnitus is an important step towards a cure,” Maison said.
Laura Hermann, an audiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore who wasn’t involved with the study, said the comparison to phantom limb syndrome was spot on.
“I thought that was very interesting, because that’s something a lot of audiologists have the equipment to do,” Hermann said.
“So, you know, that would be potentially a very cool way of validating these people’s complaints coming in.”
She noted that the study outlined alternative ways to measure the “hidden hearing loss” in the auditory nerve that is associated with tinnitus.
One that could be implemented within audiology clinics is called electrocochleography, another test that similarly evaluates the inner ear’s response to a sound, she said.
People who suffer from debilitating tinnitus often struggle to sleep and feel anxious or depressed, according to the study.
Though there is no cure for tinnitus, Aniruddha Deshpande, the chair of the department of speech-language-hearing sciences at Hofstra University in New York, said there are simple steps people can take to protect themselves and potentially prevent the condition.
“Anything that can cause hearing loss can actually lead to tinnitus, because the underlying pathophysiology might be similar,” Deshpande said. “So commonsense precautions of preventing exposure to loud noises is something that we can all do.”
Deshpande said the most common cause of hearing loss in recent years is listening to music with headphones or over speakers too loudly. Though more research needs to be done to establish an “objective” threshold of what’s considered safe, Deshpande said, previous research suggests people should listen to their music at no louder than 50% of their phones’ maximum volume.
In environments where you can’t control the sounds in your surroundings — like concerts, for instance — wearing earplugs or muffs can prevent damage, he said
