Tinnitus is not a disease, but it may indicate these fatal diseases.

Late at night, when you are about to fall asleep.

Suddenly there was a voice.

Is it difficult to sleep immediately after tossing and turning?

If this noise is accompanied for a long time

It is even more irritating.

That is-tinnitus.

Tinnitus refers to a subjective feeling that you can feel noise in your ears when there is no sound source outside.

People can hear sound, that is, sound waves pass through the outer ear, eardrum, middle ear, inner ear, auditory nerve and then to the brain center. This path is called auditory path. On this road, if any link goes wrong, there may be tinnitus symptoms of "silent self-ringing".

At present, the physiological mechanism of tinnitus is not completely clear. Recently, the theory about the pathogenesis of tinnitus thinks that the sound source (blood vessel pulsation, arterial murmur, etc.). ) is not from the body, but it can be considered to be produced or originated by the central nervous system, which may be caused by the loss of nerve activity inhibition. Some theories compare tinnitus to "auditory epilepsy".

Besides physiological factors, tinnitus is also considered to be closely related to many diseases.

There are two kinds of diseases that can produce tinnitus symptoms: otogenic diseases and non-otogenic diseases. (Tinnitus symptoms often precede other symptoms, which can predict the disease to some extent. )

? Primary ear disease

Foreign bodies and inflammation in the ear lead to swelling and blockage in the ear; Congestion and perforation of eardrum; Conductive tinnitus may occur due to middle ear effusion or infection, otosclerosis and other diseases.

Features: mostly unilateral, bass and rhythmic, such as "rumbling" and "rumbling"

If there are diseases of the inner ear and cochlea, or there are diseases such as inner ear concussion, edema and auditory neuralgia, it may stimulate the cochlea and induce tinnitus.

Features: High notes, such as cicada purring, hissing, whistling, etc. , off and on.

? Viral tinnitus

Viral infectious diseases such as mumps, measles, chickenpox, influenza, meningitis and pneumonia may damage the auditory nerve.

Characteristics: cicada-like tinnitus usually occurs before and after recovery.

? Traumatic tinnitus

Due to the external force, the tissues or auditory nerves in the ear are damaged, and tinnitus symptoms can also occur.

Features: I often have a headache, sometimes it resonates with the outside voice, and high-profile and low-key may appear at the same time.

? Noise damage

Short-term strong noise (such as explosion) or long-term repetitive noise (such as disco music) can lead to hearing loss, accompanied by tinnitus and dizziness.

Features: Most of this tinnitus can be weakened and subsided by itself.

? Otototoxic drug poisoning

Large doses of quinine, quinidine, chloroquine and other drugs can cause severe tinnitus. Commonly used antibiotics, such as gentamicin, streptomycin and kanamycin, have toxic effects on auditory nerve and vestibular nerve. Tinnitus can appear at an early stage.

Features: It is often high-pitched and bilateral, and it begins to feel drowsy, and tends to improve after stopping taking drugs.

Non-otogenic diseases

? Neck disease

Other neck diseases, such as neck swelling and pain or cervical spondylosis, can cause carotid compression, and tinnitus can appear on one side of the compressed artery.

Features: persistent and deep, and the degree of tinnitus can change with the change of body position.

? Brain diseases

Hemangiomas and brain tumors in the brain sometimes compress auditory nerves or auditory pathways, leading to tinnitus.

Features: it is often aggravated at night, and the tone is high and harsh.

? Systemic disease

Diseases such as liver and kidney diseases, diabetes, tuberculosis and endocrine disorders may all lead to tinnitus due to systemic dysfunction.

Features: often high pitched, bilateral.

Tinnitus is also related to cardiovascular diseases. There are many similarities in the distribution of nerves in the ear and cardiovascular system in the brain, spinal cord and their pathways. Cochlea is more sensitive to ischemia and hypoxia than myocardium. Therefore, tinnitus can be used as an important sign of cardiovascular disease.

? Psychological barrier

Tinnitus is also obviously related to social environment and psychological factors. People also have tinnitus when they are depressed and anxious.

Features: pitch is uncertain, mostly bilateral, and it is intensified at night. Accompanied by headache, dizziness, insomnia, dreaminess and other symptoms.

Tinnitus is actually a symptom, not a disease, so the treatment of tinnitus often needs to solve the cause of tinnitus first.

If you have tinnitus symptoms, you should go to the otolaryngology department of a regular hospital for routine examination, audiological examination, tinnitus test, etc. Sometimes even do some necessary nervous system and systemic diseases.

Determine the cause and treat the disease that causes tinnitus, and tinnitus will naturally improve and disappear.

For some tinnitus with unknown etiology, or tinnitus left after the disease is cured, symptomatic treatment methods should be adopted, such as acclimatization therapy, masking therapy, relaxation training and drug treatment.

The main principle of symptomatic treatment is to reduce the impact of tinnitus on patients' lives, help patients adapt to and get used to tinnitus, and learn to live with tinnitus.

Tinnitus is not a disease.

But it may indicate some diseases.

Need to be taken seriously!

References:

1. Zonghe. Tinnitus: an early sign of disease [J]. Journal of Medicine and Health Care, 2008(2):6-7.

2. Jiang Zidong. Don't forget to rule out external brain diseases for tinnitus [J]. Medicine and health, 20 12(5):8-9.