That Neuroscience Guy - Neuroscience Bites-Tinnitus

Episode Date: March 13, 2024

In today's Neuroscience Bite, we discuss Tinnitus - where hearing is impaired and replaced by noises with no external source. 

Hi, my name is Olof Kregolsen, and I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Victoria. And in my spare time, I'm that neuroscience guy. Welcome to another Neuroscience Byte. So this one came in from you, the listeners. Remember, if you have ideas, because we want to know what you want to know about the neuroscience of daily life, just email us, thatneuroscienceguy at gmail.com. Or you can follow me on threads or X at thatneuroscienceguy. So the request was quite simple. What is tinnitus?

What's the experience? Where does it come from? What can you do about it? Well, tinnitus is basically a perception of sound. So you're hearing something, but it doesn't have an external source. So other people can't hear it. And there's a lot of descriptions of tinnitus, but it can be like a buzzing or a ringing sound. Sometimes it's like a roar of rushing wind. And you're hearing this, but no one else can because it's externally not there. It's internally generated.

And tinnitus is actually fairly common. No one knows the exact numbers, but people estimate between 10 and 30% of adults have tinnitus. Children can also have it as well. Now, for most of us, tinnitus can improve and go away, but in some kinds, it actually worsens over time. And basically, if tinnitus lasts for more than three to four months, you have chronic tinnitus, which is quite problematic. Basically, the causes of tinnitus are unclear. So your brain is hearing sound, but it's not externally there. But typically, it's associated with a degree of hearing loss.

So one of the neuroscience theories on this is that as the hearing system sort of degrades for whatever reason, it triggers this condition, although no one's really sure why. It's very rare that it's associated with a serious medical problem. And basically, if your tinnitus is getting worse, or it's for a prolonged period of time, well, you should see a doctor in any event. But if you haven't yet, then you definitely need to. Because if tinnitus is prolonged, or it's interfering with daily life, or it's disrupting your mood or sleep, well, then you need to see a medical doctor because it's just something that's not good that needs to be treated. But you have to realize that for most of us, it could be something like a common cold.

There's a lot of reasons tinnitus can occur. Some other reasons are noise exposure. If you've been to a loud outdoor concert or a large indoor concert or sporting event, you might get tinnitus afterwards. People in the military have also experienced it from gunfire and bomb blasts. Like I mentioned earlier, hearing loss as the hearing system degrades, people can experience tinnitus. Some medications actually report tinnitus as a side effect. All right, so the medication itself for some reason is triggering it. And some of the medications are simple things like ibuprofen and aspirin that have been in some people trigger tinnitus. A buildup of earwax or an ear infection. So if the ear is blocked, all right, in some way it can cause

tinnitus. And sometimes head or neck injuries also cause tinnitus. Now there are some more serious causes of tinnitus, which I won't go into here. All right. But if you have tinnitus, and like I said, it's getting worse, all right, or it's prolonged, you really need to see a medical professional. Now, there's really no cure for tinnitus, but there are ways to reduce symptoms. And some people would recommend a sound therapy device. So if your tinnitus is caused by hearing loss, using a hearing aid can actually treat it. There are some medications that some doctors will try and there are some behavioral therapies, but there's really no great cure for tinnitus. It's something that with a bit of luck goes away over time. And if it doesn't, again, a medical professional will help treat you.

All right, that's a neuroscience bite on tinnitus. Don't forget, check out the website, thatneuroscienceguy.com. I already mentioned Threads and X in the email address. So let me just say thank you for listening to the podcast. And if you haven't already, please subscribe. My name's Olof Kregolsen, and I'm That Neuroscience Guy. I'll see you soon for another full episode of the podcast.