Hi, I’m Craig. WHAT? DID YOU SAY SOMETHING, I CAN'T HEAR OVER THE RINGING IN MY EARS!
AM I TALKING LOUD? I'M PROBABLY TALKING TOO LOUD.
And this is Mental Floss on YouTube. Today, I’m going to answer Emma R.’s BIG question,
“Why do I get that weird ringing noise in my ears?”
Ok, serious times - before I answer this, I want to note that if this is a consistent
problem for you, you should see your doctor. Especially if you have other symptoms.
This could be signs of Ménière’s Disease or another serious disorder.
But, if you’re talking about your run-of-the-mill, once-in-a-while, good old fashioned ear ringing,
this is the video for you. Let’s get started! Maybe turn it down a little bit though, if
it's too loud, okay?
So, that ringing sound in your ears has a name: subjective tinnitus. “Tinnitus”
refers to the noise. It’s usually a ringing sound, like Emma experiences, but it also
can be a roar, click, hiss, or another noise. Maybe a "blaghghhh". Probably not. But maybe.
This case probably qualifies as “subjective” because only Emma can hear it, I’m guessing.
Objective tinnitus, on the other hand, is a noise coming from your ear that other people
can also hear.
95% of tinnitus cases are subjective tinnitus. And it’s very common. According the American
Tinnitus Association, 50 million people in the U.S. have experienced it. 50 MILLION!
If you’re one of those magical people who haven’t experienced it, there’s a link
in the doobly-doo to a website that lets you hear some different tinnitus sounds.
A number of things can cause subjective tinnitus. I’m going to go through a few common ones,
but as I mentioned, you might want to give your doctor a ring. You get it? A RING. RING!
I don’t want you to worry though, so I will tell you that tinnitus can be caused by something
as simple as wax in your ear.
Another cause of tinnitus is loud noises. If you’ve been exposed to loud noises consistently,
that can damage your cilia, which are the cells in your inner ear.
OH, CILIA! YOU'RE RINGING MY EARS -- was that too loud? Sorry.
It’s important to not damage these because they don’t regenerate. Be sure to protect
your ears, especially if your lifestyle or job involves repeated exposure to noises louder
than 85 decibels.
Some medications give people tinnitus, including antibiotics like aminoglycosides, which are
used to treat diseases like tuberculosis. Loop diuretics, which treat things like edema
and hypertension, also have been known to cause tinnitus.
I have a theory that maybe your ears just like you and wanted to put a ring on you.
Some of the other things that cause tinnitus are head trauma, anemia, cardiovascular disease,
and vitamin B12 deficiency. Basically what you should take from this is that tinnitus
isn’t a disease. It’s a symptom of something else. I’m sorry I couldn’t address the
specific reason why YOU, Emma, have ringing in your ears, but hopefully now you understand
why that’s the case.
Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, which is made with the help of all these lovely
tinnituses. If you have a Big Question of your own that you’d like answered, leave
it below in the comments. Hope to hear from you next week!