Category: Articles

Patients with impacted ear wax that occludes the external auditory canal can present with tinnitus, conductive hearing loss and aural fullness. Symptoms usually resolve with clearance of the wax. References: Chan HBY, Low D, Yuen HW, How CH. Tinnitus – ringing in the ears. Singapore Med J. 2020 Sep;61(9):448-452. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2020128. PMID: 33043372; PMCID: PMC7927175.

The hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis, one of the main neuroendocrine systems involved in stress response, is commonly disturbed in tinnitus patients. Patients with chronic tinnitus have been shown to develop abnormal responses to psycho-social stress, where the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis response is weaker and delayed, suggesting chronic stress contributes to the development of chronic…

In this nationally representative sample of US adults, negative sleep characteristics were significantly associated with bothersome tinnitus. Report of bothersome tinnitus was associated with less hours of sleep per night, being diagnosed with sleep disorders, report of trouble with sleeping, and OSA symptoms. References: Awad M, Abdalla I, Jara SM, Huang TC, Adams ME, Choi…

Potential risk factors identified in the literature include pathologies of middle and inner ear structures, bone or nerve malformations, rhino sinusitis, and social factors such as poor diet. References: Hoare DJ, Smith H, Kennedy V, Fackrell K. Tinnitus in Children. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2024 Jun;25(3):239-247. doi: 10.1007/s10162-024-00944-3. Epub 2024 May 6. PMID: 38709437; PMCID:…

Animal-model studies have demonstrated that after noise exposures that lead to some damage of the cochlea, neurons in both the dorsal and ventral divisions of the first auditory brain station, the cochlear nucleus, show increased Spontaneous firing rate. References: 1) Bledsoe SC Jr, Koehler S, Tucci DL, Zhou J, Le Prell C, Shore SE. Ventral…

The results show a different average pattern of hearing impairment amongst the tinnitus patients, consistent with the suggestion that inner hair cell dysfunction with subsequent reduced auditory innervation is a possible trigger of tinnitus. References: Tan CM, Lecluyse W, McFerran D, Meddis R. Tinnitus and patterns of hearing loss. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2013 Apr;14(2):275-82.…

Tinnitus does not represent a disease itself, but instead is a symptom of a variety of underlying diseases. Otologic causes include noise-induced hearing loss, presbycusis, otosclerosis, otitis, impacted cerumen, sudden deafness, Meniere’s disease, and other causes of hearing loss. Neurologic causes include head injury, whiplash, multiple sclerosis, vestibular schwannoma (commonly called an acoustic neuroma), and…

Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the absence of a corresponding external acoustic stimulus. With prevalence ranging from 10% to 15%, tinnitus is a common disorder. Many people habituate to the phantom sound, but tinnitus severely impairs quality of life of about 1-2% of all people. Tinnitus has traditionally been regarded as an otological…

Studies from independent labs demonstrated alterations in CN neural activity that were correlated with tinnitus behavior but not with changes in auditory brain stem response (ABR) thresholds or supra threshold ABR wave-1 amplitude (i.e., ABR responses to increasing levels of intensity) (Li et al., 2015; Wu et al., 2016). References: 1) Li S, Kalappa BI,…

Tinnitus results from changes within the auditory system, which may stem from damage to the ear or the neural pathways that carry sound to the brain. The most accepted theory is that tinnitus comes from outer hair cell damage in the cochlea in the ear, leading to changes in the signals sent from the ear…