Often the body gives signals that are difficult to ignore. A cause for concern may be various uncomfortable conditions that are not separate diseases. They serve as a sign of certain malfunctions in the body. For example, a hum in the ear, the causes of which are not related to external noise. What is this symptom and why does it occur?
How it manifests
Strange noises in the head that others cannot hear can manifest themselves in different ways. Someone hears a thin squeak, someone - a ringing. Sometimes it is rustling and rustling, sometimes buzzing or whistling. Sometimes patients complain of measured clicks, while someone just buzzes in their ears. Although, it is worth noting that some pathologies are accompanied by tinnitus, which can be heard by those standing nearby. All these sounds have a specific reason.
Noise classification
Doctors divide noise into several types:
- one-sided;
- double-sided;
- quiet;
- loud;
- permanent;
- periodic.
Most of the noise is only audible to the patient. In this case, the hum in the ear, the causes of which will be analyzed later, cannot be heard by an outsider or recorded by the equipment. However, if such a symptom appears, you should immediately consult a doctor. The fact is that a seemingly harmless problem can be a sign of a serious pathology.
Buzzing in the ears: causes
These violations can be the result of various problems. Most often, the reason for buzzing in the ears is as follows:
- Middle ear defect. It can appear when bone tissue or internal elements of the ear are damaged after otitis media or eardrum injury.
- Defect of the inner ear, which developed as a result of a cold, antibiotics, loud noises, neoplasms in the auditory nerve, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis.
- A foreign body or liquid entering the ear canal. Most often, children suffer from this reason.
- Ménière's disease.
- Formation of sulfur plug.
- Aneurysm formation, malformation.
- Acoustic neuroma.
- Narrowing of the carotid artery or jugular vein.
- Osteochondrosis.
- Tranio-cerebral injury.
- Overwork and stress.
- Kidney disease.
- Diabetes mellitus.
- Loss of perception of high tones, which is a particular manifestation of aging. The medical name is presbycusis.
Ménière's disease
Some causes of noise in the head require additional decoding. So, for example, Meniere's disease is indicated in the above list. This is a disease in which tinnitus and dizziness are caused by an increase in the amount of endolymph (fluid) in the cavity of the inner ear. The fluid exerts pressure on the cells that regulate the spatial orientation of the body and maintain balance. The disease is rare, as it is diagnosed in a small percentage of the population. However, in medical practice, there was a false diagnosis of Meniere's disease, based on recurrent dizziness.
The causes of the disease are little studied. Most often, tinnitus and dizziness in Meniere's syndrome occur as a result of vascular disease, trauma, inflammation, or infection. In addition to noise and dizziness, the patient is tormented by an imbalance that prevents not only walking and standing, but even sitting. The patient sweats a lot, he is sick. The disease is accompanied by frequent vomiting, pale skin, low blood pressure.
Complete cure of this disease is impossible. But doctors try to reduce the frequency of manifestations and stop the symptoms. To do this, they prescribe a special diet, taking diuretics, taking antihistamines and sedatives.
Acoustic neuroma
Another reason why buzzing in the ears is an acoustic neuroma. The disease has several names: vestibular schwannoma, acousticneuroma, acoustic schwannoma. Neurinoma is a benign tumor that grows from Schwann's lemocytes of the auditory nerve. The Schwann cell is an accessory cell, it supports the axon and nourishes the body of the neuron.
Clinical manifestations of acoustic neuroma - hearing loss on one side, pain in the corresponding half of the face, paresis of the facial nerve, impaired swallowing and articulation. In addition, it buzzes in the ear. What to do in this case? Seek immediate medical attention. Since the neuroma should be removed or undergo radiation therapy.
Why is tinnitus a symptom of kidney disease or diabetes?
It is difficult for a person without a medical education to understand this. The buzz in the ear, the causes of which are associated with kidney disease, is explained as follows: as a result of the disease, the adrenal glands lose their ability to normally produce norepinephrine and adrenaline. These hormones also affect blood pressure. As a result of the disturbance, the heart has to work more intensively and the concentration of glucose increases. Due to the overproduction of adrenaline, the production of insulin is inhibited, which affects the concentration of sugar in the blood. So it turns out that the buzz in the ears and head can be the reason for the appointment of a blood sugar test and a kidney examination.
Why is the noise louder at night
In fact, the noise level does not actually change. But the environment is changing. During the day, background sounds are constantly present around a person: the city is noisy, people are talking, cars are going somewhere, buzzinghorns or trams ringing. As a result of ambient noise, the buzz in the ears and head is less noticeable. And at night, these sounds are less and the person more clearly hears the movement of blood. In addition, at night, these problems do not allow you to relax and prevent you from falling asleep. Therefore, at night, noise in the ears and head is much more annoying.
Which doctor to contact
If a person is disturbed by a buzz in the ear, the otolaryngologist (ENT) should start looking for the reasons. He will conduct an examination, prescribe examinations and tests. If there are no deviations on his part, then the patient receives a referral to other specialists. It can be a neurologist, a neuropathologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, since most of the patients hear the movement of blood in the vessels due to changes in the functioning of the cardiovascular apparatus. But many patients choose the unique TinnitusNeuro tinnitus treatment. Because the specialists participating in this program treat not only tinnitus, but also its causes, such as Meniere's disease, osteochondrosis and many others.
Diagnosis
In addition to examining the patient, specialists can prescribe such examinations as audiometry, ultrasound of cerebral vessels, a biochemical blood test to determine cholesterol levels and coagulograms, x-rays, computed tomography, dopplerography, REG (rheoencephalography).
If an objective noise is diagnosed, which the doctor can also hear, then he conducts an examination with a phonendoscope. It can identify an area of clicking or pulsing. You can also detect muscle sound that occursas a result of convulsive contraction of the soft palate and middle ear.
Treatment
If the ENT can answer the question: “why the tinnitus is buzzing” that the sulfur plug is to blame, then the treatment is extremely simple. The doctor flushes the cork right during the initial treatment.
If tinnitus appeared after a cold, the doctor will prescribe drops ("Albucid", "Otinum" or others). Irrigation solutions may also be recommended ("Polymyxin", "Rizorcin", "Ethonium" and others). And you also need to cure a runny nose.
If the patient has otitis, then drops and antibiotics can be used for treatment. Most often it is Levomycetin, Ceftriaxone. But treatment can only be selected by a specialist. Nose drops are a must.
In stressful situations, doctors recommend soothing decoctions, rest, long walks, physical activity, change of activity, drugs for better sleep.
With vascular problems and high blood pressure, special medications are prescribed to normalize it. In addition, a special diet is recommended. Vascular murmurs are pulsating, they coincide with the rhythm of heart contractions. In addition to hypertension, aneurysm (protrusion, thinning and stretching of the vascular wall) and malformation (pathology in the connections of veins and arteries) can be their cause. In this case, the patient needs surgery to eliminate the pathology. Thus, a timely visit to the doctor with a complaint of tinnitus will help to avoid, for example,stroke.
When treating tumors that buzz in the ears, the causes, size and type of tumor will affect the tactics chosen. Medication, surgery or radiation will be chosen. If due to illness, hearing acuity has decreased, then a hearing aid may be recommended or a prosthesis of the auditory ossicle may be performed.
Folk remedies
The treatment of tinnitus with folk remedies most often relieves the symptom, and the underlying disease still requires treatment. However, many resort to folk methods in order to be able to take a break from the constantly accompanying noise. The most commonly recommended remedies are:
- Onion with cumin. To do this, a large onion stuffed with cumin seeds is baked in the oven. Then squeeze the juice and drip it 2 drops into each ear several times a day. After a while, the noise disappears, but the treatment continues for another 2 days.
- Dill. Not only small leaves are used, but also a stem and a rosette with seeds. The plant is crushed, poured with boiling water, insisted for an hour and drunk before meals in half a glass. The course of treatment is 8 weeks. Suitable for both fresh and dried dill.
- "Earplugs" from viburnum. Ripe berries are brought to a boil and cooled. Then the liquid is decanted and kneaded into a gruel (it will not be homogeneous due to the skin and seeds). The gruel is mixed with the same amount of honey and spread on gauze. Next, the gauze is tied with a knot, which is placed in the ear for the entirenight. The procedure is repeated until the noise disappears.
- "Earplugs" from potatoes with honey. In this case, raw potatoes are rubbed on a medium grater, juice is squeezed out of it a little, the resulting slurry is mixed with honey and laid out on gauze. Further, as in the recipe with viburnum.
- Beets. 100 gr. finely grated beets are poured into a glass of water and put on the stove in an enamel bowl. A spoonful of honey is added to the beets. All this must be boiled for about 15 minutes. Then a cotton swab is lowered into the beet mass and placed in the ear. This remedy works especially well for cold complications.
Doctors doubt that the treatment of tinnitus with folk remedies is effective. They recommend combining the treatment of the underlying disease with the elimination of the symptom (hum in the ears). This is the only way to get rid of the problem or significantly reduce it.
