Noise in the ears – causes, diagnosis, treatment
Patients describe their sensations in different ways. The noise may resemble ringing, squeaking, buzzing, crackling, rumbling, buzzing, rustling, hissing. Its intensity also varies.
Often, tinnitus is combined with symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, unsteady gait, darkening of the eyes, and headaches.
Consider the most common causes of tinnitus.
Buzz in the ears causes in ENT diseases
Ear, nose and throat diseases are the most common causes of tinnitus. A patient who has begun to be disturbed by this symptom should first of all consult an ENT doctor.
The main causes of tinnitus in otolaryngology:
- Exudative otitis media is an inflammation of the middle ear, in which fluid accumulates in the cavity. The disease is manifested by hearing loss, a feeling of congestion, fullness inside the ear. During head movements there is noise in the ears.
- Tympanic membrane injury. Causes: ear injury, skull fracture, damage by foreign bodies, various objects during ear cleaning, loud sound (for example, during an explosion). When the eardrum is damaged, severe pain, hearing loss, tinnitus, and a feeling of congestion occur.
- Otosclerosis. A disease in which the state of the bone capsule of the inner ear and the mobility of the auditory ossicles in the middle ear are disturbed. Patients are concerned about hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, fatigue, irritability.
- Meniere ‘s disease . Associated with increased fluid pressure in the inner ear. There is ringing in the ears, dizziness, imbalance, nausea and vomiting, sweating, lowering blood pressure.
- Twitching of the muscles of the middle ear. These small muscles regulate ear sensitivity by changing the tension on the eardrum. With their frequent contractions, tinnitus occurs. Even a person nearby can hear it: the sound resembles the chirping of grasshoppers or cicadas.
Whistling in the ears with neurological diseases
Neurological pathologies cause tinnitus along with ENT diseases. Consider the most common causes of tinnitus, which are within the competence of neurologists.
Ringing in the ears due to arterial hypertension and hypertensive crisis
With a significant increase in blood pressure (more than 140/90 mm Hg), blood flow to the inner ear becomes uneven. As a result, the nerve endings inside it are excited, and tinnitus occurs. With arterial hypertension, this most often occurs during a hypertensive crisis – an attack of a sharp increase in pressure.
Other manifestations of hypertensive crisis:
- headache;
- dizziness;
- dyspnea;
- pain in the region of the heart;
- nausea and vomiting;
- convulsions;
- disturbance of consciousness.
During a hypertensive crisis, the patient needs emergency help. It is necessary to lower blood pressure as soon as possible, otherwise its jump can lead to myocardial infarction, stroke and other serious complications.
If arterial hypertension is accompanied by a chronic violation of cerebral circulation, then the patient is almost constantly worried about tinnitus.
Ringing in the ears due to cerebrovascular accident
The most common cause of impaired blood flow in the vessels of the brain is atherosclerosis. This is a disease in which cholesterol plaques form on the walls of the arteries, partially or completely blocking their lumen.
Other causes of cerebrovascular accident:
- arterial hypertension (the main cause of which is also often atherosclerosis);
- increased blood viscosity and the formation of blood clots;
- diabetes mellitus (with this disease, the vessels of the brain, eyes, kidneys are primarily affected);
- consequences of traumatic brain injury;
- intracranial tumors, hemorrhages.
The main symptoms of chronic cerebrovascular accident: headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, flickering “flies” before the eyes, fatigue, drowsiness, impaired memory, attention. Constant oxygen starvation does not pass without a trace for the brain. Gradually, the death of nerve cells occurs, over time this can lead to the development of dementia.
Effect of increased intracranial pressure on tinnitus
Tinnitus as a result of increased intracranial pressure occurs with hydrocephalus, intracranial tumors and hemorrhages, after traumatic brain injuries and infections ( meningitis, meningoencephalitis ).
Headache and tinnitus – characteristic manifestations of increased intracranial pressure – usually disturb in the morning, after a person has been in a horizontal position for a long time. During the day, the symptoms disappear. The vertical position of the body contributes to the fact that an excess amount of intracranial fluid flows out, its pressure decreases.
Diseases of the cervical spine
Along the cervical spine on the right and left are the vertebral arteries – vessels that play an important role in the blood supply to the brain. They are not just on the sides of the spine, but pass through holes in the lateral processes of the cervical vertebrae.
Often, pathological changes in the spine – inflammation, displacement of the intervertebral disc, bone growths that form on the vertebrae – lead to impaired blood flow in the vertebral arteries, pain in the neck. The blood flow to the head is reduced. The brain and other organs experience oxygen starvation.
This condition is called vertebral artery syndrome. Its main manifestations:
- constant burning pains in the back of the head, temples, which intensify after sleeping in an uncomfortable position, traveling by transport;
- hearing loss and tinnitus;
- blurred vision, “fog before the eyes”;
- dizziness, loss of balance with sharp turns of the head;
- loss of consciousness;
- sleep disturbances, the patient does not feel sleepy and rested, in the afternoon there is severe fatigue and drowsiness.