Why Do My Ears Make Noise

The Nerve From Ear-to-Brain Is Damaged

You are not alone with tinnitus. At Toronto Hearing Services, it’s our specialty!

Tinnitus (tin-it-us or ti-night-us) is most commonly caused by damage to your hearing and auditory system; including the nerve which transfers sound from your ear to your brain.

For some, experiencing a ringing in the ear, hearing non-stop whooshing, or buzzing sound is the early warning sign that something is breaking down in your hearing system. Tinnitus comes from a form of damage to the neural structures that can result simply from aging; or, perhaps from noise exposure, toxic medications including chemotherapy, a virus, as well as other factors.

Tinnitus is a false perception of sound that compensates for the damage. Your powerful brain does its best to instinctively make up for the missing sound signals.

For many people living with tinnitus, this ringing/whooshing/buzzing sound is directly attributed to the progressive and degenerative loss of nerves connecting the ear to the brain, aka hearing loss.

One of the most common statements we hear from tinnitus patients is, “I have tinnitus, but I don’t have a problem with my hearing!” While this is true for some patients, you should know that it is possible to have “normal” hearing with an auditory ear-to-brain nerve that is up to 50% damaged.

Tinnitus is a precursor of what’s to come due to the damaged nerve, and early treatment is a crucial part of slowing down the symptoms of tinnitus that will worsen over time.

If not treated, tinnitus may get worse. Here’s a report that will tell you more about tinnitus.