Tinnitus is a medical term for a condition where a person perceives ear hums in one or both ears in the absence of an external sound.  It may be intermittent or constant and may be characterized by single or multiple tones.  According to the American Tinnitus Association there are an estimated number of 50 million Americans who have experienced tinnitus at different degrees.

This condition is a symptom of an underlying medical condition, meaning something happened to a person’s body that made him exhibit the symptom tinnitus.  It would therefore be recommended to seek medical evaluation to properly determine the cause.  Several causes have been identified to cause tinnitus.  The most common culprit of tinnitus is hearing loss.  Temporary or permanent hearing loss causes tinnitus. 

Constant exposure to loud noise causes tinnitus. Loud noises are the most common cause of preventable tinnitus.  Loud noises can damage your hearing and lead to hearing loss.  According to the American Tinnitus Association, around 90% of tinnitus sufferers have some level of noise-induced hearing loss.  A person who is constantly exposed to loud noise will notice that they’ve had ear ringing.

Immediately after being exposed to loud noise, it is noticeable that you will experience ear ringing.  Often it is just mild but it can be permanent.  Notice that the length and severity of the tinnitus increases every time the ears are exposed to loud noise.  So continuously working, playing and living with loud noises will result to permanent tinnitus and hearing loss.

The precise process on how loud noises damages hearing is not yet scientifically identified, but scientists believe that when the ears are exposed to extremely loud noises, the hair cells are disturbed by over-stimulation.  Thus repetitious exposure leads to weakening of the hair cells and eventually leading to its collapse.  This means that hearing loss that is temporary in the beginning because of the temporary shift in threshold.  But if the ears are constantly exposed to loud noises and there is not enough time for the hair cells to recover then the hearing loss becomes permanent.  This is why noise causes tinnitus.

A damage of around 30% of the 15,000 hair cells that is found in the ears will be needed for a person to notice hearing loss.  For a lot of people, tinnitus is the first indicator of hearing loss.

Wearing ear plugs or earmuffs can help prevent hearing loss and eventually tinnitus for those who are constantly exposed to loud noises because of their jobs.