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Tinnitus
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Tinnitus, also called ringing in the ears, is a sound a person genuinely hears, but it does not come from outside: their own body generates it.
Most of the time it is subjective, and that has a practical consequence: the examiner cannot hear it, and no device can measure or detect it. Subjective tinnitus is known only through what the person reports.
The most common cause of subjective tinnitus is noise trauma, the damage that exposure to loud sound does to the ear. And there is a telling detail: someone who loses hearing at a particular pitch may begin to hear a sound close to that pitch. It is like a piano missing a key: in place of the note that no longer plays, a ringing remains, and only the person who has it can hear it.
In brief
Tinnitus is a sound a person hears that is generated by their own body rather than by an outside source.
Most tinnitus is subjective: the examiner cannot hear it, and there is no tool that can measure the sound.
The most common cause of subjective tinnitus is noise trauma: someone who loses hearing at a given pitch may begin to hear a sound close to that pitch.
Where the ear lost a pitch, a sound close to that pitch can appear.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingTinnitus, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated