Tinnitus (pronounced "ti-NITE-us" or "TINN-ah-tus") is the perception of any ringing, hissing, humming, or buzzing sound without any external source. Rarely, it's a pulsing rhythm aligned with the heartbeat. The impact of these phantom sounds can range from a minor inconvenience to a major debilitation, associated with an inability to sleep, work, or go about daily life. While there's no known cure for tinnitus, it sometimes resolves on its own.
The condition, named after the Latin verb tinnire, meaning "to ring," occurs in 10% to 15% of the population and is often associated with hearing loss. Earwax buildup and jaw joint disorders can also contribute. The ancient Egyptians documented a similar condition as "bewitched ear," and famous tinnitus sufferers include Charles Darwin, Ludwig van Beethoven, and the musician Eric Clapton.
Research suggests hearing loss-associated tinnitus may be the brain's signal to the inner ear to turn up the volume amid reduced noise, paving the way for future therapies targeting nerve signaling. Current management strategies train the brain to distract itself, often with sound generators or hearing aids that amplify environmental noise.
Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
This video, from a Scottish branch of the UK National Health Service, features different types of ringing, crackling, and other sounds that tinnitus sufferers experience. Individual responses to such phantom sounds may vary widely.
This podcast from an audiologist discusses common questions about tinnitus. It notes that tinnitus could be described as a phantom sound associated with hyperactivity in the brain. It's linked with loud sound exposures above 85 decibels, hearing loss associated with aging and stress, among other factors.
Recent mouse brain and ear imaging revealed that the creature compensates for hearing loss by sending signals to the cochlea in the inner ear. This triggers nerve fibers in the inner ear to increase volume and become more sensitive. Learning about these boosted-sensitivity messages from the brain to the cochlea—if they're similar in humans—might help explain tinnitus and fuel experimental approaches to turn down that sensitivity.
Though there's no cure, treatments and management approaches can significantly reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. Hearing aids, sound generators, and other steps can help some people with this condition. But sometimes tinnitus resolves within hours or days for reasons that remain unclear.
This video discusses the mechanisms underlying tinnitus and explores the knowns and unknowns about the condition. Tinnitus most commonly occurs among those with hearing loss, suggesting that cochlear damage may be a factor.
Certain antidepressants, antimalarial medications, antibiotics, ibuprofen, and cancer drugs have been linked with the condition. At higher doses, particularly, it seems they can trigger or worsen tinnitus in some individuals.
This rare type of tinnitus, which sounds like rhythmic thumping or whooshing, is often linked to blood vessel conditions or high blood pressure. Lowering blood pressure through exercise and food choices can help reduce the severity of this condition.
A 2017 Swedish Twin Registry study suggests that bilateral tinnitus—when tinnitus occurs in both ears instead of just one—appears to be heritable, at least in men.
Musicians have four times the risk of developing hearing loss, and their risk of developing tinnitus is increased by more than half.
Lenire, an FDA-approved bimodal neuromodulation treatment approach for tinnitus, aims to teach the brain to distract itself from tinnitus. It includes short-term daily sessions wearing a mouth device that delivers mild electrical pulses to the tongue while listening to different sounds. (Some users may experience a paywall.)
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