Avo-Rein Tereping – What Causes Tinnitus?
Why do our ears whistle, and why do we hear a constant hum? Doctors call this phenomenon tinnitus. Unfortunately, this is a symptom that is increasingly affecting young people these days, says Avo-Rein Tereping, lecturer of work and engineering psychology at Tallinn University.
Why do our ears whistle, and why do we hear a constant hum? Doctors call this phenomenon tinnitus. Unfortunately, this is a symptom that is increasingly affecting young people these days, says Avo-Rein Tereping, lecturer of work and engineering psychology at Tallinn University.
Tinnitus can be caused by damage to the ear, inflammation or wax in our ears. Most often, it is caused by loss of hearing caused by long term suffering from loud noise. As we grow older, our hearing decreases and thus 12% of 55-66-year-olds complain about humming or whistling sounds in their ears.
Sadly, tinnitus is also becoming an issue among young people. Research shows it is caused by overloading our ears with loud sounds, most often caused by listening to music with our earphones for elongated periods.
The amount of young people that listen to music with their headphones more than three hours a day is increasing, they are called the “headphone generation”. This causes tinnitus, and is in effect the same as hearing loss caused by old age.
It is doubtful that you would want to listen to humming, whistling or the sound of bells constantly – like people many years older than you do. So do not burden your ears with very loud and long-lasting noise.