wmartin@brl-smoke.ARPA (Will Martin ) (01/16/86)
Speaking of tinnitus, I was wondering if someone could either verify or disprove the statement I have heard, "Every time you hear a ringing in your ear, that means a nerve cell is dying." (Referring here to real tinnitus, not your telephone ringing, of course. :-) Since I perceive brief tinnitus maybe about twice a week or so, not enough to bother but only noticeable in a quiet room, I do wonder if the satement is true, and some nerve cell in my inner ear has chosen that instant to die, thereby decreasing my hearing capability. I hope that it is not true, but that this minor tinnitus is caused by some other factor and indicates no permanent failures. However, I do not know. I have had a period of severe tinnitus after exposure to large amounts of gunfire without ear protection; I suppose that single episode did damage my hearing. However, that period lasted for several days and was quite noticeable; the kinds of random tinnitus I refer to above last only for some seconds and do not follow any loud noises (as I said, they can only be detected in a quiet room). Regards, Will Martin UUCP/USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (01/16/86)
In article <617@brl-smoke.ARPA>, wmartin@brl-smoke.ARPA (Will Martin ) writes: > Speaking of tinnitus, I was wondering if someone could either verify or > disprove the statement I have heard, "Every time you hear a ringing in > your ear, that means a nerve cell is dying." I think this is not the case. (Hoping that his grey cells are not playing games with him by dying, he presses on :-) I remember an article in Scientific American (?) a few years ago about the structure of the inner ear. The implication was that ringing was perhaps caused by a small structure at the nerve end 'leaking' ions. Physical damage to this structure, or chemical induced changes, increased 'leakage' and resulted in tinnitus. The structures were related to the 'hair' cells in the organ of corti (I think...). Thats how I remember it. Does anyone a) have the article or b) have a better, newer, more accurate explanation? -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything.