To help people understand what tinnitus is, they need to know what are the tinnitus causes. The causes of tinnitus can be explained better if one is aware of the structure of the cochlea. The cochlea, which is located in the inner ears, has very tiny hair cells which are made up of very sensitive nerve endings. The hair cells are the ones responsible for delivering the sound waves coming from the environment into the brain of the person for interpretation.

Whenever we listen to any type of sound, the hair cells vibrate. But when the sound is too loud or noisy, the vibration becomes too rigorous and can be damaging to the hair cells. When the hair cells are damaged, they do not regenerate and at this point a person may begin to experience some hearing problems in the absence of a normal functioning hair cells. At this stage, the brain would start looking for the sound waves and as it continues to desperately attempt to receive the sound waves, it would begin to make crazy sounds by an action that sort of short circuits itself. The produced noise is known as tinnitus noise. The hair cells may also be damage due to old age and this condition is called presbycusis.

Damage to the hair cells is just one of the tinnitus causes, there are several other causes:

• Ototoxic Drugs – There are certain medicines when taken in large doses and for a prolonged period that can have toxic effect to the ears. This must be checked with the physician who prescribed the drug so as not to forgo the treatment.
• Head and Neck Injury – When the neck and head is subjected to injury, the trauma can damage the inner ears.
• Atherosclerosis – The elasticity and flexibility of the blood vessels may be affected by several factors like age, cholesterol build up and fatty deposits. When this happens, the blood vessels in the middle and inner ears will have problems as the blood flows through forcefully and the sound can be detected in the ears.
• Obstructions to Hearing – Our hearing may be obstructed when there is too much earwax deposited in our ears, or a foreign material accidentally enters our ears.

It would be very easy to avoid tinnitus if one knows all the tinnitus causes. Early education can be ones armor for protection. It would also be good to share whatever you know of the tinnitus causes to your friends and the people you love.