I'd say there's certainly damage of some sort, but there must be more to it. Maybe a genetic element? Why do some acquire tinnitus whilst others don't, even though damage can be present in both cases. Is it specific damage in cases of T or is it a genetic difference, or something else that's happening that triggers T in some and not in others.
Could it be that the stars need to align for T to arise. Maybe it occurs when different conditions come together in the right way, rather than just outright damage. I find it interesting how (some) people with tinnitus show activity in different areas of the brain compared to normal people.
Then again, maybe I'm just talking bollocks.
I don't think T people are a special breed,nearly everyone on this planet experiences it when around enough noise like going to a concert or loud gig so what makes it permanent is the question.Maybe another form of hearing damage that can occur alongside normal hearing loss?Thats what I believe,it's the most logical answer to the question.
I often wondered,do some people experience T from hearing loss where as others just don't?That some are predisposed to acquire T alongside their hearing loss?
The answer in my opinion is no,that just about anybody on this planet has the capability to develop T,take my brother for example.
He goes to loud places,rides his dirt bike everyday day and works in a loud environment but never in his life has he experienced T according to him.
A few weeks ago whilst in work a tyre popped near him and his right ear rang for twenty minutes after before going away,this was the first time in his life that he ever heard a ringing in his ears.
He said he didn't experience a TTS only a ringing in his ear closest to the pop,if it was a brain thing surely both ears would ring?A central origin would suggest so but seeing as his was one sided this would suggest a peripheral origin.
He's not the only one either,one of my best mates father is the exact same story.
He owns a construction business,worked in horrendous noise everyday of his 60 year old life but never experienced T once,not even once.
He has hearing loss,this has been confirmed but yet no T or H?
Then a few years ago he was working in his garage restoring a classic car,his friend banged a piece of galvanise sheeting with a hammer next to his right ear and it began ringing and has done so ever since that day.His hearing is still the same,he had it tested after the incident and no hearing loss occurred as a result so why the T?Also his T is in only one ear,the ear closest to the bang.
Then there's my uncle who got T from a shotgun blast,the gun was closest to his right ear and this ear is the one with the loudest T,to me it all points at a peripheral cause rather than that of a central origin.The peripheral nervous system talks and communicates within itself,to me this explains why symptoms in one ear tend to spread to the other ear in some instances myself included.
When I developed T in 2011 it began with a fullness in only my left ear,T set in shortly after and then randomly went to my right ear a few days later.Sometimes when I got a spike my right ear would spike and not my left ear or my left ear would spike and not my right ear along with a hotness in the affected ear,if the brain truly was responsible it would have to be the same bilaterally and that's not the case.
As far as the brain scans of T patients go I don't read too much into them,they see activity in auditory brain areas and as such think that's where the T is coming from,but if we scanned a normal person and then stabbed his foot I can quarantee you areas of his brain would light up like a Christmas tree as a result.
The brain only reacts to what we send it,if you cut your finger nerve fibres tell your brain it's in distress and the brain lets you know this by giving you pain,numb the finger and it's nerves and the pain goes away as the brain is no longer getting the signal.I think T and H is just that,a pain signal or damage signal in the peripheral auditory nerves but because we interpret it as sound we fail to recognise it as a pain signal,keep damaging these nerves and H arrives or vice versa.A lot of people come down with H,then along comes T and as these nerves heal the T backs off and so does their H hence why people claim they're cured of H.Then there's others who develop T,get around more noise and develop permanent H as result.It seems those who come down with H after a one time sound exposure improve greatly but those who come down with it slowly don't,this just screams recovery after an injury and slow degrading of a nerve over time.If I saw an extremely bright light I may lose my vision for awhile but it will recover to a certain degree as long as I stay away from bright lights.But if I stared at another slightly less bright light everyday of my life I would slowly lose my vision over time and by the time it becomes a problem then it's already too late,the damage has been done but if I don't want to worsen it further I need to only look at lights that aren't bright and that I can handle.Get what I'm saying?
That's my theory on how this crap works,enough evidence to suggest so.
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