Tinnitus – General Introduction
Tinnitus, derived from the latin word, "tinnere" (to ring), describes any form of noises in the ear and also the head. It is a symptom affecting almost one in every ten German citizens, though it does not lead to any serious problems for 90% of sufferers. In fact these deal to some extent with the symptom in an affectionate and joking manner ("I've got a little man in my ear" or "I've always got my orchestra with me").
It is presumed that the causes for tinnitus can be very diverse. Circulation disorders in the inner ear, acoustic trauma, noise trauma, jaw problems, cervical vertebrae problems, side-effects from medicines etc., can be responsible for causing tinnitus.
In very many cases, though no cause can be found or the cause has already been removed, sufferers nevertheless still experience tinnitus. In these cases one assumes there is a central processing disorder in the brain. This does not mean sufferers have brain damage or are in any way insane, but that their brain is more the victim of a misunderstanding. Expressed simply, this means a possible cause has already been removed and the brain has completely overlooked stopping the symptoms connected to it. This phenomenon has been known for a long time in pain therapy, such as in the case of phantom pain. Sufferers of amputated limbs report pain at the place where, for example, a hand has been amputated, and can say quite precisely that the little finger hurts. Because the finger is no longer there and therefore cannot hurt anymore, the problem lies more in the pain processing taking place in the brain. Here an incorrect functioning occurs, meaning the brain is convinced the finger is still there and sends the corresponding pain signals. In these cases, we speak from phantom pain. The situation is similar in many cases of tinnitus and we speak from tinnitus memory.
The brain is in the position to differentiate between important and unimportant acoustic information. We become aware of important information, and unimportant information is simply ignored. When a cause is present, the tinnitus will be heard, and like a sort of alarm, help us to react to it - a thoroughly positive characteristic of the human organism. But then at some time, for example after successful treatment or after certain changes in relation to personal circumstances, there is no point in hearing this alarm signal because there is no reason for an alarm. The tinnitus then belongs to the unimportant noises and should be simply ignored or filtered out. If this is not the case, the filter system can be damaged allowing unnecessary information to penetrate into our awareness. Closely connected to this filter system are the mental and emotional responses of the person, which mutually reinforce one another or weaken one another as well. Consequently, therefore, the aim must be to break this circle at some point, in order to be able to bring influence to bear.