Why are my ears ringing? - Big Questions - (Ep. 19)

Hi, I'm Craig. What? Did you say something? I can't hear over the ringing in my ears

Am I talking loud? I'm probably talking too loud. And this is mental floss on YouTube

Today I'm gonna answer Emma R's big question. Why do I get that weird ringing noise in my ears

Okay, serious times. Before I answer this, I want to note that if this is a consistent problem for you, you should see a doctor

Especially if you have other symptoms. This could be signs of Maneers disease or another serious disorder

But if you're talking about run-of-the-mill once in a while, good old-fashioned ear ring and this is the video for you. Let's get started

Maybe turn down a little bit though if it's too loud. Okay? So that ringing sound in your ears has a name, subjective tinnitus

Tinnitus refers to the noise. It's usually a ringing sound like Emma experiences, but it also can be a roar, click, hiss

or another noise. Maybe a Buh! Probably not, but maybe. This case probably qualifies as subjective because only Emma can hear it, I'm guessing

Objective tinnitus, on the other hand, is a noise coming from your noise. your ear that other people can also hear

95% of tinnitus cases are subjective tinnitus, and it's very common. According to the American tinnitus association, 50 million people in the US have experienced it

50 million! If you one of those magical people who haven experienced it there a link in the dully to a website that lets you hear some different tinnitus sounds A number of things can cause subjective tinnitus I gonna go through a few common ones but as I mentioned you might want to give your doctor a ring You get it

A ring. Ring. I don't wanna worry you though, so I will tell you that tinnitus can be caused by something as simple as wax in your ear

Another cause of tinnitus is loud noises. So if you've been exposed to loud noises consistently, that can damage your cilia, which are the cells in your inner ear

Whoa, Cilia, you're ringing my ears. Was that too loud? Sorry. It's important to not damage these because they don't regenerate

Be sure to protect your ears, especially if your lifestyle or job involves repeated exposure to noises louder than 85 decibels

Some medications give people tinnitus, including antibiotics like amino glycosides, which are used to treat diseases like tuberculosis

Loop diuretics, which treat things like etema and hypertension, also have been known to cause tinnitus

I have a theory that maybe your ears just like you and wanted to put a ring on you. Some of the other things that cause tinnitus are head trauma, anemia, cardiovascular disease, and vitamin B12 deficiency

Basically, what you should take from this is that tinnitus, isn't a disease. It's a symptom of something else. I'm sorry I couldn't address the specific reason why you, Emma, have ringing in your ears, but hopefully now you understand why that's the case

Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, which is made with the help of all these lovely tinnituses. If you have a big question of your own that you like answered, leave it below in the comments. Hope to hear from you next week