Have you ever had a ringing tone in your head?
Tinnitus is often described as loud or screaming ringing in the ears, which is worsened when the surrounding environment becomes silent. In other words, it deprives you of silence. And so it often deprives affected individuals of sleep as well.
It is normal for everyone to occasionally experience tinnitus, but occurences will most often be random and transient. But tinnitus can also be a very disabilitating, permanent condition. It relates to the sense of hearing, and is most often caused by damage to the auditory nerves in people working around loud machinery, or in concert areas with high volume music. Another cause of tinnitus, which is less noted, is nutritional, as B12 vitamin deficit can actually cause brain damage affecting hearing as well as all other functional capabilities.
The constant presence of sound – or in some cases even noise – tends to increase risk of high blood pressure and other stress related and reactive conditions. Several attempts have been made at reducing or treating tinnitus, so far results have been promising, yet not scientifically significant.
Producing sounds in the surrounding environment can to some extent «camouflage» constant tinnitus, and is often defined as «white, brown or pink noise«. Not everyone likes these «masking» techniques, though. Cognitive method can also be applied to try and change the awareness and acceptance of the condition, which is often considered chronic.