When I was young, my ears kept ringing and I couldn’t sleep the whole night; I finally fell asleep, woke up dizzy in the morning, felt nauseous when I stood up, and didn’t get better after eating – young man, it’s time to take good care of your ears.
This year's March 3rd is the 23rd "National Hearing Day", and this year's theme is "Caring for Hearing Health, Listening to a Wonderful Future".
There are many factors that cause tinnitus, and good habits can prevent it
The 27-year-old Li Hai (pseudonym) has been filled with work recently, and he rarely rests at night and on weekends. What's more, the upstairs decoration and electric drill are deafening for two days on weekends.
When he went to work on Monday, although he no longer had to listen to the sound of the electric drill, the sound of the electric drill still "drilled" from his ears.
Even if he is alone, he feels like he is in a busy city. Lying on the bed tossing and turning in the middle of the night, it is difficult to fall asleep. Li Hai is tortured by tinnitus.
Unable to bear it, he walked into the hospital and was diagnosed with subjective tinnitus after examination.
Where there is "subjectivity", there is "objectivity". Chen Wei, assistant director of the National Clinical Research Center for Otolaryngology Diseases and deputy director of the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of the PLA General Hospital, told the China Youth Daily and China Youth Network reporter that tinnitus can be classified according to its nature. Divided into subjective tinnitus and objective tinnitus.
Subjective tinnitus, that is, tinnitus is a subjective feeling. In an environment without a sound source, only the patient can hear the tinnitus, which is usually caused by organic lesions or neurological reflex lesions.
The so-called objective tinnitus, not only the patient can hear the tinnitus, but also others can hear it, also known as "he-sensory tinnitus", the tinnitus is usually "clicking" or "buzz" consistent with the pulse Voice.
Common causes of objective tinnitus include abnormal opening of the Eustachian tube, mandibular arthropathy, and muscle spasms.
Some patients can control this type of tinnitus by swallowing or pharyngeal muscle movement.
Among the tinnitus patients treated by Chen Wei, objective tinnitus patients only accounted for about 10%.
"In this case, we will put one end of the small listening tube into the patient's ear canal, seal it well, and then put the other end in my ear canal. I can hear tinnitus even in a quiet environment." Chen Wei explain further.
Tinnitus can be classified into acute tinnitus and chronic tinnitus.
Acute tinnitus is tinnitus that persists within 3 months, and chronic tinnitus is tinnitus that persists for more than 6 months.
According to Chen Wei, tinnitus can occur in children, but with age, the incidence of tinnitus will increase, and it is most common in patients aged 50-60.
"Tinnitus can occur in the elderly, young and small children. Tinnitus can also occur in normal people, such as when covering your ears with your hands or lying on your side with your ears touching a pillow, you can hear something in your ears. 'Buzzing' sound, and as soon as we let go or turn over, the tinnitus disappears. Another example, when we walk into a well-sealed room, we will hear a 'buzzing' sound in our ears, which is called Physiological tinnitus. Physiological tinnitus generally lasts for a short time." Chen Wei said.
There are many factors that can cause tinnitus, so what should be done in daily life to minimize the occurrence of tinnitus?
Chen Wei first mentioned the use of headphones.
“Nowadays, many young people always have earphones plugged into their ears. When they walk on the street, in order to hear clearly, they unconsciously adjust their voices to a high volume to suppress the external noise. If this happens for a long time, it will definitely affect their hearing. Cause some damage. So, if you think your hearing is fine, but tinnitus happens occasionally, this is actually an early warning, it is telling you that you should pay attention to your ears. "Chen Wei suggested using headphones. The volume should not exceed 80 decibels, and the use time should not be too long. Compared with in-ear headphones, headphones are more "friendly" to the ears.
In addition, a healthy, regular schedule and a light diet can also help reduce tinnitus.
"Staying up all night leads to poor sleep, which may cause tinnitus, which in turn will aggravate insomnia, which forms a vicious circle. Stress or anxiety can also cause tinnitus, which should be avoided as much as possible. In addition, eat less irritating and Foods high in salt, sugar, and oil will improve the overall health of the body and naturally reduce the risk of ear problems." Chen Wei said that if it is only occasional or intermittent tinnitus, it can be considered a physiological phenomenon. No need to worry too much.
However, if the tinnitus persists and has affected emotions, study, work and life, you should go to a regular hospital for examination and seek help from a specialist.
Otolithiasis strikes, the world is spinning
For Zhou Huan (pseudonym), the fear brought by otolithiasis is huge.
The first attack was a year ago, when he was studying abroad. When he woke up in the morning and stood up, an unprecedented strong sense of dizziness hit him, his legs were weak, and he couldn't walk an inch, so scared that he hurried back to the bed, close to his body. The clothes were soaked through.
Zhou Huan thought he had low blood sugar and ate a whole piece of chocolate in bed, but the situation did not improve. He lay down until noon that day and the dizziness slowly subsided. He said that the sense of helplessness and fear at that time was enough to make him unforgettable for the rest of his life.
Zhou Huan later learned that the disease he suffered from was called "otolithiasis".
"Otolithiasis, also known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, is short-term paroxysmal vertigo and nystagmus that occurs when the head moves rapidly to a certain position." Chen Wei explained that our ears have Two functions, one is hearing and the other is balance.
The reason why the ear can control the balance of our body is because there is a balance organ called the "vestibule" in the ear. There are three semicircular canals in the vestibule, and these three semicircular canals are filled with lymph fluid.
Next to the semicircular canal are the utricle and balloon. There is a layer of glial membrane on the surface of the utricle and balloon. The surface of the glial membrane adheres to some small particles of calcium carbonate crystals. These small particles are "otoliths".
When any of these conditions occur, such as insufficient blood supply, overwork, or a violent blow, the otolith may fall off its original position and fall into the lymphatic fluid in the semicircular canals.
At this time, if the head changes position, the otoliths that fall off will stimulate the hair cells in the semicircular canals, making people feel like they are spinning around, accompanied by symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
"Otolithiasis is a self-healing disease. Otolithiasis will be slowly absorbed in the semicircular canal lymph fluid, but the time required varies. Some people may even take several months to get better." Go to the hospital for vestibular function examination in time. If it is clear that it is otolithiasis, the doctor will use manual reduction to control the symptoms, and this reduction needs to be repeated several times to achieve a better therapeutic effect.
At the same time, doctors can also use some drugs to control the symptoms of vertigo.
But not all patients can be completely cured, and some people will relapse.
People with otolithiasis should avoid strenuous exercise in the short term.
In order to avoid suffering from otolithiasis as much as possible, Chen Wei suggested to maintain a healthy routine in daily life, eat a light diet, and at the same time ensure the intake of vitamin D and get more sun exposure.
In addition, in addition to avoiding excessively strenuous exercise, exercise should be done gradually, and the amount of exercise should not be increased suddenly.
Chen Ding, a trainee reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily. Source: China Youth Daily