You may not be familiar with the words ac-fene or tinnitus, but the reality is that all of us, at some point in our lives, have already had or will live them. Listen without anyone else listening to you? This ringing in your ear doesn’t make superstitious sense as they say, as if someone is saying wrong behind your back.
In general, this sound, more or less uncomfortable, is transient and ends up disappearing, doesn’t it?Now imagine he was there persistently, that you heard him all the time. How do you think it would affect your daily life? Read on and discover the importance of working with psychological and emotional factors in the face of an acuphena.
“Do spits prevent me from living a moment of absolute silence?
With this brief introduction, we all have a general idea of what an acuphena is, don’t we?But, to better understand it, let’s explain more precisely what this condition is. a sound without actually having an external sound source that is the originator.
Let’s look at an example. If this hissing or humming that we really perceive exists, if, for example, television emits a sound, then it would not be a loud sound; on the other hand, we must keep in mind that even if there is no external source of sound, it does not mean that we necessarily have a auditory hallucination.
In addition, tinnitus can be seen in one ear, in both, or it may seem to occur throughout the head, finally, even if they are hissing and humming, you can also perceive other more complex noises, such as the sound of crickets or the sound of the waves of the sea. However, there will always be noises and never clear voices and phrases.
In a first classification, made from the type of sound we perceive, we can usually classify thecupmenes into objectives and subjective ones, we will delve into the explanation of each of them, but first of all it is important to clarify that when we talk about a subjective sound, it does not mean that the person invents it.
The target tinnitus is the perception of a sound that is generated in the body and is transported to the cochlea by bone conduction, or a sound that is transmitted to the cavity of the middle ear, so it would not affect any alteration of the middle ear. auditory system, being a physical sound that is perceived as any external sound.
This means that it can also be heard by doctors by auscultation and that its origin is arterial noises, arterio-venous fistulas and venous blasts, this type of tinnitus has good prognosis, but only 5% of tinnitus cases, on the contrary. , subjective tinnitus is perceived only by the patient, that is, it is the perception of sounds in the absence of physical sounds.
As we have already said, this does not mean that the person invents sound, it is a kind of phantom sensation that is produced by pathologies of the ear or the auditory nervous system, in this type of pathology the causes are otological, cardiovascular and vascular, metabolic, neurological, pharmacological, dental and psychological. Yes, psychological. Tinnitus may begin to be noticed after a period of intense emotional discomfort.
“Ear care is something that, unfortunately, no one pays attention to until a problem occurs. “Chris Martin.
Now that we know a little more about acuphen, how can it affect the lives of those with the disease?There are people who do not feel any discomfort and who manage to internalize sound as one more aspect of their life, without interfering with the normal development of their daily life, in this way these people are able to perceive and mock it, as happens with people who live in the big cities and are not always worried about the noise of the street coming through the window.
But there are also cases of people where this symptom causes them many negative emotions, such as anxiety, sadness or anger, in such cases people often enter a vicious circle in which their attention is constantly focused on acupuncture, and therefore, they never fail to notice it. They want to stop listening to him, but the fact that they can’t raise their concerns. They fear that the sound will increase in intensity or that they cannot control it.
“Either you get used to it or you go crazy. ” -Steve Martin-
Usually, the person gets caught up in these thoughts, without leaving this cycle of rumia, circling in the same thought, in addition, it leads him to set aside leisure activities or pleasant activities and then enter a vicious circle from which he cannot. to get out, which increases his discomfort and, with it, the perception of acefun. There are also sleep problems that tinnitus can cause.
As is often the case when we have emotional problems, not knowing how to handle something does not mean that the sufferer has some fault, on the contrary, what is happening is that it lacks effective tools to regulate your emotions and manage the fact of having. living with acehen, so it is important to seek the help of a suitable psychologist, specialized in the treatment of this type of pathologies, who will help us to face it.
Images courtesy of Chris Benson, Aaron Burden, and Callie Morgan.