About 17 percent of the population in whole world gets tinnitus, a condition of hearing abnormal sound in the ear.
This malfunction is caused by a variety reasons and hence it is very difficult to establish the exact cause.
In most cases tinnitus lasts for a shorter period and there is no need of taking any action.
In some other cases there may be some root causes like ear injuries, injury or blow to the head, stroke, meningitis, cardiovascular disorders or hypertention.
The causes can be generally classified into pathological causes and non pathological causes.
Pathological Causes: Researchers categorize various reasons according to the type of sound experienced by a tinnitus patient.
The pathological causes include a blocked ear canal, Meniere's disease, ear injury and infection.
Tinnitus is usually associated with certain type of cancer such as acoustic neuroma and vestibular Schwannoma.
Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism may cause tinnitus.
Otosclerosis is an ear disorder resulting in lack of stiffness or flexibility of the bones of the middle ear that can be indicated as an important factor causing tinnitus.
Other reasons include anaemia, hypertention and atherosclerosis.
Non pathological Causes: Certain drugs and toxic substances are known to cause tinnitus.
These include antibiotics, aspirin, hydroxychloroquine, furosemide, quinine etc.
and toxic substances like mercury, caffeine etc.
Loud noises can result in hearing loss and also kills neurons in the acoustic nerve.
The repair process in the nerve cells is supposed to cause tinnitus.
Almost the same condition is experienced in aged individuals where the nerve cells die and passage of signals are blocked which ultimately lead to tinnitus.
The obstruction in the ear by ear wax is said to be another reason for tinnitus.
Researchers have found that muscle spasm and irregular body posture can lead to somatic tinnitus.
The bacterial and viral infection in the ear, dental problems involving injuries to the nerves are also supposed to cause tinnitus.