Determining Etiology of Occasional, Brief Tinnitus

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Answer

Rapidly appearing intense but short lived tinnitus is often associated with small muscle spasms located in the middle ear space. These very tiny muscles contract and tighten the eardrum area, causing a characteristic and noticeable 'loss of hearing' just prior to the onset of fairly loud high pitched tinnitus, which gradually fades over a few seconds or at most a minute or two. These little episodes are very common and are associated with jaw or neck tension, caffeine, or sometimes head position, although they certainly can show up spontaneously without obvious cause.

Sometimes people with tinnitus worry that these short term episodes may be signs of further damage or deterioration of the auditory system, but they are actually harmless little benign events similar to a temporary twitch in a toe or finger muscle. Almost everyone experiences these transient tinnitus events and there is no clinical evidence that connects them with other more serious cases of tinnitus or hearing loss.

Marsha A. Johnson, AuD, is the Clinical Director of the Oregon Tinnitus & Hyperacusis Treatment Clinic, founded in 1997, in Portland, Oregon. Visit the clinic website at www.tinnitus-audiology.com. Dr. Johnson's practice is limited to tinnitus and hyperacusis.