[katieHaylor (OP)]

Aaron asks:

Are there any cures for tinnitus from recent developments? Or if not, what areas should we be investing in with research? So that I can donate to these causes.

What do you think?

[Veronica]

Aaron asks:

Are there any cures for tinnitus from recent developments? Or if not, what areas should we be investing in with research? So that I can donate to these causes.

What do you think?

Is tinnitus an actual illness or could it be possible that it is something else such as super ultra-sonic sound waves ?

A brain can receive information via light and sound waves , so perhaps Tinnitus  may be a natural phenomena ,

[Bored chemist]

Is tinnitus an actual illness

Yes.

[evan_au]

Tinnitus  may be a natural phenomena

Yes, there are a variety of natural causes.

There are also a number of non-natural causes like jack hammers, gunfire, loud music played through earphones, and synthetic drugs.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus#Subjective_tinnitus

[Colin2B]

There are also a number of non-natural causes like jack hammers, gunfire, loud music played through earphones, and synthetic drugs.

As @evan_au says, one cause can be loud noise which damages the fine hairs in the cochlea, so in that case this is just as much an illness as a broken leg.
The problem is that this damage is very hard to repair. Whether there will be future treatments which can stimulate regrowth, or selectively block the resulting phantom sound remains to be seen.

[Veronica]

Tinnitus  may be a natural phenomena

Yes, there are a variety of natural causes.

There are also a number of non-natural causes like jack hammers, gunfire, loud music played through earphones, and synthetic drugs.

See: newbielink:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus#Subjective_tinnitus [nonactive]

The noise of gunfire etc is a high pitched sound wave that is heard . The Wikipedia article is inaccurate,  Tinnitus is a high pitched ultra sound with no apparent cause ,  different  than a high pitched sound wave with a cause .

[evan_au]

Tinnitus is a high pitched ultra sound with no apparent cause

Tinnitus sounds very different to different people.
- For some people it is barely noticeable annoyance, for others it is very distressing
- There has been some progress in interviewing sufferers about what their tinnitus sounds like, and then generating a "masking" sound with similar characteristics.

It is true that the sensation of sounds in tinnitus does not come from an external sound that is present at the same time.
- However, there are causes that can later lead to tinnitus. Often these very different causes result in damage to the inner ear, specifically the fine hairs in the cochlea. These hairs can be broken by sudden, loud sounds (eg gunfire) or sustained sounds that are not so loud (eg music turned up too high)
- In humans, these hairs do not regrow (like they do in some other species).
- It is thought that the loss of input from these hairs causes rewiring in the brain, producing the sensation of sound when there is no external sound.

[alancalverd]

Tinnitus is a high pitched ultra sound

If it were ultrasound, it wouldn't be perceived as sound, by definition. Intense continuous ultrasound does produce a sensation of pressure on the tympanum, which seems to correlate with the reaction of some fetuses during scans in utero.

There are some forms of tinnitus that actually generate sound inside the ear, detectable from outside. IIRC there are methods of treating this surgically.

[Bored chemist]

Tinnitus  may be a natural phenomena

Yes, there are a variety of natural causes.

There are also a number of non-natural causes like jack hammers, gunfire, loud music played through earphones, and synthetic drugs.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus#Subjective_tinnitus

The noise of gunfire etc is a high pitched sound wave that is heard . The Wikipedia article is inaccurate,  Tinnitus is a high pitched ultra sound with no apparent cause ,  different  than a high pitched sound wave with a cause .

The point is that the tinnitus continues after the  gunshot noise is long gone.
It's caused by the bang. But the bang is no longer there so there is no apparent cause.
It's ambiguous.

[evan_au]

generate sound inside the ear, detectable from outside.

The generation of sounds by the ear is called otoacoustic emission (OAE)
- Spontaneous emission happens to many people (1/3 to 1/2 of the population)
- Less than 10% of these actually find it disruptive, and perceive it as tinnitus
- A click to trigger OAE is used as a hearing test in newborn infants

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emission