Hearing

If you hear an annoying buzzing or ringing sound in one or both ears, you have tinnitus. It can bother you a lot. Tinnitus is a problem with your auditory system. That's the system that lets you hear. The problem may be in the ear. It may be in the nerve that connects your ear to your brain. Or, it may be in the part of your brain that makes sense of sound signals. Usually, tinnitus is not a sign that you have a serious issue.

This is a loss over time of your ability to hear clearly. For most people, hearing loss is a natural part of growing older. It can cause problems with your ability to communicate with others. It can be frustrating for you and for those around you.

This is a form of hearing loss that can develop quickly and spontaneously. You may wake up and find that you have lost hearing in one ear, and you may not know why. This can be a frightening and frustrating experience.

If you've lost some of your hearing, you know how frustrating it can be. You may miss parts of what people are saying. And people may leave you out of conversations altogether. But there are some simple things you can do to make communication easier.

This is an irritation of your middle ear. That's the part of your ear just behind your eardrum. In a healthy ear, fluid drains out of the middle ear through a passage called the "Eustachian tube." But when the middle ear is inflamed, fluid can't drain well.

This is a tear or a hole in your eardrum. The eardrum is a thin membrane at the back of your ear canal. Normally it seals the ear canal, keeping germs and debris from reaching the deeper parts of your ear. The eardrum helps you hear by transmitting sound waves to the structures behind it. A ruptured eardrum can cause problems.

If you don't hear as well as you once did, hearing aids may help. They make sounds louder so you hear more clearly. They can't completely fix your hearing. But they can make your hearing much better.