eli5: Why do your ears ring after a really loud sound (like a grenade going off too close to you)?
In: Biology
Inside your ear’s sound detector (the cochlea) there are these tiny hairs. The moving liquid bends the hairs and nerves detect this and your brain interprets that as “sound”.
Tinnitus, ringing in the ears, can be a symptom of several problems, but it can be directly caused by too loud a sound. The hair-to-nerve connection is damaged and becomes inflamed. Small damage can be repaired by the body, severe damage can be permanent. That’s why soldiers, shooters, and people likely to be exposed to loud sounds wear hearing protection.
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