Why do our ears ring, and what is the actual physiological process by which we hear a ringing sound?
In: Biology
https://youtu.be/TnsCsR2wDdk this is a video by ted Ed explaining how the ringing in your ear happens. It is really interesting. It also has good visual demonstrations and a little story telling. I recommend it if you’re intrigued
The way our hearing work is that each frequency of sound have their own little hair frolicle at a specific length matching that frequency and a specific neuron connected to the hair that detects movement. But these hairs and neurons gets worn out and damaged over time. Especially the high frequency ones. And when they stop working they signal the brain continuously. Think of it like a dead pixel in your monitor or camera. Because each neuron signals one frequency the brain perceives the change as a continuous high frequency continuous pitch. Noramlly the brain is pretty good at detecting that something is wrong and will ignore it after a few seconds.
This is tinnitus. It can be caused by several things, but it’s most commonly associated with hearing loss. It’s the result of an issue with or damage to the little hairs in your ear canal that translate sound into something our brains can process.
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