Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/best_photo/3155408256

Hearing is the most complicated function that the brain controls.  And within the domain of hearing, discrimination – the ability to understand words clearly, is king of the hill.

Words start from vibrating bands which move a column of air causing condensations and rarefactions. Moving through space, this air column vibrates the ear drum which vibrates the three bones of hearing, and it is the vibrations of this third bone which sets fluid into motion. (We now move from an air contained system to a fluid system.) This rolling fluid wave then triggers hundreds of thousands of tiny hair cells which send electrical impulses - we have now moved from air to fluid to electrical - to the hearing centers of the brain which interpret the electrical impulses as intelligible words.  All in a matter of milliseconds.

Even after all these years I still find just thinking about the complexity of it all to be mentally exhausting and exhilarating.  The ear is the most precisely tuned, complex (air to fluid to electrical) instrument in the world. 

How to manage and preserve your hearing:

• Limit noise exposure, and in situations with extended exposure use some form of  ear protection;
• Limit caffeine and nicotine since they both vasoconstrict the microvasculature, thereby reducing blood flow;
• Any dramatic, sudden change in the condition of the ear or any chronic, persistent condition should be evaluated by an ear nose and throat specialist. Sudden changes – immediately, persistent conditions – ASAP.

Problems in the External Ear:

• Persistent itching in or weeping from the ear is typically associated with an underlying skin disorder, a cerumen plug, an infection or over cleaning the ear canal.  This should be evaluated.
• People who wear hearing aids or use noise-suppressing ear plugs should be examined every 4-6 months.

Tinnitus (ear noises):

Most tinnitus is related to a loss of hearing, primarily to damage to the hearing nerve, though it can also be related to middle ear disease.  Plugged ear canals can also present with tinnitus.

And not all tinnitus is ear related.  Another source of tinnitus is Temporo-Mandibular Joint disorder (the jaw joint). TMJ disorders can also present with headaches, neck pain, dizziness, facial pain, throat pain and pain into the teeth. Vascular disorders can also present with tinnitus.

ENT, neurology and oral-facial specialists, as needed, can help evaluate the source of the tinnitus.