Tinnitus—pronounced tih-NITE-us or TIN-uh-tus—is a condition in which you hear a ringing sound or other noises in one or both ears that no one else hears. The condition is considered common, with the American Tinnitus Association estimating it affects 25 million Americans or about 15 to 20 percent of the population.
According to the American Tinnitus Association, tinnitus is not a disease as much as the brain’s sensorineural response to auditory system damage caused by some other underlying condition. “It is a symptom that something is wrong in the auditory system, which includes the ear, the auditory nerve that connects the inner ear to the brain, and the parts of the brain that process sound,” according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD).
