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Risk factors

By Mayo Clinic staff

Anyone can experience tinnitus, but these factors may increase your risk:

  • Loud noise exposure. Prolonged exposure to loud noise can damage the tiny sensory hair cells in your ear that transmit sound to your brain. People who work in noisy environments — such as factory and construction workers, musicians, and soldiers — are particularly at risk.
  • Age. As you age, the number of functioning nerve fibers in your ears declines, possibly causing hearing problems often associated with tinnitus.
  • Gender. Men are more likely to experience tinnitus.
  • Smoking. Smokers have a higher risk of developing tinnitus.
  • Cardiovascular problems. Conditions that affect your blood flow, such as high blood pressure or narrowed arteries (atherosclerosis), can increase your risk of tinnitus.
References
  1. About tinnitus. American Tinnitus Association. http://www.ata.org/for-patients/about-tinnitus. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
  2. Dinces EA. Diagnosis and etiology of tinnitus. www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
  3. Tinnitus fact sheet. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/staticresources/health/hearing/TinnitusFS.pdf. Accessed Nov. 1, 2012.
  4. Ruppert SD, et al. Tinnitus evaluation in primary care. The Nurse Practitioner. 2012;37:21.
  5. Tinnitus. American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/tinnitus.cfm. Accessed Nov. 1, 2012.
  6. Bope ET, et al. Conn's Current Therapy. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2012. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4377-0986-5..C2009-0-38984-9--TOP&isbn=978-1-4377-0986-5&about=true&uniqId=236797353-5. Accessed Nov. 1, 2012.
  7. Treatment information. American Tinnitus Association. http://www.ata.org/for-patients/treatment. Accessed Nov. 1, 2012.
  8. Management tips. American Tinnitus Association. http://www.ata.org/for-patients/tips. Accessed Nov. 1, 2012.
  9. Dinces EA. Treatment of tinnitus. www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Oct. 31, 2012.
  10. Beatty CW (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Nov. 15, 2012.
  11. Langguth B, et al. Neuroimaging and neuromodulation: Complementary approaches for identifying the neuronal correlates of tinnitus. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience. 2012;6:1.
DS00365 Feb. 5, 2013

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