The condition when a person suddenly begins to hear himself is not as rare as it seems. In some cases, this may be a variant of the norm, but for the most part it indicates some serious health problems.
Scientifically, this variant of pathology is called autophony. What it signals, when the condition becomes pathologically dangerous and what you need to pay attention to when characteristic signals appear, Vladimir Zaitsev, Ph.D., otolaryngologist of the highest category ,
What are the reasons for the problem?
Autophony is another name for subjective tinnitus. Why might it be noisy? There are several reasons. There can be two fundamental reasons. One is a variant of the norm. They talk about it when there is periodic noise in the ear, the situation begins spontaneously and ends spontaneously, and the noise only lasts for a few seconds. This happens, and such a situation is not usually called a deviation from the norm. You don’t have to run to the doctor right away. This may be due to overwork, some kind of momentary emotional stress, for example, a person learned some news. This condition can also be caused by a change in body position or a rise in blood pressure.
It can also be the noise of blood movement - it happens that people hear movement along the great vessels, that is, vessels at the level of the brain. And since the temporal artery passes into the temporal bone, its noise is heard by some weather-sensitive people.
The second reason is various pathologies. For example, people who are weather-dependent, sensitive to changes in weather, blood pressure, and people with vegetative-vascular dystonia are susceptible to autophony. If we combine all this, then these are people who have weak vascular walls. This also includes those who are prone to increased bleeding, for example, the nose bleeds, bruises often appear, this also includes people with high blood pressure.
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In addition, a similar problem can occur in people with various neurological diagnoses, of which there are many.
We also begin to hear ourselves when the auditory nerve becomes inflamed. Previously, this condition was called acoustic neuritis, then sensorineural hearing loss, now it is called sensorineural hearing loss - this is a single worldwide standard. The auditory nerve does not receive enough oxygen, and the hair cells of the auditory nerve begin to suffer. As a result, the microvilli die, which results in a situation where hearing is reduced. Then there is a feeling of deafness, which may be accompanied by subjective noise.
A similar situation can occur with pathology of the auditory tube, its inflammation - this is one of the variants of conductive hearing loss. The problem also manifests itself when there is a wax plug in the ear or some kind of foreign body. For example, a person put earplugs or cotton wool in his ear, and then forgot about it. I felt it with my fingers, it didn’t seem to be there, and I forgot about everything altogether, thinking that a foreign object had fallen out. This is a mechanical cause that is treated by removing the object.
The problem may also develop against the background of tightness of the cervical spine, when the vessels are pinched due to tension and hemodynamics are insufficient.
Or another option for the development of pathology is when the lumen of the auditory tube closes. The auditory tube is covered with mucous membrane, which may swell. Because of this, the auditory tube collapses, as if temporarily closing. This is a mechanical problem.
Everything else is connected with the vascular bed - with vessels and nerves. Severe ischemia, that is, a lack of oxygen delivered through the vessels, will also be accompanied by autophony, as well as ringing and humming in the ear. A sharp change in blood pressure can also cause this phenomenon - here we are usually talking about a condition when there is suddenly a noise in the ear and one feels dizzy. The problem can also manifest itself when the vessels are stretched like strings and are under severe tension. All this must be dealt with and diagnosed.
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Myths about “voices in the head.” 7 misconceptions about schizophrenia
Among all mental illnesses, schizophrenia is the most severe and mysterious. And also the most stigmatized. Not every sick person dares to admit that he hears voices in his head. After all, such a diagnosis automatically crosses out any possibilities for socialization. Or not?
Our expert is Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Pathology of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the RUDN Medical Institute, Candidate of Medical Sciences Vladimir Medvedev.
Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness in which the processes of thinking and perception are disrupted, habitual mental functions disappear, and delusions and hallucinations appear. It is assumed that this is not one disease, but many different ones. Some progress aggressively, others more or less favorably. Therefore, both treatment methods and prognosis are not the same. Perhaps in the near future each subtype of schizophrenia will receive a different name, and then the fear of psychiatrists will disappear from society. In the meantime, let's try to learn at least a little more about this disease.
Misconception No. 1. Schizophrenia is a very rare disease; it only affects people with poor heredity. If there were no “crazy people” in the family, then there is no threat. Lifestyle has no effect.
In fact . This disease affects about 1% of the world's population, about 24 million people. At the same time, some cases are still not registered, since people may either not understand that they are sick or not know where to turn for help. Many are also afraid of condemnation and negative consequences. Schizophrenia can appear at any age, but most often occurs in young people (15-35 years old). There is also a later onset (for example, in women - during menopause). But, as a rule, the earlier the disease debuted, the worse the prognosis. Schizophrenia is not directly inherited, but if there were patients in the family, this increases the risks. However, genetics has no more influence than addiction to alcohol and drugs. Intellectual and neuropsychic overloads also become a trigger. Women more often “go crazy” from love experiences, men - because of their career. By the way, women are more likely to see a psychiatrist than men because they are less afraid of looking weak.
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Misconception No. 2. A person with schizophrenia can be easily recognized at first glance by their crazy facial expression, inappropriate behavior, and aggressiveness. If a person looks and behaves normally, it means he just needs to rest more.
In fact. Often, thinking disorders and fading of emotional functions are not associated by patients and their loved ones with the disease for a long time. They try to be treated: travel, vacation, alcohol, folk remedies, turning to psychics or religion. As a last resort, they go to therapists and neurologists, wasting time and money on unnecessary examinations. And only at the very end do they first see a psychotherapist and then a psychiatrist. As a result, only 5-7% of patients, already in serious condition, reach their destination. In Russia, this happens 10-15 years after the first symptoms appear. In the case of schizophrenia, this has extremely adverse consequences.
Misconception No. 3. Any good psychiatrist can immediately diagnose schizophrenia.
In fact. The doctor from the film about Cagliostro was right when he said that “the head is a dark object and cannot be examined.” After all, there is still no reliable instrumental method for diagnosing schizophrenia. It is not without reason that some scammers manage to feign this disease in order to evade justice. And making a true diagnosis is also difficult. The disease can be confused with neurotic disorders, depression, personality disorders, bipolar affective disorder (which used to be called “manic-depressive psychosis”), consequences of traumatic brain injuries and other more common conditions. Or even with neurological diseases (such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease). Therefore, the diagnosis of “schizophrenia” is almost never made immediately, at the first meeting with the patient.
Misconception No. 4. Patients with this diagnosis are socially dangerous. They need to be isolated.
In fact. According to statistics, 90-95% of serious crimes are committed by mentally healthy people. And people with schizophrenia are 10-20 times more likely to direct their aggression not at others, but at themselves. Every tenth person with schizophrenia commits suicide.
Question answer
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Misconception No. 5: Schizophrenia is incurable, so there is no point in seeing a doctor. Medicines will only make a sick “vegetable”.
In fact. Schizophrenia has many faces, and there are types of the disease that progress quite favorably. In many cases, with early consultation with a doctor and adequate treatment, the patient has every chance of entering long-term (sometimes lifelong) remission. The sooner you seek help, the less medications you will need and the lower their dosages will be. If 60-70 years ago the only cure for schizophrenia was haloperidol, which could only calm the patient, today’s antipsychotics reduce aggression, agitation, hallucinations, delusions, without putting a person into a “vegetable” state. On the contrary, they activate volitional qualities and have much fewer side effects. Therefore, they are often able to return a person with a mental disorder to normal life. Medicines for schizophrenia (neuroleptics, antipsychotics) are prescription only. They must be taken for a long time, often for life, to maintain a good quality of life.
Misconception No. 6. If you contact a psychiatrist, you will be registered. Then goodbye to dreams of family and career. Or they can also put you in a mental hospital against your will.
In fact. There is no accounting as such. Patients need dispensary observation only in two cases: when, due to aggression, they can pose a danger to others or themselves, or when, due to changes in the psyche, they cannot adapt to existing realities. All other patients come to the dispensary as if they were coming to a clinic. This is the task of modern psychiatry - to manage patients on an outpatient basis so that they receive treatment in their usual conditions.
There are only two conditions for compulsory hospitalization. The first is when the patient poses a danger to himself by expressing or even attempting suicide. But in this case, within 24 hours, the psychiatrists’ decision on the need for hospitalization must be supported by a judicial verdict. The second basis for involuntary hospitalization is if the patient is dangerous to others, but this must also be confirmed in court. In all other cases, the patient is sent to the hospital of his own free will, signing the appropriate documents.
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Misconception No. 7: A patient with schizophrenia always becomes disabled.
In fact. This diagnosis is the basis for obtaining disability, but it is not made immediately, but not earlier than after a year of observation. During this period, the psychiatrist has time to prescribe the patient medications that will allow him to regain lost functions and return to work, and treat the patient in a hospital. But even if they have a disability, such people are able to work, doing work that does not require increased attention, high social responsibility and great neuropsychic stress. The best choice for them is creative activities and remote work. In case of long-term remission (5 years or more), the patient can apply to a medical commission to cancel the disability.
Symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three main categories. These are positive symptoms - hallucinations, delusions, mental and motor disorders; negative - loss of motivation, apathy, lack of will, loss of a sense of pleasure, paucity of speech, asociality. There are also cognitive symptoms - specific disorders of thinking, perception, memory and attention.
In recent years, in psychiatry the official term “psychopathy” has been replaced by “personality disorder”; instead of the offensive-sounding terms “idiocy”, “cretinism”, “oligophrenia”, patients are now given “mental retardation of varying severity”. In Japan they went further - the diagnosis of “schizophrenia” was removed from use. And only thanks to this, the attendance of psychiatrists in the Land of the Rising Sun increased 21.5 times over 10 years.
Diagnostic nuances
The first thing to do is contact an ENT doctor. He will examine the nasopharynx, ears, and pharyngeal cavity. After all, for example, with otitis media, manifestations of autophony can also develop. In addition, audiometry and tempanometry are carried out - special hardware examinations. An audiogram shows sound at all frequencies, and tempanometry evaluates conductive pathology when the conduction of the sound wave is impaired. Using these analyses, it is possible to evaluate the nature of the hum in more detail. You can evaluate the situation along the entire tone scale: there are areas where there is squeaking - these are high frequencies, there are areas where there is noise - this is hum. And we understand by frequency what is happening to the patient.
Treatment
This condition cannot be ignored, because it is fraught with many consequences. If the auditory tube is inflamed and permanently welded together, one way or another, over time, the feeling of a hum, deafness, or some pathological sounds will be constant. Then, following this, the middle ear will begin to become inflamed, the eardrum will rupture, and this will lead to otitis media. The problem is mostly mechanical - the ear is inflamed, the membrane will never heal. And in addition to extraneous sounds, a person may experience suppuration and congestion.
Question answer
Can a tooth hurt your ear? If the doctor examined the patient and saw that the outer ear is normal - there is no inflammation of the membrane, no retraction, no wax plug, nothing to complain about - then they suspect that the problem is in the inner ear. This is already a pathology of the auditory nerve. To treat the inner ear, physiotherapeutic procedures are performed that stimulate the hair cells of the auditory nerve through micro-impacts. Here they are trying to improve the rheological quality of blood. When hemodynamics improve, the situation improves.
It is also necessary to visit a neurologist - he will prescribe his own, stronger drugs. The third step is contacting a chiropractor. It just removes stiffness of the occipital muscles, trapezius muscle, improves blood flow in the collar area.
Ear is clogged
The cause of muffled sounds may be sulfur plugs. For example, if you actively “clean” your ears with cotton swabs, there is a risk of compacting the wax into a dense clot. Then the cerumen plug will block the path for sounds and there will be a feeling of stuffiness in the ear.
Foreign objects can also get into your ears. This happens especially often in young children. Hearing may be interfered with by parts of toys, small batteries, cereals or insects.
How to find out?
Foreign objects in the ear can cause not only congestion, but also pain and dizziness. If an object has injured the ear, bloody discharge will appear. Wax may cause mild itching or noise in the ear.
What to do?
Contact your doctor. If you leave a wax plug or foreign object in the hope that it will go away on its own, inflammation may begin. If you try to get rid of the interference yourself, you can damage the delicate eardrum. The otolaryngologist will restore the ability to hear by washing the ear, using a special ear hook or tweezers.
Complications of the problem
There is no need to delay visiting a doctor and getting diagnosed, because this can be a harbinger of heart attacks, strokes, as well as a sharp rise in blood pressure. Maybe a person already has a blood pressure pathology, but he doesn’t know about it. This may indicate some serious neurological diagnoses and problems with the brain - tumor processes in the brain. The body gives specific signals and asks you to deal with it. Therefore we need to figure it out. The sooner a person applies and the more qualified hands he falls into, the sooner and more painlessly his issue will be resolved.
There are contraindications, you should consult your doctor
