From Ringing in the ears to hearing loss: Lesser known long Covid symptoms to watch out for

New Delhi, Feb 02: COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus, has now been linked to many long-term complications, including heart damage, lung damage and neurological disorders. But now Covid-19 patients are reporting ringing in the ears or hearing loss as one of the symptoms of long Covid - also known as post-Covid syndrome.

Experts have termed it as 'Covid Ear' and people suffering from it suffer from symptoms like earache, vertigo, ringing or tinnitus and also hearing loss.

If you have noticed ringing, swooshing, chirping, or other similar sounds in your ears it could be Tinnitus.

What is tinnitus?

Tinnitus is commonly described as a ringing in the ears, but it also can sound like roaring, clicking, hissing, or buzzing. It may be soft or loud, high pitched or low pitched. You might hear it in either one or both ears. Roughly 10 percent of the adult population of the United States has experienced tinnitus lasting at least five minutes in the past year. This amounts to nearly 25 million Americans.

What causes tinnitus?

Tinnitus (pronounced tin-NY-tus or TIN-u-tus) is not a disease. 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. Something as simple as a piece of earwax blocking the ear canal can cause tinnitus.

But it can also be the result of a number of health conditions, such as:

• Noise-induced hearing loss
• Ear and sinus infections
• Diseases of the heart or blood vessels
• Ménière's disease
• Brain tumors
• Hormonal changes in women
• Thyroid abnormalities

How to tell if you're suffering from tinnitus?

• A low pitch humming sound
• A high pitch whistle
• Buzzing
• Clicking
• Hissing
• Throbbing
• Music