[Gay State Conservative]

Long story short...I went there a couple of years ago to have ear wax removed.In the waiting room was a leaflet saying that tinnitus can be a sign of hearing loss.I asked the doctor about the leaflet and he confirmed that it's often connected to hearing loss.He recommended a hearing test,which showed mild to moderate hearing loss which he said in my case was just due to advancing age (I remember black & white TV and telephone numbers starting with two letters).

He explained that what happens is that when hearing loss occurs (in the ears themselves) the special part of the brain in charge of hearing gets confused by the loss of "signal strength" (my words) and faced with that loss it "turns up the volume" which causes the ringing/hissing you hear.

Of course he was giving me the simplified "civilian" version of the explanation...the medical version,given that it involves the brain,is probably 575 pages long (I worked for years in health care and know that many of those medical textbooks weigh 25 pounds!).

[rlmorel]

LOL...

Last time I went for a hearing test, the Otolaryngologist politely asked why I was there, and I honestly told him because my wife made me do it...:)

He didn't even miss a beat. Just kept writing, didn't even look up and mumbled something that sounded like "Unhhhggh..."