You hear plenty of talk nowadays about the challenge of living with chronic diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure, but what about tinnitus? It is a chronic illness which has a strong emotional component since it affects so many areas of a person’s life. Tinnitus presents as ghost noises in one or both ears. Most people describe the noise as ringing, hissing, clicking, or buzzing that nobody else can hear.
Tinnitus technically isn’t an illness but a symptom of an underlying medical problem like hearing loss and something that over 50 million people from the U.S. deal with on daily basis. The ghost sound will begin at the most inconvenient times, too, like when you’re watching a favorite TV show, trying to read a book or listening to a friend tell a terrific tale. Tinnitus can act up even once you attempt to get some sleep.
Medical science has not quite pinpointed the reason so many folks suffer with tinnitus or how it occurs. The current theory is that the brain creates this sound to balance the silence that accompanies hearing loss. Regardless of the cause, tinnitus is a life-altering problem. Consider five reasons tinnitus is such a problem.
1. Tinnitus Impacts Emotional Processing
Recent research indicates that people who experience tinnitus have more activity in their limbic system of the brain. This system is the part of the brain responsible for emotions. Until this discovery, most doctors believed that people with tinnitus were worried and that is why they were always so sensitive. This new theory indicates there is much more to it than just stress. There’s an organic component that makes those with tinnitus snappy and emotionally delicate.
2. Tinnitus is Not Easy to Talk About
How do you explain to somebody else that you hear weird noises coming from inside your head and not feel crazy when you say it. The inability to talk about tinnitus is isolating. Even if you are able to tell somebody else, it’s not something that they truly understand unless they suffer from it for themselves. Even then, they might not have exactly the very same signs of tinnitus as you. Support groups are usually available, but it means speaking to a lot of people you don’t know about something very personal, so it is not an attractive choice to most.
3. Tinnitus is Bothersome
Imagine trying to write a paper or study with sound in the background that you can not turn down or shut off. It is a diversion that many find crippling whether they are at home or just doing things around work. The noise shifts your focus making it hard to stay on track. The inability to concentrate that comes with tinnitus is a true motivation killer, too, which makes you feel lethargic and worthless.
4. Tinnitus Interferes With Sleep
This is one of the most crucial side effects of tinnitus. The ringing tends to get worse when a person is trying to fall asleep. It’s unclear why it increases at night, but the most plausible reason is that the lack of sounds around you makes it more noticeable. Throughout the day, other noises ease the sound of tinnitus like the TV, but you turn everything all off when it is when you lay down for the night.
Many people use a sound machine or a fan at night to help alleviate their tinnitus. Just that little bit of background sound is enough to get your brain to lower the volume on the tinnitus and allow you to get some sleep.
5. There’s No Quick Fix For Tinnitus
Just the idea that tinnitus is something that you must live with is tough to accept. Although no cure will stop that ringing permanently, a few things can be done to help you find relief. It starts at the doctor’s office. Tinnitus is a symptom, and it’s critical to get a proper diagnosis. By way of instance, if you hear clicking, maybe the sound is not tinnitus but a sound related to a jaw problem like TMJ. For many, the cause is a chronic illness the requires treatment like hypertension.
Lots of people will find their tinnitus is the result of hearing loss and coping with that health problem relieves the buzzing. Obtaining a hearing aid means an increase in the amount of noise, so the brain can stop trying to create some sound to fill in the silence. Hearing loss may also be easy to solve, such as earwax build up. Once the physician treats the underlying problem, the tinnitus fades.
In extreme cases, your physician may attempt to treat the tinnitus medically. Antidepressants may help reduce the ringing you hear, as an example. The doctor can provide you with lifestyle changes which should alleviate the symptoms and make living with tinnitus more tolerable, such as using a noise machine and finding ways to manage stress.
Tinnitus presents many struggles, but there’s hope. Medical science is learning more each year about how the brain works and ways to improve life for those struggling with tinnitus.