Over 45 million people in US are affected by tinnitus according to the National Tinnitus Association. If you have it, don’t worry you are not alone. There is no cure, and it’s not always clear why some people get tinnitus. Finding ways to manage it is the trick to living with it, for most. The ultimate checklist to tackle tinnitus is an excellent place to start.
Getting to Know Tinnitus
About one in five people have tinnitus and can hear sounds that no one else can hear. Medically, tinnitus is defined as the perception of a phantom sound due to an inherent medical problem. In other words, it’s a symptom, not an illness itself.
The most common reason people develop tinnitus is loss of hearing. Think of it as the brain’s way of filling in some gaps. Most of the time, your mind works to translate the sound you hear and then decides if you need to know about it. As an example, your someone talking to you is just sound waves until the inner ear converts them into electrical impulses. The electrical impulses are converted into words you can comprehend by the brain.
You don’t actually “hear” all the sound that is around you. If the brain doesn’t think a sound is important to you, it filters it out. You might not hear the wind blowing, for instance. Because it’s not important, the brain masks the sound of it as it passes by your ears even though you can feel it. If you were capable of listening to every sound, it would be both distracting and confusing.
When someone suffers from certain forms of hearing loss, there are less electrical impulses for the brain to interpret. The signals never come due to damage but the brain still waits for them. The brain might try to create a sound of its own to fill the space when that happens.
For tinnitus suffers, that sound is:
- Ringing
- Roaring
- Clicking
- Buzzing
- Hissing
The phantom noise may be high pitched, low pitched, loud or soft.
Loss of hearing is not the only reason you might have tinnitus. Here are some other potential causes:
- Head injury
- Medication
- Meniere’s disease
- Acoustic neuroma
- Malformed capillaries
- High blood pressure
- Loud noises near you
- Atherosclerosis
- TMJ disorder
- Neck injury
- Poor blood flow in the neck
- Tumor in the head or neck
- Ear bone changes
- Earwax build up
Although physically harmless, Anxiety and depression have been linked to tinnitus and can cause problems like difficulty sleeping and high blood pressure.
Prevention is Your Ear’s Best Friend
Like with most things, prevention is how you avoid a problem. Decreasing your risk of hearing loss later in life begins with safeguarding your ears now. Check out these tips to protect your ears:
- When you’re at work or at home reduce long term exposure to loud noises.
- Consulting a doctor if you have an ear infection.
- Reducing the amount of time you spend wearing headphones or earbuds.
Every few years have your hearing tested, too. The test allows you to make lifestyle adjustments and get treatment as well as alerting you to an existing hearing loss issue.
If You Notice Tinnitus Symptoms
Ringing doesn’t tell you how or why you got tinnitus, but it does tell you that you have it. A little trial and error can help you understand more.
Abstain from wearing headphones or earbuds entirely and see if the sound goes away after a while.
Evaluate your noise exposure. Were you around loud noise the night before the ringing began? For instance, did you:
- Listen to the music of TV with headphones or earbuds
- Attend a party
- Go to a concert
- Work or sit next to an unusually loud noise
The tinnitus is probably short-term if you answered yes to any of these scenarios.
If The Tinnitus Doesn’t Get Better
The next thing to do would be to get an ear exam. Some possible causes your physician will look for are:
- Ear wax
- Infection
- Stress levels
- Ear damage
- Inflammation
Here are some specific medications which may cause this problem too:
- Antibiotics
- Quinine medications
- Cancer Meds
- Antidepressants
- Water pills
- Aspirin
Making a change could get rid of the tinnitus.
If there is no apparent cause, then the doctor can order a hearing examination, or you can schedule one yourself. If you do have hearing loss, hearing aids can lessen the ringing and improve your situation.
How is Tinnitus Treated?
Since tinnitus is a side effect and not a disease, treating the cause would be the first step. If you have high blood pressure, medication will lower it, and the tinnitus should disappear.
For some, the only solution is to live with the tinnitus, which means finding ways to suppress it. White noise machines can be useful. The ringing goes away when the white noise replaces the sound the brain is missing. You can also get the same result from a fan or dehumidifier.
Tinnitus retraining is another approach. The frequencies of tinnitus are hidden by a device which creates similar tones. You can use this strategy to learn not to pay attention to it.
You will also want to discover ways to stay away from tinnitus triggers. They are different for each person, so start keeping a diary. When the tinnitus begins, write down everything just before you heard the ringing.
- What were you doing?
- What did you eat or drink?
- What sound did you hear?
Tracking patterns is possible using this method. You would know to order something different if you had a double espresso each time because caffeine is a known trigger.
Your quality of life is affected by tinnitus so your best hope is finding a way to eliminate it or at least minimize its impact. To learn more about your tinnitus, schedule an appointment with a hearing care specialist today.