It isn’t uncommon for individuals to have ringing in their ears, also called tinnitus. Some estimates suggest that 10 percent of people have tinnitus at one time or another, making it one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world. Although the most common manifestation of tinnitus is a phantom ringing or buzzing in your ear, it can also present as other sounds as well.
While the preponderance of tinnitus may be obvious, the causes are often more opaque. In part, that’s because tinnitus could be caused by a wide variety of causes, some of which are temporary and others that can be more long lasting.
That’s why your environment can be really important. If the background sound of your particular setting is very loud, you may be harming your hearing. If your tinnitus is due to damage, it could end up being permanent.
Why do so many individuals experience tinnitus?
When you hear sounds that aren’t actually present, that’s tinnitus. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it may possibly also present as rumbling, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. Usually, the sounds are consistent or rhythmic. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus will happen over a short period of time before solving itself and going away. In less common cases, tinnitus might become effectively permanent, a condition referred to as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so common. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also relatively common (more on that soon). Root conditions and injuries can contribute to tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. And there are quite a few conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is rather prevalent for these reasons.
How is tinnitus affected by environmental factors?
There are a large number of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medications. But when it involves “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest culprit. For instance, some locations are noisier than others (traffic noise in some settings can get extremely high). Someone would be in danger of environmental tinnitus, for instance, if they worked around loud industrial equipment.
When assessing the state of your health, these environmental factors are very significant.
Noise related damage, as with hearing loss, can trigger tinnitus symptoms. In these situations, the resulting tinnitus tends to be chronic in nature. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-induced causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Traffic: Traffic in heavily populated places can be a lot louder than you may expect it to be. And you might not even recognize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you may expect. Tinnitus and hearing damage can be the outcome of long commutes in these noisy settings.
- Music: Listening to music at high volumes is a pretty common practice. Doing this on a regular basis can frequently cause tinnitus symptoms.
- Noise in the workplace: Many workplaces, including offices, are often the source of loud noises. Whether it’s industrial equipment or chatty office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around continuous workplace noise can eventually result in tinnitus.
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes be caused by loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-period. Shooting a gun or going to a rock concert are instances of this kind of noise.
People often wrongly think damage to their ears will only occur at extreme volume levels. Because of this, hearing protection should be used at lower volumes than you might expect. Hearing protection can help you avoid tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
If I’m experiencing tinnitus, what should I do?
Will tinnitus clear up by itself? Maybe, in some instances. In other cases, your symptoms may be permanent. Initially, it’s basically impossible to know which is which. If you have tinnitus because of noise damage, even if your tinnitus does go away, your risk of having your tinnitus return and become chronic is a lot more probable.
Individuals tend to underestimate the minimum volume that damage starts to occur, which is the most significant contributing factor to its development. If you experience tinnitus, your body is telling you that damage has already likely occurred. If this is the situation, finding and changing the source of the noise damage is essential to prevent additional damage.
Here are some tips you can try:
- Decreasing the amount of time you spend in noisy environments without giving your ears a chance to recuperate.
- If possible, try to decrease environmental volume. If you have any machinery that isn’t in use, turn it off, and shut the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
- Wearing hearing protection (either earplugs or earmuffs) in order to prevent damage. Noise canceling headphones can also be an asset in this regard.
Dealing with symptoms
The symptoms of tinnitus are often a big distraction and are really unpleasant for most individuals who deal with them. Because of this, they frequently ask: how do you quiet tinnitus?
You should call us for an appointment if you are hearing a persistent buzzing or ringing in your ears. We will be able to assess your symptoms and figure out how to best address them. For the majority of cases of persistent tinnitus, there’s no cure. Here are a few ways to manage the symptoms:
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify other sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing created by tinnitus.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits like a hearing aid and plays sounds that mask your symptoms. Your device will be specially calibrated to mask your tinnitus symptoms.
- Relaxation techniques: High blood pressure has sometimes been associated with an increase in the severity of tinnitus symptoms. So taking a little time to relax (with meditation, for example) can sometimes help reduce your tinnitus symptoms.
- Retraining therapy: You can sometimes retrain your ears with the help of a specialist, which will slowly retrain the way you process sound.
- White noise devices: Utilizing a white noise device around your house can help you tune out your tinnitus in some cases.
Tinnitus has no cure. A great first step would be to safeguard your hearing by controlling your environment.
But tinnitus can be managed and treated. We’ll be able to establish a specific treatment plan according to your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. A white noise machine, for many individuals, might be all that’s required. In other situations, a more extensive approach might be necessary.
Schedule an appointment to learn how to address your tinnitus symptoms.