It’s not uncommon for people to have ringing in their ears, also called tinnitus. It’s one of the most common health conditions in the world with some estimates indicating that up to 10 percent of the population experiences it at one point or another. 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 prevalence of tinnitus may be evident, the causes are frequently more opaque. Some of the wide variety of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more permanent.
This is why environmental factors can Have a major impact on tinnitus symptoms. If the background sound of your particular setting is very noisy, you might be harming your hearing. If your tinnitus is caused by damage, it could end up being permanent.
What is tinnitus (and why is it so common)?
Tinnitus is a condition that causes you to hear a noise that isn’t really there. For most individuals, tinnitus manifests as a ringing or buzzing, but it may perhaps also present as thumping, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. The sounds are normally rhythmic in nature. For the majority of people, tinnitus will happen over a short period of time before solving itself and vanishing. In less common cases, tinnitus might become effectively permanent, a condition known as chronic tinnitus.
Tinnitus is so prevalent for a couple of reasons. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also relatively common (more on that in a bit). Underlying conditions and injuries can bring about tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. And there are a wide variety of conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Consequently, tinnitus tends to be very common.
How is tinnitus affected by environmental factors?
There are a large number of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medicines. But when it comes to “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest offender. For instance, some neighborhoods are louder than others (traffic noise in some areas can get extremely high). Somebody would be at risk of environmental tinnitus, for example, if they worked around loud industrial equipment.
When evaluating the state of your health, these environmental factors are really important.
Noise induced damage, as with hearing loss, can cause tinnitus symptoms. In these circumstances, the resulting tinnitus tends to be chronic in nature. Some of the most common noise and environment-related causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes be caused by loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long duration. For example, going to a concert or using firearms can both trigger tinnitus if the volumes reach a loud enough level.
- Music: Listening to music at loud volumes is a pretty common practice. Doing this on a consistent basis can frequently trigger tinnitus symptoms.
- Traffic: Traffic in densely populated locations can be a lot louder than you may expect it to be. And you may not even recognize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you may expect. Long commutes or regular driving in these noisy settings can eventually cause hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Noise in the workplace: It might come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are pretty loud. Whether it’s industrial equipment or chatty office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around constant workplace noise can eventually result in tinnitus.
People often mistakenly believe damage to their ears will only happen at extreme volume levels. As a result, it’s crucial to wear hearing protection before you think you might need it. Hearing protection can help prevent tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
Will tinnitus clear up on its own? Perhaps, in some cases. In other cases, your symptoms could be irreversible. There’s no way to know which is which at the outset. Moreover, just because your tinnitus has gone away for now doesn’t mean that noise damage hasn’t occurred, resulting in an increased chance of chronic tinnitus in the future.
One of the most main contributing factors to the advancement of tinnitus is that people tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. Damage has most likely already occurred if you’re experiencing tinnitus. If this is the situation, identifying and changing the source of the noise damage is essential to prevent further damage.
Here are a few tips you can try:
- Prevent damage by using hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. You can also get some degree of protection from noise canceling headphones.
- Limiting the amount of time you spend in noisy environments without giving your ears a chance to recuperate.
- If possible, try to lower 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.
Managing symptoms
The symptoms of tinnitus are frequently a big distraction and are really unpleasant for most individuals who deal with them. This prompts them to try and find a way to ease the severity of their symptoms.
If you hear a ringing or buzzing sound, it’s important to schedule an appointment, especially if the sound doesn’t go away. We will be able to assess your symptoms and identify how to best deal with them. There’s no cure for the majority of forms of chronic tinnitus. Here are a few ways to manage the symptoms:
- Hearing aid: The ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus can be drowned out by raising the volume of outside sounds with hearing aids.
- White noise devices: Using a white noise device around your house can help you tune out your tinnitus in some cases.
- Retraining therapy: In some situations, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, slowly modifying the way you process sound.
- Relaxation techniques: High blood pressure has sometimes been connected to an increase in the severity of tinnitus symptoms. Your tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be eased by using relaxation techniques like meditation, for example.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits similarly to a hearing aid and plays sounds that mask your symptoms. Your device will be specially calibrated to mask your tinnitus symptoms.
Tinnitus has no cure. That’s why managing your environment to protect your hearing is a practical first step.
But tinnitus can be managed and treated. We’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan based on your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. For some people, managing your tinnitus may simply mean making use of a white noise machine. In other situations, a more extensive approach might be necessary.
Schedule an appointment to find out how to regulate your tinnitus symptoms.
