“What’s that annoying sound in my ears?” “How can I make that sound go away?”
If you find yourself making these kinds of statements, you could be dealing with tinnitus, a common hearing condition where you hear noises or experience a sound that other people can’t hear. This is more common than you may think. Millions of people have this disorder.
Ringing, pulsing, whistling, or buzzing are the noises that most people describe.
Depending on the severity, ringing in the ears may seem harmless. But tinnitus shouldn’t always be ignored. Tinnitus symptoms can frequently be a sign of something more serious happening in your body.
You need to take the following 6 symptoms seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
26% of people who suffer from tinnitus cope with symptoms continuously, based on some studies.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship issues are all possible consequences of this ever present ringing.
It can be a struggle between the tinnitus sound and something as basic as attempting to hear your friend tell you a recipe over the phone. The constant ringing has stressed you out to the point where you snap at a member of the family who asks you a question.
A vicious cycle can be the outcome of this constant ringing. As your stress level rises, the ringing gets louder. And you get more stressed the louder the noise is and on and on.
If tinnitus is causing these types of life challenges, it’s time to address it. It’s real, and it affects your quality of life. The noise can be reduced or eliminated with available treatment options.
2. The Noise in Your Ears Starts After You Switch Medications
Doctors might try several different medications to treat the same ailment whether you have cancer or chronic pain. You may ask for an alternative solution if you begin to experience severe side effects. Consult with your doctor and determine what the side effects are if you began experiencing tinnitus symptoms after starting a new medication.
Tinnitus might be caused by some common medications. Here are a few examples:
- Antibiotics
- Chemo
- Loop Diuretics
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
3. Headache, Seizures, And Blurred Vision Come With Tinnitus Noises
This normally means that your tinnitus symptoms are being caused by high blood pressure. The blood circulation in your inner ear is compromised when you suffer from hypertension. High blood pressure that goes unmanaged is also dangerous for your general health. Over time, it could cause or worsen age-related hearing loss.
4. You Always Seem to be Leaving Work, The Gym, or a Concert When You Hear it
If you leave a noisy place like a bar, concert, factory, or fitness class, and you start to hear tinnitus noises, you were probably exposed to unsafe levels of noise and that’s more than likely the cause of these noises. It becomes increasingly likely that these noises will become irreversible the more frequently you disregard them and skip using ear protection. And it’s frequently accompanied by hearing loss.
If you enjoy a noisy night out, take precautions such as:
- Wearing earplugs
- At least once every hour, go outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
- Standing a little further away from loud speakers
If you work in a loud environment, adhere to work rules pertaining to earmuffs and earplugs. They’re made to protect you, but they only work if you wear protective gear correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
Whether you have ringing in your ears or not, you should never disregard facial paralysis. But when you have paralysis, nausea, headaches, and you also have tinnitus, it’s possible that you might have an acoustic neuroma (a slow growing benign brain tumor).
6. Fluctuating Hearing Loss is Accompanying Tinnitus
Are you experiencing hearing loss that comes and goes? Do you feel dizzy off and on? If these symptoms are happening along with tinnitus, you may need to get evaluated for Menier’s disease. This causes your ears to ears get a fluid imbalance. If left without treatment, it often gets worse and might increase your risks of serious falls due to lack of balance.
Tinnitus is frequently a sign of hearing loss. So you should get your hearing tested if you’re experiencing it. Reach out to us to make an appointment for a hearing test.