Tinnitus is an incredibly common condition of the ear. It’s one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world with some estimates suggesting that up to 10 percent of the population experiences it at one time 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.
Unfortunately, the causes of tinnitus aren’t as obvious as the symptoms. Some of the wide array of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more permanent.
That’s why your environment can be really important. If the background sound of your particular setting is very noisy, you could be damaging your hearing. If your tinnitus is a result of damage, it may end up being permanent.
Why do so many individuals experience tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a condition in which you hear a sound that isn’t really there. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it may perhaps also present as rumbling, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. Typically, the sounds are consistent or rhythmic. Tinnitus will normally clear itself up after a short period of time. In less common cases, tinnitus might become effectively permanent, a condition known as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so common. Firstly, environmental factors that can contribute to tinnitus are quite common. Underlying conditions and injuries can bring about tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. In other words, there are lots of such injuries or conditions that can trigger tinnitus. As a result, tinnitus tends to be rather common.
How is tinnitus impacted by environmental factors?
Other things can also cause tinnitus, including ototoxic medicines and chemicals. However, when the majority of people discuss “environment” in terms of tinnitus, they really mean the noise. Some settings, such as noisy city streets, can get really loud. 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 really significant.
As with hearing loss, noise-related damage can eventually trigger tinnitus symptoms. In these cases, the resulting tinnitus tends to be chronic in nature. Here are a few of the most common noise-related causes of tinnitus:
- Music: Many people will often listen to their music at loud volumes. Tinnitus will often be the outcome if you do this regularly.
- Events: If noise is loud enough, even over short intervals, tinnitus can sometimes be the outcome. Shooting a gun or going to a rock concert are instances of this kind of noise.
- Traffic: You might not even realize how loud traffic can be in heavily populated locations. And you might not even realize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you may expect. Long commutes or regular driving in these loud environments can eventually lead to hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Noise in the workplace: It might come as a surprise that lots of workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly loud. Whether it’s industrial equipment or gabby office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around continuous workplace noise can eventually lead to tinnitus.
Damage to the ears can occur at a far lower volume than people usually expect. Because of this, hearing protection should be utilized at lower volumes than you may expect. Hearing protection can help prevent tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
If I’m experiencing tinnitus, what should I do?
So, does tinnitus go away? Perhaps, in some cases. In other situations, your symptoms may be permanent. There’s no way to know which is which at the beginning. Likewise, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage hasn’t happened, leading to an increased risk of chronic tinnitus down the road.
One of the most main contributing factors to the advancement of tinnitus is that individuals tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. Damage has probably already happened if you’re experiencing tinnitus. If this is the situation, finding and changing the source of the noise damage is essential to prevent additional damage.
Here are a few tips you can try:
- Using hearing protection (either earplugs or earmuffs) in order to prevent damage. Noise canceling headphones can also be an asset in this regard.
- Decreasing the amount of time you spend in noisy environments without giving your ears a chance to recover.
- If possible, try to lower environmental volume. If you have any machinery that’s not in use, turn it off, and close the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
How to manage your symptoms
Many people who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously distracting and unpleasant. Because of this, they frequently ask: how do you calm tinnitus?
You should call us for an appointment if you’re hearing a persistent ringing or buzzing in your ears. We will be able to evaluate your symptoms and identify how best to deal with them. For the majority of cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Symptom management might include the following:
- White noise devices: In some cases, you can tune out some of your tinnitus symptoms by using a white noise generator around your house.
- Retraining therapy: You can sometimes retrain your ears with the help of a specialist, which will progressively retrain the way you process sound.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be worsened by high blood pressure. So taking a little time to relax (with meditation, for example) can sometimes help decrease your tinnitus symptoms.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits like a hearing aid and plays sounds to mask your symptoms. The exact calibration of your device will depend on your particular symptoms.
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify other sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus.
There’s no cure for tinnitus. A good first step would be to protect your hearing by controlling your environment.
But treating and managing tinnitus is possible. We’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan based on your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. A white noise machine, for many, might be all that’s required. In other cases, a more extensive approach might be necessary.
Learn how to best control your tinnitus by making an appointment right away!
