Let’s set the scene: you’re lying in bed at night trying to chill out after a long, stressful day. You feel yourself beginning to drift off to sleep. Then you start to hear it: a buzzing sound in your ears. You know it’s nothing in your bedroom because the radio, TV, and phone are all off. Unfortunately, this sound is inside your ears and it won’t stop.
If this situation has happened to you, then it’s likely that you’re one of the 50 million people who are afflicted by tinnitus. Ringing, Buzzing, and a variety of other noises will be heard in your ears when you have this problem. Most people suffering from tinnitus consider it a mere inconvenience; they notice it now and again but it doesn’t really affect their daily lives. But this is not the situation with everyone who has tinnitus. For some, it can cause them to lose sleep, to disengage socially, and to have a hard time working.
What Causes Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is still a bit of a mystery, but this problem has been narrowed down to a few causes. It’s most common in people who have damaged hearing, as well as people who suffer from heart conditions. Restricted blood flow around the ears is generally thought to be the underlying cause of tinnitus. This causes the heart to work harder to pump blood to where it’s needed. People who have iron-deficiency anemia often suffer from tinnitus symptoms because their blood cells don’t carry enough oxygen throughout their body, which, again, makes the heart work overtime to get oxygen and other nutrients where they need to go.
Tinnitus also happens as a symptom of other conditions, such as ear infections, canal blockages, and Meniere’s disease. All of these conditions impact the hearing and result in situations where tinnitus becomes more prevalent. In other cases, there may not be an evident cause of tinnitus, which can make treatment challenging, but not impossible.
How Can Tinnitus be Treated?
There are a number of treatments available to help stop the buzzing in your ears, all depending on the root cause of your tinnitus. One important thing to take note of, however, is that there is presently no known cure for tinnitus. Despite this fact, there’s still an excellent chance that your tinnitus will improve or even disappear altogether due to these treatments.
Studies have revealed that hearing aids help cover up tinnitus in people who suffer from hearing loss.
If covering up the noise isn’t helpful, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been proven to help people deal with the buzzing in their ears that does not disappear with other treatments. This type of mental health therapy helps patients change their negative feelings about tinnitus into more positive, practical thoughts that will help them function normally on a day to day basis.
