Tinnitus is an exceptionally common condition of the ear. Some estimates suggest that 10 percent of people experience tinnitus at one time or another, making it one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world. Even though the most common manifestation of tinnitus is a phantom ringing or buzzing in your ear, it can also present as other sounds too.
While the prevalence of tinnitus might be obvious, the causes are often more cloudy. Some of the wide array of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more permanent.
This is why environmental factors can play a major role in tinnitus symptoms. If the background sound of your particular setting is very loud, you may be damaging your hearing. If your tinnitus is caused by damage, it may end up being permanent.
What is tinnitus (and why is it so prevalent)?
Tinnitus is a condition in which you hear a noise that isn’t really there. For the majority of 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 usually rhythmic in nature. Tinnitus will usually clear itself up after a short period of time. In less common cases, tinnitus may become effectively permanent, a condition referred to as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so prevalent. Firstly, environmental factors that can contribute to tinnitus are rather prevalent. 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. Consequently, tinnitus tends to be quite common.
How is tinnitus impacted by environmental factors?
There are a large number of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medicines. But when it involves “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest offender. Some settings, such as noisy city streets, can get quite loud. Somebody would be in danger of environmental tinnitus, for example, if they worked around loud industrial equipment.
These environmental factors can be exceptionally significant when considering your hearing health.
As with hearing loss, noise-induced damage can eventually cause tinnitus symptoms. When tinnitus is due to noise damage, it’s typically chronic and often permanent. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-induced causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Traffic: You might not even recognize how loud traffic can be in densely populated places. And noise damage can occur at a lower volume than you may expect. Long commutes or consistent driving in these loud environments can eventually lead to hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Events: If noise is loud enough, even over short intervals, tinnitus can sometimes be the outcome. For instance, attending a concert or using firearms can both trigger tinnitus if the volumes get to a high enough level.
- Music: Listening to music at loud volumes is a pretty common practice. Tinnitus will often be the result if you do this regularly.
- Noise in the workplace: It could come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly loud. Tinnitus can eventually result from being in these places for eight hours a day, whether it’s industrial equipment or the din of lots of people talking in an office.
People often mistakenly think hearing damage will only happen at extreme volume levels. Because of this, hearing protection should be utilized at lower volumes than you might expect. Noise associated tinnitus symptoms can frequently be avoided altogether by doing this.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
So, does tinnitus go away? Perhaps, in some instances. But your symptoms may be irreversible in some instances. There’s no way to tell which is which at the outset. Moreover, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage has not happened, resulting in an increased chance of chronic tinnitus in the future.
One of the most significant contributing factors to the development of tinnitus is that individuals tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. If you experience tinnitus, your body is telling you that damage has already probably happened. This means that there are a number of things that you should do to change your environment so as to prevent more permanent damage.
Here are some tips you can try:
- Limiting the amount of time you spend in loud environments without giving your ears a chance to recover.
- Decreasing the volume of your environment where possible. If you have any machinery that’s not in use, turn it off, and close the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
- Prevent damage by using hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. Noise canceling headphones can also be an asset in this regard.
Dealing with symptoms
Many people who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be extremely distracting and unpleasant. This prompts them to attempt to find a way to ease the severity of their symptoms.
You should contact us for an appointment if you are hearing a persistent buzzing or ringing in your ears. We will be able to evaluate your symptoms and determine how to best manage them. For the majority of cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Symptom management may include the following:
- White noise devices: In some instances, you can tune out some of your tinnitus symptoms by utilizing a white noise generator around your home.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be worsened by high blood pressure. Your tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be alleviated by utilizing relaxation techniques like meditation, for instance.
- Retraining therapy: You can sometimes retrain your ears with the help of a specialist, which will gradually retrain the way you process sound.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits similarly to a hearing aid and plays sounds that mask your symptoms. The precise calibration of your device will depend on your particular symptoms.
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify outside sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing created by tinnitus.
Tinnitus has no cure. That’s why controlling your environment to safeguard your hearing is a great first step.
But treating and controlling tinnitus is possible. We’ll be able to develop a specific treatment plan according to your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. A white noise machine, for many people, may be all that’s required. In other cases, a more extensive approach may be necessary.
Set up an appointment to learn how to address your tinnitus symptoms.
