“Why am I hearing a ringing noise in my ears?” “How can I make that sound go away?”
You could be suffering from tinnitus, a common hearing affliction that manifests sounds in your ears that no one else can hear, if you find yourself making these kinds of statements. This is more common than you may think. Tinnitus is a condition that affects millions of people.
Ringing, pulsing, whistling, or buzzing are the sounds that most people describe.
Ringing in the ears may seem harmless, depending on its severity. But there are absolutely times when you shouldn’t disregard it. Tinnitus symptoms can often be a sign of something more serious happening in your body.
You need to take the following 6 symptoms seriously.
1. Your Quality of Life is Being Affected by The Ringing in Your Ears
26% of individuals who suffer from tinnitus cope with symptoms continuously, based on some studies.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship troubles are all possible outcomes of this ever present ringing.
It can be a battle between the tinnitus sound and something as simple as attempting to hear your friend give 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.
Continuous ringing can become a vicious cycle. As your stress level rises, the ringing gets louder. Loud noise makes you more nervous and so on.
If tinnitus is causing these kinds of life challenges, it’s time to deal with it. It’s there, and your life is being affected. There are treatment choices that can significantly reduce or eliminate the noise in your ears.
2. The Noise in Your Ears Starts After You Switch Medications
Whether you have persistent back pain or cancer, doctors might try several different medications to manage the same condition. Some of these will have side effects so extreme that you may want to ask about alternatives. Consult with your doctor and learn what the side effects are if you began experiencing tinnitus symptoms after starting a new medication.
Some common medications may cause tinnitus. These include some kinds of:
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
- Antibiotics
- Loop Diuretics
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
- Chemo
3. Blurred Vision, Seizures, And Headache Come With Tinnitus Noises
This may be a sign that high blood pressure is creating your tinnitus. The blood circulation in your inner ear is restricted when you have hypertension. Your general health is also in danger with high blood pressure. Age related hearing loss, as time passes, will get worse because of this.
4. You Only Hear it After You Leave a Concert, Gym, or Work
If you leave a noisy place like a factory, bar, concert, or fitness class, and you start to hear tinnitus noises, you were probably exposed to unsafe noise levels and that’s more than likely the cause of these noises. If you disregard this occasional tinnitus and don’t start to protect your ears, it will most likely become permanent over time. And hearing loss will probably accompany it.
If you’re going to be exposed to loud noise, use the following to protect your hearing:
- Giving your ears a regular break by going into the restroom or outside, if possible, at least once an hour
- Standing a bit further away from loud speakers
- Wearing earplugs
If you work in a loud place, follow work rules regarding earmuffs and earplugs. Your safety gear will only effectively protect you if you use it correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
Whether you have ringing in your ears or not, you should never dismiss facial paralysis. But when you have paralysis, nausea, headaches, and you also have tinnitus, it’s possible that you may have an acoustic neuroma (a slow growing benign brain tumor).
6. Fluctuating Hearing Loss is Accompanying Tinnitus
Do you experience hearing loss that seems to get worse, then get better, then worse again? Do you feel dizzy off and on? If these symptoms are taking place along with tinnitus, you might need to get tested for Menier’s disease. This produces a fluid imbalance in your ears. Your risk of falling caused by lack of balance will worsen if this condition is left untreated.
Tinnitus is frequently a sign of hearing loss. So if you are experiencing it, you should get your hearing examined more frequently. Get in touch with us to make an appointment for a hearing test.