It’s not uncommon for people to have ringing in their ears, also called tinnitus. 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 point or another. The condition is experienced as a sound in the ear that isn’t actually there, normally, it’s a buzzing or ringing, but tinnitus can manifest as other sounds also.
Sadly, the causes of tinnitus aren’t as obvious as the symptoms. Some of the wide variety of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more long term.
That’s why your environment can be critically important. After all, every setting has a soundscape, and when that soundscape is loud, you may be doing damage to your ears. This environmental tinnitus might sometimes be permanent or it may sometimes respond to changes to make your environment quieter.
Why do so many individuals experience tinnitus?
When you hear noises that aren’t really there, that’s tinnitus. Tinnitus typically manifests as a ringing or buzzing, but can also manifest as other noises, like screeching, thumping, or humming. The sounds are typically rhythmic in nature. Tinnitus will normally clear itself up after a short time period. 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 common. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also relatively common (more on that in a bit). The second reason is that tinnitus is frequently a symptom of an underlying condition or injury. And there are a wide variety of conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite common for these reasons.
How can the environment impact tinnitus?
There are a wide variety of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medicines. However, when most individuals talk about “environment” in terms of tinnitus, they really mean the noise. For instance, some locations are noisier than others (traffic noise in some settings can get extraordinarily high). Likewise, anybody who works around industrial equipment all day would be at risk of their environment worsening their tinnitus.
These environmental factors can be exceptionally important when considering your hearing health.
Noise induced damage, as with hearing loss, can cause tinnitus symptoms. When tinnitus is caused by noise damage, it’s typically chronic and often permanent. Some of the most common noise and environment-related causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Traffic: You might not even realize how loud traffic can be in heavily populated places. And you may not even recognize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you may expect. Long commutes or regular driving in these loud settings can eventually lead to hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Noise in the workplace: It may come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly loud. Whether it’s industrial equipment or gabby office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around constant workplace noise can eventually lead to tinnitus.
- Music: Listening to music at high volumes is a pretty common practice. Doing this on a regular basis can frequently cause tinnitus symptoms.
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes result from loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-frame. For example, attending a concert or using firearms can both lead to tinnitus if the volumes get to a high enough level.
People frequently wrongly think damage to their ears will only occur at extreme volume levels. 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 have tinnitus, what should I do?
Will tinnitus go away by itself? Perhaps, in some instances. In other cases, your symptoms may be irreversible. At first, it’s basically impossible to know which is which. Moreover, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage hasn’t happened, resulting in an increased chance of chronic tinnitus in the future.
One of the most significant contributing factors to the advancement of tinnitus is that people tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. Damage has likely already occurred if you’re experiencing tinnitus. If this is the case, identifying and changing the source of the noise damage is crucial to prevent additional damage.
Here are some tips you can try:
- Stop damage by using hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. You can also get some amount of protection from noise canceling headphones.
- Decreasing the amount of time you spend in loud environments without giving your ears a chance to recuperate.
- Lowering the volume of your environment where possible. For instance, you could shut the windows if you live in a noisy area or turn off industrial equipment that isn’t in use.
How to deal with your symptoms
Many people who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously distracting and unpleasant. This prompts them to attempt to find a way to ease the intensity of their symptoms.
If you hear a ringing or buzzing sound, it’s essential to schedule an appointment, particularly if the sound doesn’t go away. We can help you determine the best way to handle your particular situation. For the majority of cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Symptom management might include the following:
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify other sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus.
- 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: High blood pressure has sometimes been associated with an increase in the severity of tinnitus symptoms. So taking some time to relax (with meditation, for example) can sometimes help decrease your tinnitus symptoms.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits similarly to a hearing aid and plays sounds to mask your symptoms. The precise calibration of your device will depend on your specific symptoms.
- White noise devices: In some instances, you can tune out some of your tinnitus symptoms by utilizing a white noise generator around your house.
Tinnitus has no cure. A good first step would be to safeguard your hearing by controlling your environment.
But tinnitus can be addressed and treated. We’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan based on your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. For some people, managing your tinnitus might simply mean using a white noise machine. In other cases, a more intensive approach may be necessary.
Learn how to best control your tinnitus by making an appointment right away!