There are many reports of teenagers and older people listening to loud music, and later in life experiencing a persistent ringing in their ears. It's called tinnitus, and it's annoying.
Many people report they always hear a ringing in their ears, but during the daytime, they are not quite as aware of the unpleasant symptom. In bed, however, they report that the ringing gets louder, and when they are under a lot of stress, the sound gets even worse.
Doctors identify this condition as tinnitus. Tinnitus is a medical condition that leads patients to hear a sound without an outside source. Constantly being bombarded by a sound is not only annoying but also often debilitating, which is why so many people desperately want to know more about tinnitus care solutions. Many tinnitus patients would be thankful to hear of a solution that can stop this ringing in the ears.
Although there is no cure for tinnitus, here are some tips on how to relieve your symptoms. [1]
What Is Tinnitus?
The reasons for tinnitus vary. [2]
The first potential cause of chronic ringing in the ears is a loud noise or prolonged exposure to loud noises, one of the most common reasons for tinnitus. Over time, loud noises can also cause a loss of hearing. [3]
Medications are also problematic since more than 200 medications have been reported to have the ability to cause tinnitus. It's nice to know that often when you stop medication usage, tinnitus often goes away.
Ear or sinus infections can also lead to tinnitus, although this is often temporary and goes away after the infection is treated.
A tumor in the brain or ears, as well as head and neck trauma, are also common causes of ringing or other annoying sounds in the ears.
Idiopathic tinnitus, however, means we just do not know what the cause is.
Tinnitus does not necessarily accompany a loss of hearing because people with normal hearing also suffer from it. After a rock concert or even lawn mowing, your ears may ring, and this also called tinnitus. It usually goes away, but for some people, that constant sound stays — not just for a few days, but for years on end.
Tinnitus particularly occurs in the case of damage to the microscopic hair cells in the inner ear. If you experience a loss of balance along with ringing in your ears for the first time, you should think about seeing your doctor. You could experience tinnitus for any reason, from an inner ear infection to a tumor. About 12 million Americans may have the condition to the degree that they need help from a hearing health care professional. Of all these people, one million have tinnitus so severe that it interferes with their quality of life. [4]
Hearing loss can worsen tinnitus because, without the ability to hear outside sounds, it becomes easier to hear the inner noise. A ruptured eardrum, earwax, and an ear infection, which are all conditions that block outside sounds, can also worsen tinnitus symptoms. Many people experience an occasional ringing, roaring, hissing, buzzing, or tinkling in their ears. The sound usually lasts only a few minutes, but if it becomes persistent, you may have tinnitus. This condition called tinnitus is most common in people over age 40, and it affects men more often than women.
Types of Tinnitus
Vibratory tinnitus is caused by mechanical sounds created by muscle contractions near the ear, changes in the ear canal, or blood flow problems involving the face or neck. If this happens to you, you will be able to hear sounds such as your pulse or the contractions of your muscles.
Non-vibratory tinnitus is caused by problems in the central or peripheral nerves involved in hearing. In this case, you may hear sounds in one or both ears. Sometimes this type of tinnitus is described as coming from inside the head. [5]
Ear infections or eardrum rupture and dental or other problems affecting the mouth, such as temporomandibular (TM) problems could also cause tinnitus. In some cases, injuries, such as whiplash or a direct blow to the ear or head is the cause of tinnitus.
Injury to the inner ear following surgery or radiation therapy to the head or neck, a rapid change in environmental pressure, severe weight loss from malnutrition or excessive dieting and repeated exercise with the neck in a hyperextended position (such as bicycle riding) could also be the cause of tinnitus you have experienced. [2]
Blood flow problems, such as carotid atherosclerosis, AV malformations, and high blood pressure and nerve problems, such as multiple sclerosis or a migraine headache are other potential causes of ringing in the ears. Other diseases such as acoustic neuroma, anemia, labyrinthitis, Meniere’s disease, otosclerosis and thyroid disease can also cause tinnitus. [2]
Tinnitus usually comes and goes, and does not require medical treatment. However, if your tinnitus comes with other symptoms, becomes persistent (chronic), or the ringing sound is localized to one ear, you will need a visit to a health care professional. Often there is no cure for tinnitus, but your health care professional can help you learn how to live with the problem and how to stop or at least relieve this ringing in the ears you have.
Prevention Is the Best Cure or Solution for Tinnitus
You may be able to prevent ringing in the ears by following these individual steps.
First, limit or avoid exposure to loud noises [3], such as music (rock concerts and very loud headphones alike), power tools, gunshots, and industrial machinery. If you cannot avoid loud noises, wear protective earplugs or earmuffs, but do not use wadded-up tissue or cotton balls. These kinds of protective gear do not protect adequately against loud noises, especially the more dangerous high frequencies, and they may become lodged in the ear canal in some cases. You must be careful when using stereo headphones; if the music is so loud that others can hear it clearly, or you cannot hear other sounds around you, the volume is too high.
Try to cut back on or eliminate alcohol and beverages containing caffeine, stop smoking and using smokeless tobacco products. Nicotine use may cause tinnitus by reducing blood flow to the structures of your ear. [6]
It is good to exercise regularly, since exercise may prevent tinnitus by improving blood flow to the structures of the ear. Maintain a healthy weight, as well, for general health reasons but also because being in the healthy BMI range could help you stop ringing in the ears because tinnitus occurs more frequently in obese adults. [7]
However, it is also important to take a critical look at your diet, and where necessary, add sources of vitamin B12 to your diet. Vitamin B12 helps the body produce a substance that protects the nerves in the inner ear, and some experts think it protects against tinnitus. Good sources of vitamin B12 include milk and dairy products, meat, and eggs, so eat these foods to prevent tinnitus from invading your life. [8]
Home Treatment for Tinnitus
It is clear that you need help to relieve the symptoms of annoying tinnitus, which can make almost any daily activity extremely hard to carry out. To design an appropriate home treatment or management plan for tinnitus, limit your use of aspirin, products containing aspirin, and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen or naproxen.
As you already know, you should try to quit alcohol and nicotine if you currently use them, and try to exercise or be physically active regularly. Exercise improves blood flow to the structures of the ear, which can help stop the ringing in the ears. However, you must avoid extended periods of exercise, such as bicycle riding, that keep your neck in a hyperextended position, as these kinds of positions can in fact worsen the ringing in your ears.
Stress and fatigue seem to make tinnitus worse, so in an attempt to relieve your symptoms, you could try relaxation techniques such as biofeedback, meditation, or yoga. [9]
Quiet rooms can cause tinnitus to seem more distracting, while background noise may reduce the amount of noise you hear from inside your ear, as external noise can drown the tinnitus out somewhat.
Play music or white noise when trying to fall asleep or anytime you find yourself in a quiet place and your tinnitus feels even worse. You may consider buying a machine that makes soothing sounds, such as ocean waves to relieve these symptoms. Many people find that a herbal supplement such as ginkgo Biloba helps with tinnitus. Some studies suggest that Gingko biloba may help relieve tinnitus, but other studies do not show a benefit of these herbs.
READ Home Remedies for Clogged Ears
Symptoms You Should Watch Out For During Home Treatment for Tinnitus
Symptoms related to nerve damage, such as loss of coordination, feelings of numbness, or weakness on one side of the face or one side of the body, can sometimes occur. In this case, you should contact your doctor. [10]
Other symptoms could also develop, such as significant hearing loss, vertigo, loss of balance, nausea, or vomiting.
Tinnitus often localizes to one ear, with hearing-loss that becomes worse within 24 hours after an ear injury, or does not improve within 1 week following an ear injury.
You must take note if your tinnitus continues for two weeks, despite the use of home treatment, and seek medical attention. You have to report to your doctor also if your symptoms become more severe or more frequent.
Although tinnitus does not have a cure, it is a condition that can be manageable. If you suffer from tinnitus, there are coping methods and some cure solutions each patient should know.
Maskers are small electronic devices that look like hearing aids and give immediate relief for tinnitus. They make a sound to make the tinnitus less noticeable, but you must know it does not cure or make the tinnitus go away. Tinnitus can keep people awake at night, so maskers can help them sleep better. You could also try hearing aids. Because many individuals with tinnitus do also have hearing loss, hearing aids make outside sounds louder, helping reduce the effects of tinnitus. [11]
While not a cure, medicines can reduce tinnitus and ringing in the ears. Anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants such as nortriptyline, antihistamines, and anticonvulsants have all been found to help some people with tinnitus.
You must also know if your tinnitus developed because of a medication you were prescribed, quitting may help.
Tinnitus retraining therapy is another treatment option patients should look into. With TRT, sound generators are worn in the ear and they emit a quieter sound than maskers do. Often someone using this device gets a unique kind of counseling called directive counseling which teaches the brain to stop noticing the noise. TRT is a relatively new therapeutic approach to tinnitus, and the overall effectiveness of the treatment is still up for debate and study. Your best bet is prevention, but that does not help you if you are already suffering from tinnitus. [12]
Besides tinnitus retraining therapy and treatment options mentioned above, there are some of the cutting-edge therapies currently in development, but some of them have not yet been fully validated for effective clinical use [13]:
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
- Brain Surface Implants
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)