“What’s that annoying sound in my ears?” “Make that noise stop!”
You could be suffering from tinnitus, a common hearing affliction that manifests noises in your ears that nobody else can hear, if you find yourself making these types of statements. This is more common than you may think. Tinnitus is a condition that impacts millions of people.
Ringing, pulsing, whistling, or buzzing are the noises that the majority of people describe.
Depending on the intensity, ringing in the ears might seem harmless. But tinnitus shouldn’t always be ignored. Tinnitus symptoms can frequently be a sign of something more significant 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
Some research suggests that 26% of people with tinnitus experience that ringing on a nearly constant basis.
This irritating, ever-present noise can bring about all kinds of relationship issues, insomnia, anxiety, and even depression.
It can be a battle between the tinnitus noise and something as simple as attempting to hear your friend tell you a recipe over the phone. The constant ringing has stressed you out to the point where you snap at a family member who simply asks you a question.
A vicious cycle can be the outcome of this continuous ringing. The ringing gets louder as your stress level goes up. Loud noise makes you more nervous and so on.
If tinnitus is leading to these kinds of life challenges, it’s time to address it. It’s real, and it affects your quality of life. The noise can be reduced or eliminated with available treatment options.
2. After You Changed Medications, Your Ears Started to Ring
Whether you have chronic back pain or cancer, doctors may try several different medications to manage the same ailment. You may ask for an alternative solution if you begin to experience significant side effects. If your tinnitus started or got significantly worse after you started a new drug, check that list of side effects and talk to your doctor.
Tinnitus may be caused by some common medications. Here are a few examples:
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
- Chemo
- Antibiotics
- Loop Diuretics
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
3. Blurred Vision, Seizures, And Headache Come With Tinnitus Noises
This might be a sign that high blood pressure is triggering your tinnitus. The blood circulation in your inner ear is restricted when you suffer from hypertension. High blood pressure that goes unmanaged is also a risk to your total health. As time passes, it may cause or worsen age-related hearing loss.
4. You Always Seem to be Leaving Work, The Gym, or a Concert When You Hear it
If you leave a noisy place like a bar, concert, factory, or fitness class, and you begin to hear tinnitus noises, you were probably exposed to unsafe noise levels and that’s more than likely the cause of these noises. It becomes increasingly likely that these noises will become irreversible the more frequently you ignore them and neglect using ear protection. And hearing loss will probably accompany it.
If you love a loud night out, take precautions like:
- Standing a bit further away from loud speakers
- Wearing earplugs
- At least once every hour, step outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
Follow the rules regarding earplugs and earmuffs if you work in a noisy environment. They’re designed to protect you, but they only work if you wear protective gear correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
Whether you have ringing in your ears or not, you should never disregard facial paralysis. But when the tinnitus symptoms are come along with paralysis, headaches, and nausea, this may be a sign of a slow-growing benign brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma.
6. You Experience Fluctuating Hearing Loss With it
Do you have hearing loss that seems to get worse, then get better, then worse again? Are you sometimes dizzy? When accompanied by tinnitus, this suggests you need to be screened for Meniere’s disease. This causes your ears to ears get a fluid imbalance. Your risk of falling due to lack of balance will get worse if this disorder is left untreated.
Tinnitus is frequently a sign of hearing loss. So you should have your hearing tested if you’re experiencing it. Contact us to set up an appointment.