It’s not uncommon for people to have ringing in their ears, also known as tinnitus. Some estimates indicate that 10 percent of people have 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.
Unfortunately, the causes of tinnitus aren’t as evident as the symptoms. Some of the wide range 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 environment is very noisy, you could be damaging your hearing. This environmental tinnitus may sometimes be long lasting or it may sometimes respond to changes to make your environment quieter.
Why do so many people experience tinnitus?
When you hear sounds that aren’t really there, that’s tinnitus. For the majority of people, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it could also present as thumping, humming, screeching, or other sounds as well. Typically, the sounds are steady or rhythmic. For the majority of people, tinnitus will happen over a short period of time before solving itself and going away. Though not as common, chronic tinnitus is effectively permanent.
Tinnitus is so prevalent for a couple of reasons. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also fairly common (more on that in a bit). Root conditions and injuries can bring about tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. In other words, there are many such injuries or conditions that can cause tinnitus. Consequently, tinnitus tends to be quite common.
How is tinnitus impacted by environmental factors?
Other things can also produce tinnitus, including ototoxic medicines and chemicals. But when it comes to “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest culprit. Some settings, such as noisy city streets, can get very loud. Likewise, anyone who works around industrial equipment all day would be at risk of their environment worsening their tinnitus.
When evaluating the state of your health, these environmental factors are very important.
As with hearing loss, noise-induced damage can eventually trigger tinnitus symptoms. In these circumstances, the resulting tinnitus is often chronic in nature. Here are a few of the most common noise-related causes of tinnitus:
- Traffic: Traffic in densely populated places can be a lot louder than you might expect it to be. And noise damage can happen at a lower volume than you may expect. Tinnitus and hearing damage can be the outcome of long commutes in these noisy locations.
- Music: Listening to music at loud volumes is a fairly common practice. Doing this on a regular basis can often cause tinnitus symptoms.
- Noise in the workplace: It could come as a surprise that lots of workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly loud. Whether it’s industrial equipment or chatty office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around continuous workplace noise can eventually result in tinnitus.
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes result from loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-period. For instance, attending a concert or using firearms can both result in tinnitus if the volumes reach a high enough level.
Hearing damage can happen at a far lower volume than people generally expect. Consequently, it’s important to wear hearing protection before you think you might need it. Hearing protection can help you avoid tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
If I’m experiencing tinnitus, what should I do?
Will tinnitus clear up by itself? Perhaps, in some cases. In other cases, your symptoms could be permanent. At first, it’s basically impossible to tell which is which. Likewise, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage has not happened, leading to an increased risk of chronic tinnitus in the future.
One of the most main contributing factors to the development of tinnitus is that people tend to underestimate the volume at which damage occurs to their ears. Damage has probably already happened if you’re experiencing tinnitus. This means that there are several things that you should do to change your environment so as to prevent more permanent damage.
Here are some tips you can try:
- Decreasing the amount of time you spend in noisy environments without giving your ears a chance to recover.
- If possible, try to lower environmental volume. If you have any machinery that isn’t in use, turn it off, and close the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
- Stop damage by utilizing hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. Noise canceling headphones can also be an asset in this regard.
Dealing with symptoms
Lots of individuals who experience persistent tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously distracting and uncomfortable. Because of this, they frequently ask: how do you quiet tinnitus?
You should give us a call for an appointment if you’re hearing a persistent ringing or buzzing in your ears. We will be able to assess your symptoms and determine how best to deal with them. For the majority of cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Symptom management may include the following:
- White noise devices: In some cases, you can tune out some of your tinnitus symptoms by utilizing a white noise generator around your house.
- Masking device: This device is a lot like a hearing aid, only instead of boosting sounds, it masks them. The exact calibration of your device will depend on your particular symptoms.
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify other sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing created 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: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be aggravated by high blood pressure. Your tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be eased by utilizing relaxation techniques like meditation, for example.
Tinnitus has no cure. A good first step would be to safeguard your hearing by managing your environment.
But addressing and managing tinnitus is possible. Depending on your lifestyle, your hearing, and your tinnitus, we’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan for you. For some, dealing with your tinnitus may simply mean utilizing a white noise machine. In other situations, a more intensive approach might be needed.
Schedule an appointment to learn how to manage your tinnitus symptoms.