“What’s that annoying sound in my ears?” “Make that noise stop!”
You may be suffering from tinnitus, a common hearing condition that manifests sounds in your ears that nobody else can hear, if you find yourself making these kinds of statements. You’re not alone. Tinnitus is a condition that impacts millions of individuals.
Ringing, pulsing, whistling, or buzzing are the sounds that the majority of people describe.
Depending on the severity, ringing in the ears might seem harmless. But there are absolutely times when you shouldn’t disregard it. Something more serious might be the root cause of these noises.
Here are 6 tinnitus symptoms you really should take seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
26% of people who have tinnitus cope with symptoms constantly, according to some studies.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship issues are all possible outcomes of this ever present ringing.
Something as simple as listening to your daughter share a recipe on the phone becomes a battle between her voice and the noise that overpowers it. The nonstop 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 result of this continuous ringing. As your stress level rises, the ringing gets louder. Loud noise makes you more anxious and so on.
If your tinnitus is contributing to these types of life challenges, you shouldn’t ignore it. It’s real, and it affects your quality of life. The noise can be reduced or eliminated with available treatment choices.
2. The Noise in Your Ears Starts After You Change Medications
Whether you have chronic back pain or cancer, doctors might try numerous different medications to deal with the same condition. Some of these will have side effects so extreme that you might want to ask about alternate options. If your tinnitus began or got significantly worse after you started a new drug, check that list of side effects and talk to your doctor.
Some common medications might cause tinnitus. These include some kinds of:
- Antibiotics
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
- Chemo
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
- Loop Diuretics
3. It’s Accompanied by Blurred Vision, Headache, or Seizures
This normally indicates that your tinnitus symptoms are being triggered by high blood pressure. When you have hypertension, the blood circulation to your inner ear is compromised. Your overall health is also at risk with high blood pressure. Over time, it could cause or worsen age-related hearing loss.
4. You Only Hear it After You Leave a Concert, Gym, or Work
If you leave a noisy place like a bar, concert, factory, or fitness class, and you start to hear tinnitus noises, you were probably exposed to unsafe levels of noise and that’s most likely the cause of these noises. If you ignore this episodic tinnitus and don’t begin to protect your ears, it will likely become constant over time. And it’s usually accompanied by hearing loss.
If you enjoy a loud night out, take precautions like:
- At least once an hour, go outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
- Wearing earplugs
- Not standing too close to the speakers
If you work in a loud environment, adhere to 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
We hope you wouldn’t disregard facial paralysis irrespective of whether you have ringing in your ears. But when you have nausea, paralysis, headaches, and you also have tinnitus, it’s possible that you might have an acoustic neuroma (a slow growing benign brain tumor).
6. You Experience Fluctuating Hearing Loss With it
Are you experiencing hearing loss that comes and goes? Are you sometimes dizzy? When accompanied by tinnitus, this suggests you need to be tested for Meniere’s disease. This causes a fluid imbalance in your ears. If left without treatment, it often gets worse and might increase your risks of significant falls caused by lack of balance.
Hearing loss is frequently signaled by tinnitus. So you should get your hearing tested if you’re experiencing it. Call us to set up an appointment.