“Why do I hear a ringing noise in my ears?” “Make that noise stop!”
If you find yourself saying things like this, you might have tinnitus, a common hearing condition where you hear noises or experience a sound that others don’t hear. This is more common than you might think. Tinnitus is a disorder that affects millions of individuals.
Most describe it as ringing in the ears, but it can also sound like a pulsing noise, a dial tone, buzzing, or whistling.
Ringing in the ears may seem harmless, depending on its intensity. But tinnitus shouldn’t always be disregarded. Tinnitus symptoms can frequently be a sign of something more significant happening in your body.
You should take the following 6 symptoms seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
Some studies reveal that 26% of tinnitus sufferers cope with that ringing on a nearly constant basis.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship troubles are all possible repercussions of this ever present ringing.
It can be a struggle between the tinnitus sound and something as basic as trying to hear your friend tell you a recipe over the phone. 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 goes up, the ringing gets louder. Loud noise makes you more anxious and so on.
If your tinnitus is leading to these types of life struggles, you shouldn’t ignore it. It’s there, and your life is being affected. The noise can be decreased or eliminated with available treatment options.
2. After You Switched Medications, Your Ears Began to Ring
Whether you have persistent back pain or cancer, doctors may try several different medications to treat the same condition. Some of these will have side effects so extreme that you might want to ask about alternatives. If your tinnitus started or got seriously worse after you started a new drug, look at that list of side effects and talk to your doctor.
Tinnitus might 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
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
- Loop Diuretics
- Antibiotics
3. It’s Accompanied by Blurred Vision, Headache, or Seizures
This normally means that your tinnitus symptoms are being caused by high blood pressure. When you have hypertension, the flow of blood to your inner ear is compromised. Your general health is also in danger with high blood pressure. Age related hearing loss, as time passes, will get worse because of this.
4. You Only Hear it When Leaving a Gym, Concert, or Work
If you only hear the tinnitus when you leave a loud place like a concert, aerobics class, factory, or bar, then the place you were just in had unsafe levels of noise. If you ignore this occasional tinnitus and don’t start to safeguard your ears, it will likely become permanent over time. And it’s commonly accompanied by hearing loss.
If you’re going to be exposed to loud sound, use the following to protect your hearing:
- At least once an hour, go outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
- Not standing too close to the speakers
- Wearing earplugs
If you work in a noisy place, follow work rules pertaining to earmuffs and earplugs. They’re designed to protect you, but they only work if you wear protective gear correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
We hope you wouldn’t dismiss facial paralysis irrespective of whether you have ringing in your ears. But when the tinnitus symptoms are accompanied by paralysis, headaches, and nausea, this may be a sign of a slow-growing benign brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma.
6. Fluctuating Hearing Loss is Accompanying Tinnitus
Are you experiencing hearing loss that comes and goes? Do you feel dizzy off and on? If these symptoms are happening along with tinnitus, you might need to get evaluated for Menier’s disease. This makes your ears get a fluid imbalance. If left without treatment, it often gets worse and may increase your risks of significant falls caused by lack of balance.
Hearing loss is frequently signaled by tinnitus. So you should get your hearing examined if you’re experiencing it. Call us to set up an appointment.