“Why am I hearing a ringing noise in my ears?” “How can I make that noise go away?”
You could be suffering from tinnitus, a common hearing disorder that manifests noises in your ears that no one else can hear, if you find yourself making these types of remarks. This is more common than you might think. Tinnitus is a condition that affects millions of individuals.
Most describe it as ringing in the ears, but it can also sound like a dial tone, pulsing noise, buzzing, or whistling.
Ringing in the ears might seem harmless, depending on its severity. But there are absolutely times when you shouldn’t disregard it. Tinnitus symptoms can frequently be a sign of something more significant taking place in your body.
You need to take the following 6 symptoms seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
26% of people who suffer from tinnitus cope with symptoms constantly, based on some studies.
This frustrating, ever-present noise can bring about all kinds of relationship issues, anxiety, insomnia, and even depression.
It can be a struggle between the tinnitus sound and something as basic as attempting to hear your friend give you a recipe over the phone. You might snap at your grandchild, who asks a simple question, because the ringing stresses you out.
Constant ringing can become a vicious cycle. As your stress level rises, the ringing gets louder. And you get more stressed the louder the noise is and on and on.
If tinnitus is leading to these types of life challenges, it’s time to deal with it. It’s real, and it impacts your quality of life. The noise can be decreased or eliminated with available treatment choices.
2. After You Switched Medications, Your Ears Started to Ring
Whether you have chronic back pain or cancer, doctors might try several different medications to treat the same condition. You may ask for an alternative if you start to experience severe side effects. If your tinnitus started or got significantly worse after you started a new medication, check that list of side effects and speak with your doctor.
Tinnitus might be caused by some common medications. These include some kinds of:
- Antibiotics
- Chemo
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
- Loop Diuretics
3. Headache, Seizures, And Blurred Vision Come With Tinnitus Noises
This might be a sign that high blood pressure is contributing to your tinnitus. The blood flow in your inner ear is compromised when you suffer from hypertension. Your general health is also at risk with high blood pressure. 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 only hear the tinnitus when you leave a loud setting such as a factory, concert, aerobics class, or bar, then the place you were just in had noise levels above safe levels. It becomes increasingly likely that these noises will become irreversible the more frequently you disregard them and skip using ear protection. And hearing loss will probably accompany it.
If you love a loud night out, take precautions such as:
- Wearing earplugs
- Standing a bit further away from loud speakers
- At least once an hour, go outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
Follow the rules pertaining to earmuffs and earplugs if you work in a loud environment. Your safety gear will only effectively protect you if you use it correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
We hope you wouldn’t ignore facial paralysis regardless 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 may have an acoustic neuroma (a slow growing benign brain tumor).
6. You Experience Fluctuating Hearing Loss With it
Do you experience hearing loss that seems to get worse, then get better, then worse again? Do you feel dizzy off and on? If these symptoms are happening along with tinnitus, you might need to get screened for Menier’s disease. This causes a fluid imbalance in your ears. If left untreated, it often gets worse and might increase your risks of serious falls due to lack of balance.
Tinnitus is frequently a sign of hearing loss. So you should have your hearing tested if you’re experiencing it. Reach out to us to make an appointment for a hearing test.