“Why do I hear a ringing noise in my ears?” “How can I make that sound go away?”
You may be suffering from tinnitus, a common hearing disorder that manifests sounds in your ears that nobody else can hear, if you find yourself making these kinds of remarks. You’re not by yourself. Tinnitus is a condition 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, whistling, or buzzing.
Depending on the intensity, ringing in the ears may seem harmless. But tinnitus shouldn’t always be ignored. Tinnitus symptoms can frequently be a sign of something more serious taking place in your body.
Here are 6 tinnitus symptoms you need to take seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
Some research indicates that 26% of people with tinnitus experience that ringing on an almost continuous basis.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship issues are all possible outcomes of this ever present ringing.
It can be a struggle between the tinnitus sound and something as basic as trying to hear your friend give you a recipe over the phone. You might snap at your grandson, who simply asks a question, because the ringing makes you stressed.
Constant ringing can cause a vicious cycle. The ringing gets louder as your stress level rises. And you get more anxious the louder the noise is and on and on.
If your tinnitus is leading to these types of life challenges, you shouldn’t ignore it. It’s real, and it impacts your quality of life. The noise can be reduced or eliminated with available treatment options.
2. The Noise in Your Ears Starts After You Change Medications
Doctors might try various different medications to treat the same ailment whether you have chronic pain or cancer. Some of these will have side effects so significant that you may want to ask about alternate options. If your tinnitus began or got seriously worse after you started a new medication, check that list of side effects and talk to your doctor.
Some common medications might cause tinnitus. These include some forms of:
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
- Chemo
- Loop Diuretics
- Antibiotics
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
3. It’s Accompanied by Headache, Blurred Vision, or Seizures
This often means that your tinnitus symptoms are being triggered by high blood pressure. When you have hypertension, the flow of blood to your inner ear is restricted. Your general health is also in danger with high blood pressure. As time passes, it could cause or worsen age-related hearing loss.
4. You Only Hear it When Leaving a Gym, Concert, or Work
If you only hear the tinnitus after you leave a loud place like a concert, aerobics class, factory, or bar, then the place you were just in had noise levels above safe levels. If you disregard this occasional tinnitus and don’t start to protect your ears, it will likely become permanent over time. And hearing loss will usually accompany it.
If you love a noisy night out, take precautions like:
- 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 loud environment, adhere to work rules regarding earplugs and earmuffs. Your safety gear will only successfully protect you if you use it correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
We hope you wouldn’t disregard facial paralysis regardless of whether you have ringing in your ears. But when you have paralysis, nausea, 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 evaluated for Meniere’s disease. This causes your ears to ears get a fluid imbalance. If left untreated, it often gets worse and might increase your risks of serious falls due to lack of balance.
Hearing loss is frequently signaled by tinnitus. So if you are experiencing it, you need to get your hearing checked more frequently. Reach out to us to make an appointment for a hearing test.