“Why do I hear a ringing noise in my ears?” “Why won’t that noise stop?”
If you find yourself making these kinds of statements, you could be dealing with tinnitus, a common hearing issue that causes you to hear noises or perceive a sound that other people can’t hear. This is more common than you might think. Millions of people have this condition.
Ringing, pulsing, whistling, or buzzing are the noises that most people describe.
Depending on the severity, ringing in the ears may seem harmless. But there are absolutely times when you shouldn’t disregard it. Tinnitus symptoms can frequently be a sign of something more significant going on in your body.
You need to take the following 6 symptoms seriously.
1. Your Quality of Life is Being Affected by The Ringing in Your Ears
Some research suggests that 26% of people with tinnitus experience that ringing on a nearly continuous basis.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship problems are all possible repercussions of this ever present ringing.
It can be a battle between the tinnitus sound and something as basic as attempting to hear your friend tell you a recipe over the phone. You might snap at your grandson, who asks a simple question, because the ringing makes you stressed.
Continuous ringing can become a vicious cycle. The ringing gets louder as your stress level goes up. Loud noise makes you more anxious and so on.
If tinnitus is causing these kinds of life challenges, it’s time to deal with it. It’s there, and your life is being affected. There are treatment choices that can significantly reduce or get rid of the noise in your ears.
2. The Noise in Your Ears Starts After You Switch Medications
Doctors may try several different medications to treat the same condition whether you have cancer or chronic pain. You might ask for an alternative if you begin to experience significant side effects. Talk with your doctor and find out what the side effects are if you began experiencing tinnitus symptoms after starting a new medication.
Some common medications might cause tinnitus. 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.
- Antibiotics
- Chemo
- Loop Diuretics
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
3. It’s Accompanied by Headache, Blurred Vision, or Seizures
This might be a sign that high blood pressure is triggering your tinnitus. When you have hypertension, the blood flow to your inner ear is compromised. Your general health is also in danger 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 leave a noisy place such as 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. It becomes increasingly likely that these noises will become irreversible the more frequently you disregard them and neglect using ear protection. And it’s commonly accompanied by hearing loss.
If you enjoy a loud night out, take precautions like:
- Not standing too close to the speakers
- At least once every hour, step outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
- Wearing earplugs
Follow the rules regarding earplugs and earmuffs if you work in a loud setting. 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 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 may have an acoustic neuroma (a slow growing benign brain tumor).
6. You Experience Fluctuating Hearing Loss With it
Do you have hearing loss that seems to worsen, then get better, then worse again? Are you sometimes dizzy? If these symptoms are taking place along with tinnitus, you may need to get screened for Menier’s disease. This causes your ears to 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 often signaled by tinnitus. So if you’re experiencing it, you should get your hearing examined more frequently. Give us a call to set up an appointment.