Tinnitus is an incredibly common condition of the ear. Some estimates indicate that 10 percent of people have tinnitus at one time or another, making it one of the most common health conditions in the world. Even though the most common manifestation of tinnitus is a phantom ringing or buzzing in your ear, it can also present as other sounds too.
While the preponderance of tinnitus may be evident, the causes are often more cloudy. In part, that’s because tinnitus may be caused by a wide variety of causes, some of which are temporary and others that can be more long lasting.
This is why environmental factors can play a major role in tinnitus symptoms. After all, every setting has a soundscape, and when that soundscape is noisy, you might be causing damage to your ears. This environmental tinnitus may sometimes be long lasting or it might sometimes respond to changes to make your environment quieter.
Why do so many individuals experience tinnitus?
When you hear sounds that aren’t actually there, that’s tinnitus. For the majority of people, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it may also present as rumbling, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. The sounds are usually rhythmic in nature. For most people, tinnitus will happen over a short period of time before solving itself and going away. In less common cases, tinnitus might become effectively permanent, a condition referred to as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so common. Firstly, environmental factors that can contribute to tinnitus are quite common. The second reason is that tinnitus is often a symptom of a root condition or injury. And there are lots of conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite common for these reasons.
How can the environment impact tinnitus?
There are a wide variety of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medications. However, when most individuals talk about “environment” when it comes to tinnitus, they really mean the noise. For instance, some neighborhoods are louder than others (traffic noise in some settings can get exceptionally high). Likewise, anyone who works around industrial equipment all day would be at risk of their environment worsening their tinnitus.
These environmental factors can be exceptionally significant when considering your hearing health.
Noise induced damage, as with hearing loss, can trigger tinnitus symptoms. When tinnitus is due to noise damage, it’s normally chronic and frequently permanent. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-induced causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes be caused by loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-frame. Firing a gun or going to a rock concert are instances of this type of noise.
- Music: Listening to music at high volumes is a pretty common practice. Doing this on a consistent basis can frequently cause tinnitus symptoms.
- Noise in the workplace: It may come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are pretty noisy. Tinnitus can eventually result from being in these settings for eight hours a day, whether it’s industrial equipment or the din of a lot of people talking in an office.
- Traffic: Traffic in densely populated places can be a lot louder than you might expect it to be. And noise damage can occur at a lower volume than you might expect. Long commutes or regular driving in these loud settings can eventually cause hearing damage, including tinnitus.
Damage to the ears can occur at a far lower volume than people generally expect. For this reason, hearing protection should be used at lower volumes than you may expect. Hearing protection can help you avoid tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
If I’m experiencing tinnitus, what should I do?
Will tinnitus clear up on its own? Perhaps, in some cases. But your symptoms may be permanent in some instances. Initially, it’s basically impossible to tell which is which. Likewise, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage hasn’t occurred, leading to an increased risk of chronic tinnitus in the future.
One of the most significant contributing factors to the advancement of tinnitus is that individuals tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. If you experience tinnitus, your body is telling you that damage has already likely happened. This means that there are several things that you should do to change your environment so as to prevent more permanent damage.
Here are some tips you can try:
- If you’re in a loud setting, limit the amount of exposure time and give your ears rests.
- Prevent damage by using hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. You can also get some degree of protection from noise canceling headphones.
- If possible, try to decrease environmental volume. For instance, you could close the windows if you live in a noisy area or turn off industrial machinery that is not in use.
How to handle your symptoms
The symptoms of tinnitus are frequently a huge distraction and are quite uncomfortable for most people who deal with them. This prompts them to attempt to find a way to ease the intensity of their symptoms.
You should call us for an appointment if you are hearing a persistent ringing or buzzing in your ears. We will be able to assess your symptoms and determine how to best deal with them. There’s no cure for most types of chronic tinnitus. Here are a number of ways to manage the symptoms:
- Relaxation techniques: High blood pressure has sometimes been linked to an increase in the severity of tinnitus symptoms. Your tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be alleviated by utilizing relaxation techniques like meditation, for instance.
- Hearing aid: The ringing or buzzing created by tinnitus can be drowned out by amplifying the volume of outside sounds with hearing aids.
- White noise devices: Utilizing a white noise device around your home can help you tune out your tinnitus in some cases.
- Retraining therapy: In some situations, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, gradually changing the way you process sound.
- Masking device: This device is a lot like a hearing aid, but instead of amplifying sounds, it masks them. Your device will be specially calibrated to mask your tinnitus symptoms.
There’s no cure for tinnitus. A good first step would be to protect your hearing by controlling your environment.
But tinnitus can be managed and managed. We’ll be able to establish a specific treatment plan according to your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. For some people, managing your tinnitus may simply mean making use of a white noise machine. In other situations, a more extensive approach may be needed.
Set up an appointment to find out how to regulate your tinnitus symptoms.
