It isn’t uncommon for people to have ringing in their ears, also known as tinnitus. It’s one of the most common health conditions in the world with some estimates suggesting that up to 10 percent of the population experiences it at one point or another. Although the most common manifestation of tinnitus is a phantom ringing or buzzing in your ear, it can also present as other sounds as well.
While the prevalence of tinnitus might be obvious, the causes are often more opaque. Some of the wide variety of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more permanent.
This is why environmental factors can play a major role in tinnitus symptoms. If the background sound of your particular environment is very noisy, you may be harming your hearing. This environmental tinnitus might sometimes be permanent or it might sometimes react to changes to make your environment quieter.
What is tinnitus (and why is it so prevalent)?
Tinnitus is a condition that causes you to hear a sound that isn’t actually there. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it may also present as rumbling, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. Typically, the sounds are consistent or rhythmic. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus will happen over a short period of time before resolving itself and vanishing. Though not as common, chronic tinnitus is effectively permanent.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so common. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also relatively common (more on that in a bit). Underlying conditions and injuries can contribute to tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. And there are quite a few conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite common for these reasons.
How can the environment affect tinnitus?
Other things can also produce tinnitus, including ototoxic medications and chemicals. However, when most individuals talk about “environment” in terms of tinnitus, they really mean the noise. For instance, some neighborhoods are noisier than others (traffic noise in some areas can get extremely high). Likewise, anyone who works around industrial equipment all day would be at risk of their environment exacerbating their tinnitus.
When evaluating the state of your health, these environmental factors are really important.
Noise related damage, as with hearing loss, can cause tinnitus symptoms. In these circumstances, the resulting tinnitus is often chronic in nature. Some of the most common noise and environment-induced causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Music: Many individuals will frequently listen to their music at loud volumes. Tinnitus will often be the result if you do this frequently.
- Traffic: You might not even recognize how loud traffic can be in heavily populated places. And you might not even realize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you may expect. Tinnitus and hearing damage can be the outcome of long commutes in these noisy locations.
- Noise in the workplace: Lots of workplaces, including offices, are frequently the source of loud noises. Whether it’s industrial equipment or chatty office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around constant workplace noise can eventually lead to tinnitus.
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes be caused by loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-period. For example, going to a concert or using firearms can both result in tinnitus if the volumes get to a high enough level.
People often wrongly think damage to their ears will only occur at extreme volume levels. Because of this, hearing protection should be used at lower volumes than you may expect. Hearing protection can help prevent tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
So, does tinnitus go away? Well, in some instances it may. In other cases, your symptoms could be permanent. Initially, it’s basically impossible to know which is which. Likewise, just because your tinnitus has reseeded doesn’t mean that noise damage has not occurred, resulting in an increased risk of chronic tinnitus down the road.
One of the most main contributing factors to the development 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 probably happened. If this is the situation, finding and changing the source of the noise damage is crucial to prevent additional damage.
For example, you could try:
- If you’re in a noisy environment, limit the amount of exposure time and give your ears rests.
- Decreasing the volume of your environment where possible. If you have any machinery that isn’t in use, turn it off, and close the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
- Stop damage by utilizing hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. Noise canceling headphones can also be an asset in this regard.
Dealing with symptoms
The symptoms of tinnitus are often a huge distraction and are quite unpleasant for most people who deal with them. This prompts them to try and find a way to ease the intensity of their symptoms.
You should contact us for an appointment if you are hearing a persistent buzzing or ringing in your ears. We will be able to assess your symptoms and identify how to best address them. For most cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Here are a number of ways to manage the symptoms:
- Retraining therapy: In some situations, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, slowly modifying the way you process sound.
- White noise devices: Using a white noise device around your home can help you tune out your tinnitus in some cases.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits similarly to a hearing aid and plays sounds that mask your symptoms. Your device will be specifically calibrated to mask your tinnitus symptoms.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be worsened by high blood pressure. So taking some time to relax (with meditation, for instance) can sometimes help diminish your tinnitus symptoms.
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify outside sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus.
Tinnitus has no cure. A great first step would be to protect your hearing by controlling your environment.
But tinnitus can be managed and treated. Depending on your lifestyle, your hearing, and your tinnitus, we’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan for you. For some, managing your tinnitus may simply mean using a white noise machine. For other people, management may be more intense.
Set up an appointment to find out how to regulate your tinnitus symptoms.
