Tinnitus tends to get worse at night for most of the millions of people in the US that suffer with it. But what’s the reason for this? The ringing is a phantom sound due to some medical disorder like hearing loss, it isn’t an external sound. But none of that information can give an explanation as to why this ringing becomes louder at night.
The real reason is pretty simple. To know why your tinnitus increases as you try to sleep, you need to know the hows and whys of this very common medical issue.
What is tinnitus?
For the majority of individuals, tinnitus isn’t a real sound, but this fact just compounds the confusion. It’s a noise no one else can hear. It sounds like air-raid sirens are ringing in your ears but the person sleeping right beside you can’t hear it at all.
Tinnitus is an indication that something is not right, not a condition by itself. It is typically associated with significant hearing loss. For a lot of people, tinnitus is the first sign they get that their hearing is in jeopardy. Hearing loss is often gradual, so they don’t notice it until that ringing or buzzing begins. This phantom noise is a warning flag to warn you of a change in how you hear.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus is one of medical science’s biggest mysteries and doctors don’t have a clear understanding of why it occurs. It could be a symptom of inner ear damage or numerous other possible medical issues. The inner ear has lots of tiny hair cells made to vibrate in response to sound waves. Tinnitus can indicate there’s damage to those hair cells, enough to keep them from delivering electrical signals to the brain. These electrical messages are how the brain converts sound into something it can clearly comprehend like a car horn or somebody talking.
The present hypothesis regarding tinnitus has to do with the absence of sound. The brain remains on the alert to receive these messages, so when they don’t come, it fills that space with the phantom sound of tinnitus. It attempts to compensate for input that it’s not receiving.
That would explain some things about tinnitus. For starters, why it’s a symptom of so many different illnesses that impact the ear: mild infections, concussions, and age-related hearing loss. It also tells you something about why the ringing gets louder at night for some individuals.
Why are tinnitus sounds louder at night?
Unless you are significantly deaf, your ear receives some sounds during the day whether you realize it or not. It hears very faintly the music or the TV playing somewhere close by. But during the night, when you’re trying to sleep, it gets really quiet.
All of a sudden, the brain becomes confused as it searches for sound to process. When faced with total silence, it resorts to producing its own internal sounds. Sensory deprivation has been demonstrated to induce hallucinations as the brain attempts to insert information, like auditory input, into a place where there isn’t any.
In other words, it’s too quiet at night so your tinnitus seems worse. Creating sound may be the remedy for individuals who can’t sleep because of that aggravating ringing in the ear.
How to produce noise at night
For some individuals dealing with tinnitus, all they need is a fan running in the background. Just the noise of the motor is enough to quiet the ringing.
But you can also get devices that are specifically made to lessen tinnitus sounds. White noise machines simulate environmental sounds like rain or ocean waves. If you were to leave a TV on, it might be distracting, but white noise machines generate calming sounds that you can sleep through. Your smartphone also has the ability to download apps that will play calming sounds.
Can anything else make tinnitus symptoms louder?
Your tinnitus symptoms can be amplified by other things besides lack of sound. For example, if you’re indulging in too much alcohol before bed, that could be a contributing factor. Tinnitus also tends to get worse if you’re under stress and certain medical problems can lead to a flare-up, also, like high blood pressure. Call us for an appointment if these suggestions aren’t helping or if you’re feeling dizzy when your tinnitus symptoms are active.
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References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-loss-tinnitus-statistics/
