Tinnitus is an extremely common condition of the ear. It’s one of the most prevalent 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 preponderance of tinnitus might be obvious, the causes are frequently more cloudy. In part, that’s because tinnitus could result from a wide variety of causes, some of which are temporary and others that can be more long lasting.
That’s why your environment can be very important. After all, every environment has a soundscape, and when that soundscape is loud, you might be causing damage to your ears. 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 common)?
When you hear noises that aren’t actually present, that’s tinnitus. Tinnitus normally manifests as a ringing or buzzing, but can also manifest as other sounds, like screeching, thumping, or humming. The sounds are normally rhythmic in nature. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus will manifest over a short period of time before solving itself and vanishing. In less common cases, tinnitus could become effectively permanent, a condition referred to as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so common. The first is that the environmental factors that contribute to tinnitus are also quite common (more on that in a bit). Root conditions and injuries can contribute to tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. In other words, there are lots of such injuries or conditions that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite prevalent 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. But when it involves “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest offender. For example, some neighborhoods are noisier than others (traffic noise in some areas can get exceptionally high). Somebody would be in danger of environmental tinnitus, for instance, if they worked around loud industrial equipment.
When assessing the state of your health, these environmental factors are extremely significant.
Noise related damage, as with hearing loss, can activate tinnitus symptoms. In these cases, the resulting tinnitus is often chronic in nature. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-induced causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes result from loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long duration. For example, attending a concert or using firearms can both trigger tinnitus if the volumes reach a high enough level.
- Music: Many people will frequently listen to their music at high volumes. Doing this on a regular basis can frequently result in tinnitus symptoms.
- Traffic: Traffic in densely populated locations can be a lot louder than you might expect it to be. And you might not even recognize 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 settings.
- Noise in the workplace: It could come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly loud. Tinnitus can eventually result from being in these places for eight hours a day, whether it’s industrial equipment or the din of lots of people talking in an office.
Hearing damage can occur at a much lower volume than people usually expect. Consequently, it’s essential to wear hearing protection before you think you might need it. Hearing protection can help prevent tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
Will tinnitus go away by itself? Well, in some instances it might. In other cases, your symptoms could be irreversible. There’s no way to tell which is which at the beginning. If you have tinnitus because of noise damage, even if your tinnitus does clear up, your chance of having your tinnitus return and become chronic is a lot more probable.
Individuals tend to underestimate the minimum volume that damage begins to happen, which is the most significant contributing factor to its development. If you experience tinnitus, your body is telling you that damage has already likely happened. This means that there are a number of things that you should do to change your environment so as to prevent more irreparable damage.
Here are a few tips you can try:
- Reducing the volume of your environment when possible. If you have any machinery that isn’t in use, turn it off, and close the windows if it’s noisy outside, for instance.
- Limiting the amount of time you spend in loud environments without giving your ears a chance to recover.
- Wearing hearing protection (either earplugs or earmuffs) in order to counter damage. You can also get some amount of protection from noise canceling headphones.
How to manage your symptoms
Lots of individuals who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously disruptive and uncomfortable. This prompts them to try and find a way to ease the intensity of their symptoms.
If you hear a ringing or buzzing sound, it’s important to schedule an appointment, particularly if the sound won’t go away. We can help you determine the best way to regulate your specific situation. For most cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Symptom management may include the following:
- Hearing aid: The ringing or buzzing created by tinnitus can be drowned out by raising the volume of outside sounds with hearing aids.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be aggravated by high blood pressure. So taking some time to relax (with meditation, for instance) can sometimes help decrease your tinnitus symptoms.
- White noise devices: Utilizing a white noise device around your home can help you tune out your tinnitus in some instances.
- Masking device: This device is similar to a hearing aid, but instead of boosting sounds, it masks them. Your device will be specially calibrated to mask your tinnitus symptoms.
- Retraining therapy: In some cases, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, gradually changing the way you process sound.
There’s no cure for tinnitus. A good first step would be to safeguard your hearing by controlling your environment.
But treating and managing tinnitus is possible. We’ll be able to develop a specific treatment plan based on your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. For some people, dealing with your tinnitus may simply mean utilizing a white noise machine. In other situations, a more intensive approach might be necessary.
Learn how to best control your tinnitus by making an appointment right away!
