As you most likely know, sustained periods of stress are not healthy for the body. When you are afflicted by chronic stress, everything from headaches to serious muscle aches can be the result. But did you recognize stress can also result in tinnitus, a ringing, buzzing, or clicking in the ears?
Stress isn’t the only thing that can trigger tinnitus, it can also be caused by a sinus infection, loud noises, and other factors. Let’s have a look at a few potential causes of that annoying ringing in your ears.
How to Distinguish Unhealthy Stress
How does stress relate to tinnitus? It’s often easy to neglect how extreme the medical consequence of stress can be on our bodies. Stress is not something you should neglect.
Healthy Stress
Short term stress can actually be a very motivating factor with regards to completing duties. If you’re facing a deadline and have to focus on accomplishing a project, stress can be an ally by giving the boost of energy needed to get the job done.
There is a difference, though, between healthy, short-term stress and unhealthy, damaging stress. Healthy stress helps you reach a goal without harming your body. Unhealthy stress is harmful for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Usually, an irrational fear is the cause of unhealthy stress. Unhealthy stress is produced when a person remains in a heightened state of anxiety for a long period of time.
Unhealthy stress is associates with our “fight or flight” response, a normal reaction that helps keep us safe in dangerous conditions. Harmful physical symptoms happen when someone remains in a hyper-stressful circumstance for extended periods.
Worrying
Worrying is a really universal cause of unhealthy stress. We may exaggerate the importance of a situation or an interaction with another person. We may tell ourselves we destroyed a chance at a promotion because of something we said. When you worry like this your intrusive thoughts can really get away from you.
Invasive Thoughts And Unhealthy Stress
We may believe that we are falling behind and failing to fulfill our day-to-day routine. Fixation, perpetual internal dialog, and even panic are a common part of this type of stress. If we don’t take a few positive steps to deal with this stress it will continue to wear down our body.
Pain and muscle tension on the upper body are normal effects of unhealthy stress. The head, neck shoulders, and jaw are areas that can be impacted.
Jaw Tension And Anger
Have you ever read a book where the author portrays a character as being so angry his jaw clenched in rage? Jaw strain is a prevalent symptom of stress, worry, anger, and invasive thoughts.
Continuous tension can put pressure on the delicate bones of the eardrum and inner ear. Eventually, this strain can produce ringing in your ears.
Ear Strain And Sinus Infections
From sore throats to stuffy noses, sinus infections bring about lots of undesired symptoms.
Sinus infections cause sinus pressure, headaches, and ear pressure. These problems can lead to ringing, buzzing, and clicking in the ears.
A stuffy nose often spreads to the ears when you have a sinus infection. This can generate excessive earwax, which leads to blockages in the ears and intense pressure on the eardrums. And with this comes ringing in the ears.
You may not need to go to a hearing professional if the ringing is the result of a sinus infection, as the symptoms may go away by themselves. But you should definitely make an appointment with us if the ringing persists for more than a few days.
Extended Exposure to Loud Noises
The occasional music performance probably won’t cause lasting ear-ringing. However, you may be putting stress on the fragile parts of your ear if you routinely expose yourself to intense sound.
When you expose your ears to loud noises frequently, your eardrums and the bones of the inner ears are put under a great deal of strain, which can result in buzzing, ringing, or clicking.
Above and beyond tinnitus, temporary or even lasting hearing loss can be the outcome of continued exposure to loud sounds. Listening to music at a reasonable volume and wearing ear protection when necessary is crucial for hearing health.
Safeguarding Your Hearing
Tinnitus is not something you should ignore regardless of which one of these is causing it. It’s best to get your ears examined by a hearing professional on a regular basis. If you suspect the ringing in your ears has a serious hidden medical cause, you should have them examined for your peace of mind.
