Tinnitus is an exceptionally common condition of the ear. It’s one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world with some estimates indicating that up to 10 percent of the population experiences it at one time or another. The condition manifests as a sound in the ear that isn’t actually there, typically, it’s a buzzing or ringing, but tinnitus can take the form of other sounds too.
Sadly, the causes of tinnitus aren’t as evident as the symptoms. Some of the wide array of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more long term.
That’s why your environment can be critically important. If the background sound of your particular environment is very loud, you may be damaging your hearing. This environmental tinnitus might sometimes be long lasting or it may sometimes respond to changes to make your environment quieter.
Why do so many people experience tinnitus?
When you hear sounds that aren’t actually present, that’s tinnitus. Tinnitus usually manifests as a ringing or buzzing, but can also manifest as other sounds, like screeching, thumping, or humming. The sounds are typically rhythmic in nature. For the majority of individuals, tinnitus will manifest over a short period of time before resolving itself and vanishing. In less common cases, tinnitus could become effectively permanent, a condition referred to as chronic tinnitus.
Tinnitus is so prevalent for a couple of reasons. Firstly, environmental factors that can contribute to tinnitus are quite prevalent. Underlying conditions and injuries can contribute to tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. And there are a wide variety of conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite common for these reasons.
How can the environment affect tinnitus?
Other things can also trigger tinnitus, including ototoxic medicines and chemicals. However, when most individuals talk about “environment” when it comes to tinnitus, they really mean the noise. Some locations, such as noisy city streets, can get really loud. Likewise, anyone who works around industrial equipment all day would be at risk of their environment exacerbating their tinnitus.
When assessing the state of your health, these environmental factors are really significant.
As with hearing loss, noise-induced damage can eventually cause tinnitus symptoms. In these situations, the resulting tinnitus tends to be chronic in nature. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-induced causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Noise in the workplace: Many workplaces, including offices, are frequently the source of loud noises. Tinnitus can eventually result from being in these places 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 areas can be a lot louder than you might expect it to be. And you may 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.
- Events: If noise is loud enough, even over short intervals, tinnitus can sometimes be the result. 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. Tinnitus will frequently be the result if you do this frequently.
People often wrongly think hearing damage will only happen at extreme volume levels. For this reason, hearing protection should be utilized at lower volumes than you might expect. Noise associated tinnitus symptoms can frequently be avoided altogether by doing this.
What should I do if I’m experiencing tinnitus?
So, does tinnitus resolve? Well, in some instances it could. In other cases, your symptoms may be permanent. Initially, it’s basically impossible to know which is which. If you have tinnitus because of noise damage, even if your tinnitus does clear up, your chance of having your tinnitus come back and become chronic is much more likely.
Individuals often underestimate the minimum volume that damage begins to occur, which is the most significant contributing factor to its advancement. Damage has most likely already happened if you’re experiencing tinnitus. If this is the case, identifying and changing the source of the noise damage is essential to prevent additional damage.
For example, you could try:
- If you’re in a loud environment, limit the amount of exposure time and give your ears rests.
- Wearing hearing protection (either earplugs or earmuffs) in order to prevent damage. Noise canceling headphones can also be an asset in this regard.
- Decreasing the volume of your environment when possible. If you have any machinery that isn’t in use, turn it off, and shut the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
Dealing with symptoms
Lots of people who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously disruptive and unpleasant. This prompts them to attempt to find a way to ease the severity of their symptoms.
If you hear a ringing or buzzing sound, it’s important to schedule an appointment, particularly if the sound doesn’t go away. We will be able to assess your symptoms and identify how best to address them. For the majority of cases of persistent tinnitus, there’s no cure. Here are a few ways to manage the symptoms:
- Hearing aid: The ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus can be drowned out by boosting the volume of external sounds with hearing aids.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be exacerbated by high blood pressure. So taking some time to relax (with meditation, for example) can sometimes help diminish your tinnitus symptoms.
- Retraining therapy: In some instances, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, slowly modifying the way you process sound.
- White noise devices: Utilizing a white noise device around your house 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 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 addressed and managed. Depending on your lifestyle, your hearing, and your tinnitus, we’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan for you. For some, dealing with your tinnitus might simply mean utilizing a white noise machine. For other people, management may be more intense.
Learn how to best control your tinnitus by making an appointment right away!