Tinnitus is an exceptionally common condition of the ear. Some estimates indicate that 10 percent of people have tinnitus at one point or another, making it one of the most prevalent health conditions in the world. The condition manifests as a sound in the ear that isn’t actually there, usually, it’s a buzzing or ringing, but tinnitus can manifest as other sounds too.
Sadly, the causes of tinnitus aren’t as obvious as the symptoms. In part, that’s because tinnitus may be caused by a wide range of causes, some of which are temporary and others that can be more permanent.
This is why environmental factors can play a major role in tinnitus symptoms. If the background sound of your particular setting is very noisy, you could be harming your hearing. This environmental tinnitus may sometimes be permanent or it might sometimes react to changes to make your environment quieter.
Why do so many individuals experience tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a condition in which you hear a noise that isn’t really there. For most people, tinnitus manifests as a ringing or buzzing, but it may possibly also present as thumping, humming, screeching, or other sounds as well. The sounds are usually rhythmic in nature. Tinnitus will usually clear itself up after a short time period. In less common cases, tinnitus could become effectively permanent, a condition known as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so prevalent. Firstly, environmental factors that can contribute to tinnitus are rather prevalent. Root 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 result in tinnitus. Consequently, tinnitus tends to be very common.
How is tinnitus affected by environmental factors?
There are a wide variety of factors that can bring about tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medications. But when it involves “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest offender. Some locations, such as noisy city streets, can get very loud. Somebody would be at risk of environmental tinnitus, for example, if they worked around loud industrial equipment.
When evaluating the state of your health, these environmental factors are really significant.
As with hearing loss, noise-associated damage can eventually trigger tinnitus symptoms. In these situations, the resulting tinnitus is often chronic in nature. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-related causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes result from loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-period. Firing a gun or going to a rock concert are examples of this kind of noise.
- Music: Many people will often listen to their music at loud volumes. Doing this on a regular basis can often cause tinnitus symptoms.
- Traffic: You might not even realize how loud traffic can be in densely populated places. And you may not even recognize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you might expect. Long commutes or regular driving in these loud environments can eventually lead to hearing damage, including tinnitus.
- Noise in the workplace: Lots of workplaces, including offices, are often 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 lots of people talking in an office.
Damage to the ears can happen at a much lower volume than people usually expect. For this reason, hearing protection should be used at lower volumes than you may expect. Noise induced tinnitus symptoms can often be avoided altogether by doing this.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
Will tinnitus clear up on its own? Well, in some instances it may. But your symptoms might be irreversible in some cases. At first, it’s basically impossible to know which is which. If you have tinnitus caused by noise damage, even if your tinnitus does go away, your risk of having your tinnitus come back and become chronic is much more probable.
Individuals tend to underestimate the minimum volume that damage begins to happen, which is the most significant contributing factor to its development. Damage has probably already happened if you’re experiencing tinnitus. This means that there are a number of things that you should do to change your environment so as to prevent more permanent damage.
For instance, you could try:
- Reducing the volume of your environment where possible. For instance, you could shut the windows if you live in a noisy area or turn off industrial equipment that is not in use.
- Reducing the amount of time you spend in noisy environments without giving your ears a chance to recuperate.
- Wearing hearing protection (either earplugs or earmuffs) in order to counter damage. Noise canceling headphones can also be a benefit in this regard.
Dealing with symptoms
Many individuals who experience persistent tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously disruptive and uncomfortable. This prompts them to attempt to find a way to ease the severity of their symptoms.
If you hear a buzzing or ringing sound, it’s essential to set up an appointment, especially if the sound doesn’t go away. We will be able to assess your symptoms and determine how best to address them. There’s no cure for the majority of forms of chronic tinnitus. Here are a few ways to manage the symptoms:
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify outside sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing created by tinnitus.
- Retraining therapy: You can sometimes retrain your ears with the assistance of a specialist, which will slowly retrain the way you process sound.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits like a hearing aid and plays sounds to mask your symptoms. Your device will be specifically calibrated to mask your tinnitus symptoms.
- White noise devices: Using a white noise device around your house can help you tune out your tinnitus in some cases.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be worsened by high blood pressure. Your tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be eased by utilizing relaxation techniques like meditation, for example.
Tinnitus has no cure. A good first step would be to safeguard your hearing by managing your environment.
But tinnitus can be managed and managed. Depending on your lifestyle, your hearing, and your tinnitus, we’ll be able to formulate a specific treatment plan for you. A white noise machine, for many, may be all that’s needed. For other people, management might be more demanding.
Set up an appointment to find out how to regulate your tinnitus symptoms.
