It isn’t unusual for people to have ringing in their ears, also known as tinnitus. It’s one of the most common health conditions in the world with some estimates suggesting that up to 10 percent of the population experiences it at one time or another. The condition is experienced as a sound in the ear that isn’t really 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. Some of the wide variety of tinnitus causes are temporary, while others can be more long term.
That’s why your environment can be really important. After all, every setting has a soundscape, and when that soundscape is noisy, you could be doing damage to your ears. This environmental tinnitus may sometimes be long lasting or it may sometimes respond to changes to make your environment quieter.
Why do so many people experience tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a condition that causes you to hear a sound that isn’t actually there. For the majority of people, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it may possibly also present as thumping, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. Normally, the sounds are constant or rhythmic. Tinnitus will typically clear itself up after a short time period. In less common cases, tinnitus might become effectively permanent, a condition referred to as chronic tinnitus.
There are a couple of reasons why tinnitus is so prevalent. The first is that the environmental factors that play a role in tinnitus are also quite common (more on that in a bit). The second reason is that tinnitus is often a symptom of a root condition or injury. And there are a wide variety of conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. As a result, tinnitus tends to be quite common.
How can the environment impact tinnitus?
Other things can also trigger tinnitus, including ototoxic medications and chemicals. But when it comes to “environmental” triggers, noise is the biggest culprit. For instance, some neighborhoods are noisier than others (traffic noise in some settings can get extraordinarily high). Someone 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 extremely important.
Noise related damage, as with hearing loss, can activate tinnitus symptoms. In these cases, the resulting tinnitus tends to be chronic in nature. Some of the most prevalent noise and environment-related causes of tinnitus include the following:
- Noise in the workplace: It may come as a surprise that many workplaces, sometimes even offices, are fairly noisy. Whether it’s industrial equipment or chatty office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around continuous workplace noise can eventually lead to tinnitus.
- Music: Listening to music at loud volumes is a fairly common practice. Doing this on a regular basis can frequently trigger tinnitus symptoms.
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes be caused by loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long duration. Firing a gun or going to a rock concert are instances of this kind of noise.
- Traffic: You may not even realize how loud traffic can be in heavily populated places. And noise damage can happen at a lower volume than you might expect. Tinnitus and hearing damage can be the outcome of long commutes in these noisy locations.
People often mistakenly believe hearing damage will only occur at extreme volume levels. Because of this, hearing protection should be used at lower volumes than you might expect. Hearing protection can help you avoid tinnitus symptoms from developing in the first place.
What should I do if I have tinnitus?
Will tinnitus go away by itself? Perhaps, in some instances. But your symptoms may be permanent in some instances. There’s no way to identify which is which at the beginning. Moreover, just because your tinnitus has gone away for now doesn’t mean that noise damage has not occurred, leading to an increased chance of chronic tinnitus in the future.
People often underestimate the minimum volume that damage starts to occur, which is the most significant contributing factor to its advancement. Damage has likely already happened if you’re experiencing tinnitus. If this is the case, finding and changing the source of the noise damage is crucial to prevent further damage.
For example, you could try:
- Stop damage by utilizing hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. Noise canceling headphones can also be a benefit in this regard.
- Limiting the amount of time you spend in noisy environments without giving your ears a chance to recover.
- Decreasing the volume of your environment where possible. For example, you could close the windows if you live in a loud area or turn off industrial machinery that isn’t in use.
How to manage your symptoms
Many people who experience chronic tinnitus find the symptoms to be enormously distracting and uncomfortable. This prompts them to try and find a way to ease the severity of their symptoms.
If you hear a buzzing or ringing sound, it’s important to schedule an appointment, especially if the sound won’t go away. We will be able to assess your symptoms and figure out how to best address them. For the majority of cases of chronic tinnitus, there’s no cure. Here are a few ways to manage the symptoms:
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be worsened by high blood pressure. Your tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be alleviated by utilizing relaxation techniques like meditation, for example.
- Retraining therapy: In some instances, you can work with a specialist to retrain your ears, slowly changing the way you process sound.
- Hearing aid: This can help amplify outside sounds and, as a result, drown out the ringing or buzzing produced by tinnitus.
- White noise devices: Using a white noise device around your home can help you tune out your tinnitus in some instances.
- 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.
There’s no cure for tinnitus. A great first step would be to safeguard your hearing by controlling your environment.
But tinnitus can be managed and treated. 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 required. In other situations, a more extensive approach may be necessary.
Learn how to best manage your tinnitus by making an appointment right away!
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