“What’s that annoying sound in my ears?” “How can I make that noise go away?”
You could be dealing with tinnitus, a common hearing affliction that manifests sounds in your ears that nobody else can hear, if you find yourself making these kinds of statements. You’re not by yourself. Millions of people have this disorder.
Most describe it as ringing in the ears, but it can also sound like a dial tone, pulsing noise, whistling, or buzzing.
Ringing in the ears may seem harmless, depending on its intensity. But tinnitus shouldn’t always be ignored. Something more serious might be the root cause of these sounds.
Here are 6 tinnitus symptoms you really should take seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
Some research suggests that 26% of tinnitus sufferers experience that ringing on a nearly constant basis.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and relationship problems are all possible repercussions of this ever present ringing.
Something as simple as listening to your daughter share a recipe on the phone becomes a battle between her voice and the noise that overshadows it. You may snap at your grandson, who asks a simple question, because the ringing stresses you out.
Continuous ringing can become a vicious cycle. The ringing gets louder as your stress level rises. Loud noise makes you more anxious and so on.
If your tinnitus is leading to these types of life struggles, you shouldn’t neglect it. It’s there, and your life is being affected. The noise can be decreased or eliminated with available treatment options.
2. After You Switched Medications, Your Ears Started to Ring
Whether you have chronic back pain or cancer, doctors may try numerous different medications to deal with the same condition. Some of these will have side effects so significant that you may want to ask about alternate options. Consult with your doctor and determine what the side effects are if you began experiencing tinnitus symptoms after starting a new medication.
Tinnitus might be caused by some common medications. Here are a few examples:
- Loop Diuretics
- Antibiotics
- Chemo
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
3. It Comes With Headache, Blurred Vision, or Seizures
This normally means that your tinnitus symptoms are being triggered by high blood pressure. The blood flow in your inner ear is compromised when you suffer from hypertension. Your overall health is also at risk with high blood pressure. As time passes, it could cause or worsen age-related hearing loss.
4. You Only Hear it After You Leave a Concert, Gym, or Work
If you only hear the tinnitus after you leave a noisy setting like a factory, concert, aerobics class, or bar, then the place you were just in had noise levels above safe levels. If you neglect this occasional tinnitus and don’t start to protect your ears, it will most likely become permanent over time. And hearing loss will usually accompany it.
If you enjoy a loud night out, take precautions such as:
- Standing a bit further away from loud speakers
- At least once every hour, step outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
- Using earplugs
If you work in a loud place, follow work rules regarding earmuffs and earplugs. Your safety gear will only successfully protect you if you use it correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
We hope you wouldn’t ignore facial paralysis regardless of whether you have ringing in your ears. But when the tinnitus symptoms are come along with paralysis, headaches, and nausea, this might be a sign of a slow-growing benign brain tumor called an acoustic neuroma.
6. Fluctuating Hearing Loss is Accompanying Tinnitus
Are you experiencing hearing loss that comes and goes? Are you sometimes dizzy? When accompanied by tinnitus, this means you need to be tested for Meniere’s disease. This leads to a fluid imbalance in your ears. Your risk of falling caused by lack of balance will worsen if this condition is left untreated.
Hearing loss is often signaled by tinnitus. So you should get your hearing checked if you’re experiencing it. Call us to set up an appointment.
