“Why am I hearing a ringing noise in my ears?” “Why won’t that noise stop?”
If you find yourself making these kinds of statements, you might have tinnitus, a common hearing issue that causes you to hear noises or perceive a sound that other people don’t hear. You’re not by yourself. Tinnitus is a disorder that impacts millions of individuals.
Ringing, pulsing, whistling, or buzzing are the sounds that the majority of people describe.
Depending on the severity, ringing in the ears may seem harmless. But there are absolutely times when you shouldn’t neglect it. Tinnitus symptoms can often be a sign of something more serious taking place in your body.
Here are 6 tinnitus symptoms you need to take seriously.
1. The Ringing in Your Ears is Affecting The Quality of Your Life
Some research indicates that 26% of people with tinnitus experience that ringing on a nearly constant basis.
This annoying, ever-present noise can bring about all kinds of relationship issues, anxiety, insomnia, and even depression.
It can be a battle between the tinnitus noise and something as basic as attempting to hear your friend tell you a recipe over the phone. The constant ringing has stressed you out to the point where you snap at a member of the family who asks you a question.
Constant ringing can become a vicious cycle. The ringing gets louder as your stress level rises. Loud noise makes you more nervous and so on.
If tinnitus is leading to these types of life challenges, it’s time to deal with it. It’s there, and your life is being affected. There are treatment choices that can considerably reduce or eliminate the noise in your ears.
2. After You Changed Medications, Your Ears Began to Ring
Doctors might try various different medications to manage the same condition whether you have cancer or chronic pain. You may ask for an alternative if you start to experience significant side effects. If your tinnitus began or got seriously worse after you started a new drug, look at that list of side effects and speak with your doctor.
Some common medications might cause tinnitus. These include some forms of:
- Over-the-counter painkillers (Tylenol, Aleve, Advil, and even aspirin) when taken several times a day for an extended period of time.
- Antibiotics
- Loop Diuretics
- Chemo
- Opioids (Pain Killers)
3. It’s Accompanied by Blurred Vision, Headache, or Seizures
This might be a sign that high blood pressure is creating your tinnitus. The blood flow in your inner ear is compromised when you suffer from hypertension. Your overall health is also in danger with high blood pressure. Age related hearing loss, over time, will worsen because of this.
4. You Only Hear it When Leaving a Gym, Concert, or Work
If you leave a noisy place such as a bar, concert, factory, or fitness class, and you begin to hear tinnitus noises, you were probably exposed to unsafe noise levels and that’s most likely the cause of these noises. It becomes increasingly likely that these noises will become irreversible the more often you ignore them and neglect using ear protection. And hearing loss will usually accompany it.
If you’re going to be exposed to loud noise, use the following to safeguard your hearing:
- At least once an hour, go outside or into the restroom to give your ears a break
- Using earplugs
- Standing a little further away from loud speakers
Follow the rules pertaining to earmuffs and earplugs if you work in a noisy environment. Your safety gear will only successfully protect you if you use it correctly.
5. You Also Have Facial Paralysis
Whether you have ringing in your ears or not, you should never ignore facial paralysis. 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. You Experience Fluctuating Hearing Loss With it
Are you experiencing hearing loss that comes and goes? Are you sometimes dizzy? If these symptoms are occurring along with tinnitus, you might need to get tested for Menier’s disease. This produces a fluid imbalance in your ears. If left untreated, it frequently gets worse and may increase your risks of significant falls due to lack of balance.
Hearing loss is often signaled by tinnitus. So if you’re experiencing it, you should get your hearing examined more frequently. Get in touch with us to make an appointment for a hearing test.
