Maybe you’ve experienced this. All of a sudden, you’ve got this persistent, loud, annoying ring in your ears, and you don’t know where it’s coming from. In fact, it can get so loud that it actually drives you crazy. And then one day, it is suddenly gone.
If that’s you, you’re lucky. Tinnitus is a persistent problem that millions of Americans, literally, suffer through on a daily basis. Tinnitus is usually perceived as a persistent ringing in the ears, although it can also present itself as other noises, like hissing, or swishing. It can be mild, moderate or severe, and in severe cases can be bothersome enough that it actually interferes with quality of life.
Who can get tinnitus?
All of us at some point or another will probably experience tinnitus, usually caused by relatively benign occurrences like a head cold with stuffed nasal passages and blocked eustachian tubes, fluid in the middle ear, and so on. For most of us, tinnitus is mild to the point of being a simple nuisance or even innocuous, such that it can even be ignored for the most part. And for most people, tinnitus will go away on its own. Some tinnitus may also occur naturally simply because as we age, the nerves responsible for hearing within our ears become impaired, and result in a certain amount of tinnitus for no other reason than the aging itself. Again, this type of tinnitus is usually relatively benign and mild.
However, when tinnitus occurs because there’s been permanent damage to the ear of some sort, such as when the middle ear bones or eardrum are diseased or damaged, the result may be a severe and permanent disabling condition, such that the noise is persistently loud, and hearing loss is permanent. In some cases, the sounds caused by tinnitus can be so loud that they actually negatively affect quality of life. It’s in these cases of tinnitus that treatment is especially warranted.
Although there is no cure for tinnitus, your doctor will first diagnose why the tinnitus is occurring. In some cases, the cause itself may be curable, such as a middle ear infection or even something (very rarely) like a tumor or aneurysm that needs to be addressed. In these cases, the tinnitus will usually go away as the cause itself is removed.
In cases of severe nerve or ear bone damage, for example, though, there is no actual cure for tinnitus. You can do certain things to mask the severity of the sound, though. Minimize your intake of stimulating drinks that contain a lot of caffeine, and reduce your anxiety and lower your blood pressure, if necessary.
People most often complain of loud tinnitus noises at night, when they’re trying to sleep; in this case, a “white noise” machine may help, since it will give your ears something to listen to besides the tinnitus, and therefore may be able to distract you enough that you can sleep.
Prevention is key
Of course, the most important thing to do with tinnitus is to prevent it whenever possible. Again, a certain amount of age-related tinnitus may be inevitable, but most severe tinnitus occurs because people have listened to loud music or otherwise damaged their hearing to the point that they acquire the tinnitus. So if you don’t have tinnitus now, and your hearing is relatively intact, protect your hearing so that you don’t get tinnitus in the first place. Here are some things you can do to protect your hearing:
§ DON’T listen to loud music, including using earphones or ear pods whereby the music is very close to your ear so that it “pulses.” You’re sure to damage your ears and eardrums, such that you will eventually develop hearing loss, and perhaps tinnitus as well.
§ If you must be around loud noises (such as if you work near them), protect your hearing by wearing ear protectors in these types of environments.
A final word
Finally, relax. It’s been shown that tinnitus can actually become worse if you concentrate on it, such that it becomes “louder.” So simply not worrying about the tinnitus in the first place can actually help it improve to at least some extent.