Tinnitus is an extremely common condition of the ear. Some estimates indicate that 10 percent of people have tinnitus at one time or another, making it one of the most common health conditions in the world. The condition manifests as a sound in the ear that isn’t actually there, typically, it’s a buzzing or ringing, but tinnitus can manifest as other sounds also.
Unfortunately, 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.
This is why environmental factors can Have a major impact on tinnitus symptoms. If the background sound of your particular setting is very noisy, you may be harming your hearing. This environmental tinnitus might sometimes be long lasting or it might 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 most people, tinnitus manifests as a buzzing or ringing, but it could also present as rumbling, humming, screeching, or other noises as well. The sounds are normally rhythmic in nature. Tinnitus will typically clear itself up after a short period of time. Though not as common, chronic tinnitus is effectively permanent.
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). Root conditions and injuries can bring about tinnitus symptoms and that accounts for the second reason. And there are lots of conditions and injuries that can trigger tinnitus. Tinnitus is quite prevalent for these reasons.
How can the environment impact tinnitus?
There are a large number of factors that can contribute to tinnitus symptoms, including ototoxic chemicals and medications. However, when most individuals talk about “environment” in terms of tinnitus, they actually mean the noise. Some locations, such as noisy city streets, can get quite loud. Somebody would be at risk of environmental tinnitus, for example, if they worked around loud industrial equipment.
These environmental factors can be incredibly important when considering your hearing health.
As with hearing loss, noise-related damage can eventually trigger tinnitus symptoms. In these circumstances, the resulting tinnitus is often chronic in nature. Here are a few of the most common noise-related causes of tinnitus:
- Music: Many individuals will frequently listen to their music at loud volumes. Doing this on a regular basis can often cause tinnitus symptoms.
- Events: Tinnitus can sometimes result from loud noises, even if they aren’t experienced over a long time-frame. Firing a gun or going to a rock concert are instances of this type of noise.
- Noise in the workplace: It might come as a surprise that lots of workplaces, sometimes even offices, are pretty noisy. Whether it’s industrial equipment or gabby office neighbors, spending eight hours a day around continuous workplace noise can eventually lead to tinnitus.
- Traffic: Traffic in heavily populated places can be a lot louder than you might expect it to be. And you might not even recognize that your ears can be damaged at lower volumes than you might expect. Long commutes or regular driving in these noisy settings can eventually result in hearing damage, including tinnitus.
People frequently wrongly believe hearing damage will only occur at extreme volume levels. As a result, it’s important to use hearing protection before you think you may need it. Noise related tinnitus symptoms can often be avoided altogether by doing this.
What should I do if I’m experiencing tinnitus?
Will tinnitus go away by itself? Well, in some cases it might. In other cases, your symptoms could be permanent. There’s no way to know which is which at the beginning. If you have tinnitus caused by noise damage, even if your tinnitus does go away, your chance of having your tinnitus return and become chronic is much more likely.
One of the most significant contributing factors to the development of tinnitus is that individuals tend to underestimate the volume at which damage happens to their ears. Damage has most likely already happened if you’re experiencing tinnitus. If this is the case, identifying and changing the source of the noise damage is crucial to prevent additional damage.
For instance, you could try:
- Decreasing the amount of time you spend in loud environments without giving your ears a chance to recuperate.
- Prevent damage by using hearing protection like earplugs or earmuffs. You can also get some amount of protection from noise canceling headphones.
- If possible, try to decrease environmental volume. If you have any machinery that’s not in use, turn it off, and shut the windows if it’s noisy outside, for example.
How to handle your symptoms
The symptoms of tinnitus are often a big distraction and are quite unpleasant for the majority of people who deal with them. Because of this, they often ask: how do you quiet tinnitus?
You should give us a call for an appointment if you’re hearing a persistent ringing or buzzing in your ears. We will be able to evaluate your symptoms and identify how best to address them. There’s no cure for the majority of kinds 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 produced by tinnitus.
- White noise devices: Using a white noise device around your home can help you tune out your tinnitus in some cases.
- Masking device: This is a device that fits similarly to a hearing aid and plays sounds that mask your symptoms. The precise calibration of your device will depend on your particular symptoms.
- Relaxation techniques: Tinnitus symptoms can sometimes be exacerbated by high blood pressure. So taking a little time to relax (with meditation, for instance) can sometimes help reduce your tinnitus symptoms.
- Retraining therapy: You can sometimes retrain your ears with the assistance of a specialist, which will gradually retrain the way you process sound.
There’s no cure for tinnitus. That’s why controlling your environment to protect your hearing is a practical first step.
But tinnitus can be addressed and managed. We’ll be able to develop a specific treatment plan according to your hearing, your tinnitus, and your lifestyle. A white noise machine, for many, might be all that’s required. For other people, management might be more intense.
Make an appointment to find out how to regulate your tinnitus symptoms.