Let’s set the scene: You’re lying in bed attempting to sleep after a long tiring day. Your eyelids are starting to get heavy and you know that sleep is right around the corner. Then as you’re lying there in the quiet of the night, you start to notice the sound of ringing in your ears. Your phone, TV, and radio are all turned off so you know it’s nothing in your room. No, this noise is coming from inside your ears and you don’t know how to stop it.
If this scenario has happened to you, then it’s likely that you’re one of the 50 million people that suffer from tinnitus. This condition makes you hear buzzing, whooshing, and ringing sounds, among others, within your ears. The majority of people suffering from tinnitus think of it as a mere inconvenience; they notice it now and again but it doesn’t really affect their day-to-day lives. But this is not the case with everybody who is suffering from tinnitus. For some, it can cause them to Disengage socially, have a hard time working, and to lose sleep.
What’s The Primary Cause of Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is still a bit of a mystery, but this condition has been narrowed down to a few causes. It’s most prevalent in people who have damaged hearing, and also people who suffer from heart conditions. Restricted blood flow around the ears is generally considered to be the underlying cause of tinnitus. This causes the heart to have to work harder to pump blood to where it’s needed. People who have iron-deficiency anemia frequently suffer from tinnitus symptoms since their blood cells do not carry enough oxygen throughout their body, which, once again, makes the heart work overtime to get oxygen and other nutrients where they need to go.
Tinnitus also happens as a symptom of other conditions, such as Meniere’s disease, ear infections, and ear canal blockages. Situations where tinnitus becomes more pronounced happen with all of these condition because they all affect the hearing. In some cases treatment can be challenging when the cause of tinnitus is not easily discernible, but that doesn’t mean treatment is impossible.
What Treatments Are Out There For Tinnitus?
Depending on the root cause of your tinnitus, there may be several possible treatment choices. One important thing to note, however, is that there is presently no known cure for tinnitus. But these treatments can still offer a good possibility for your tinnitus to get better or go away altogether.
Studies have shown that hearing aids help cover up tinnitus in people who suffer from hearing loss.
If masking the noise doesn’t help, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been proven to help people deal with the buzzing in their ears that does not go away with other treatments. This mental health type of treatment can help people who have tinnitus to function more normally on a day to day basis by helping them change their negative thoughts into a more positive mindset.