Public opinion about cannabinoids and marijuana have changed incredibly over the last few decades. THC, cannabinoids, and even marijuana are legal for medical use in most states. Far fewer states have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, but even that would have been unimaginable even just a decade ago.
Cannabinoids are identified as a group of compounds produced from the cannabis or marijuana plant. Regardless of their recent decriminalization in certain states, we’re still learning new things about cannabinoids. Although we now are beginning to accept the many medical positive aspects of these compounds, it has been acknowledged for some time that tinnitus might be brought about by cannabinoids.
Many Forms of Cannabinoids
These days, cannabinoids can be taken in lots of forms. It’s not just weed (or refer, or grass… ok, let’s just all agree right now that marijuana has many nicknames and move on). Pills, oils, vapors and other variations of cannabinoids are currently available.
Every state has it’s own regulations regarding what forms of cannabinoids you can purchase, and many of those forms are still officially illegal under federal law if the amount of THC is more than 0.3%. That’s why some people tend to be quite careful about cannabinoids.
The concern is that we don’t yet grasp much about some of the long term side effects or risks of cannabinoid use. Some current research into how cannabinoids affect your hearing is a prime example.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Studies
A wide range of illnesses and medical conditions are believed to be improved by cannabinoids, regardless of what you like to call it. Seizures, nausea, vertigo, and more seem to be improved with cannabinoids, according to available anecdotal information. So is it possible that cannabinoids help with tinnitus? That’s what scientists decided to find out.
Turns out, cannabinoids might actually cause tinnitus. Ringing in the ears was described by over 29% of participants after using cannabinoids. And that’s in individuals who had never had tinnitus before. Additionally, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report having tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
Additional research suggested that marijuana use could exacerbate ear-ringing symptoms in people who already suffer from tinnitus. In a nutshell, there’s some very persuasive evidence that tinnitus and cannabinoids don’t really mix very well.
How Cannabinoids worsen tinnitus
Your tinnitus can be worsened by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. First, the incidents of tinnitus symptoms can get more frequent, you could experience the buzzing or ringing in your ears more often. Also, your bouts of tinnitus can become more extreme when you’re using cannabinoids. The discomfort from the ringing could get more noticeable or harder to just ignore.
The research also seems to reveal that cannabinoids can cause the development of initial tinnitus symptoms. To put it a different way: after you begin using cannabinoids you might develop tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
It’s Still Unclear What Causes Tinnitus
Just because this link has been discovered doesn’t actually mean the root causes are very well known. That cannabinoids can have an affect on the middle ear and on tinnitus is fairly clear. But it’s much less evident what’s causing this impact.
But we recognize that marijuana use, unlike other mood altering substances like alcohol, can cause tinnitus.
Research, invariably, will continue. People will be enabled to make a smart choice as to which of the many kinds of cannabinoid to choose as we gain greater insight into their connection to tinnitus.
The Miracle Cure Beware
Lately there has been a ton of hype about cannabinoids by marketers. In part, that’s the result of changing perceptions surrounding cannabinoids themselves (and, to some extent, is also a reflection of a desire to turn away from opioid use). But cannabinoids can and at times do produce undesirable effects, according to this new research, and this is especially true when it comes to hearing.
The marketing for cannabinoids has been especially assertive and you can’t entirely steer clear of all of the fanatics.
But tinnitus and cannabinoids are clearly linked based on this research. So no matter how many adds you see for CBD oils, if you’re worried about tinnitus, you should probably keep away from them. The connection between tinnitus and cannabinoids symptoms has been pretty firmly demonstrated by the research, so it’s worth exercising a little caution.