Let’s set the scene: you’re in your bed at night attempting to unwind after a long, stressful day. You feel yourself beginning to drift off to sleep. Then you hear it: a ringing sound in your ears. You know it’s nothing in your bedroom because the radio, TV, and phone are all off. No, this sound is coming from inside your ears and you’re not sure how to make it stop.
If this situation sounds familiar, then chances are that you’re one of the 50 million people who have tinnitus. This condition causes you to hear ringing, buzzing, and whooshing sounds, among others, in your ears. For the majority of people, tinnitus will not have a significant impact on their lives beyond being a simple irritation. For other individuals, unfortunately, tinnitus can be unbearable and cause them to lose sleep and have a hard time doing work and recreational activities.
What Causes Tinnitus?
Tinnitus remains somewhat of a mystery, but specialists have focused in on a few causes for this problem. It’s most prevalent in individuals who have damaged hearing, as well as people who suffer from heart problems. It’s believed that tinnitus happens due to reduced blood flow around the ears, which causes the heart to pump blood harder so that it can get where it needs to go. 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, works the heart harder to get nutrients to the right place, often leading to tinnitus.
Tinnitus also happens as a symptom of other conditions, like Meniere’s disease, ear infections, and ear canal blockages. Scenarios where tinnitus becomes more pronounced happen with all of these condition because they all affect the hearing. In other situations, there might not be an easily discernible cause of tinnitus, which can make treatment difficult, but not impossible.
Is There Any Remedy For Tinnitus?
Depending on the underlying cause of your tinnitus, there may be a number of possible treatment choices. One important thing to take note of, however, is that there is currently no known cure for tinnitus. But these treatments can still present a good possibility for your tinnitus to improve or go away altogether.
Studies have shown that hearing aids help cover up tinnitus in people who have hearing loss.
If covering up the noise isn’t helpful, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been confirmed to help people live with the buzzing in their ears that doesn’t fade away with other treatments. This type of mental health therapy helps patients change their negative ideas about tinnitus into more positive, realistic thoughts that help them function normally on a regular basis.