Let’s set the scene: You’re lying in bed trying to fall asleep after a long stressful day. Your eyelids are starting to get heavy and you know that your about to fall asleep. Then you hear it: a buzzing sound in your ears. You’re certain it’s nothing in your bedroom because the TV, radio, and phone have all been turned off. Unfortunately, this sound is inside your ears and it won’t go away.
If this situation sounds familiar, then chances are that you’re one of the 50 million people who suffer from tinnitus. This condition causes you to hear buzzing, whooshing, and ringing sounds, among others, inside your ears. Most people who have tinnitus think of it as a mere annoyance; they notice it now and again but it doesn’t really impact their daily lives. But this is not the case with everyone who has 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 remains somewhat of a mystery, but this problem has been narrowed down to a handful of causes. It’s most common in individuals who have damaged hearing, as well as individuals who have heart conditions. It’s believed that tinnitus comes about due to limited blood flow around the ears, which makes the heart pump blood harder so that it can get where it needs to go. People who have iron-deficiency anemia often suffer from tinnitus symptoms because their blood cells don’t carry enough oxygen throughout their body, which, again, makes the heart work overtime to get oxygen and other nutrients where they need to go.
Tinnitus also occurs as a result of other conditions, like ear infections, canal blockages, and Meniere’s disease. Scenarios where tinnitus becomes more pronounced happen with all of these condition because they all affect the hearing. In other cases, there may not be an easily discernible cause of tinnitus, which can make treatment challenging, but not impossible.
Is There Any Cure For Tinnitus?
Depending on the root cause of your tinnitus, there may be several possible treatment choices. One relevant thing to take note of, however, is that there is presently no known cure for tinnitus. But these treatments can still present a good possibility for your tinnitus to get better or go away altogether.
Research has revealed that hearing aids help mask tinnitus in people who suffer from hearing loss.
If covering up the noise isn’t helpful, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been confirmed to help people deal with the buzzing in their ears that doesn’t go away with other treatments. This mental health style of treatment can help individuals who are afflicted by tinnitus to function more normally on an everyday basis by helping them change their negative thoughts into a more positive outlook.