Let’s set the stage: You’re lying in bed attempting to fall asleep after a long tiring day. You feel yourself starting to drift off to sleep. Then you start to 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 within your ears and you don’t know how to make it stop.
If this situation sounds familiar, then it’s likely that you’re one of the 50 million people that have tinnitus. Buzzing, ringing, and a range of other noises will be heard in your ears when you have this condition. For the majority of people, tinnitus will not have a significant impact on their lives besides being a simple inconvenience. For other individuals, unfortunately, tinnitus can be debilitating and cause them to lose sleep and have difficulty doing work and recreational activities.
What’s The Primary Cause of Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is still a bit of a mystery, but experts have narrowed down a few causes for this condition. It’s most common in individuals who have damaged hearing, as well as people who have heart conditions. It’s believed that tinnitus occurs 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 don’t 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 result of other conditions, such as ear infections, canal blockages, and Meniere’s disease. All of these conditions affect the hearing and lead to situations where tinnitus becomes more prevalent. In other cases, there might not be an easily discernible cause of tinnitus, which can make treatment difficult, but not impossible.
How Can Tinnitus be Managed?
Depending on the root cause of your tinnitus, there might be several possible treatment choices. One significant thing to note, however, is that there is currently 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 revealed that hearing aids help mask tinnitus in individuals who have hearing loss.
If masking the noise isn’t helpful, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been proven to help people deal with the ringing in their ears that doesn’t fade away with other treatments. This mental health type of treatment can help people who are afflicted by tinnitus to function more normally on an everyday basis by helping them change their negative thoughts into a more positive mindset.
