Let’s set the scene: You’re lying in bed attempting to fall asleep after a long tiring day. You feel yourself beginning to drift off to sleep. Then you hear it: a ringing sound inside your ears. You know it’s nothing in your room because the TV, radio, and phone are all off. No, this noise is coming from inside your ears and you’re not sure how to make it stop.
If this situation sounds familiar, then it’s likely that you’re one of the 50 million people who have tinnitus. Ringing, Buzzing, and a range of other noises will be heard inside of your ears when you suffer from this problem. For the majority of people, tinnitus won’t have a substantial impact on their lives besides being a simple inconvenience. But this is not the situation with everybody who has tinnitus. For some, it can cause them to Disengage socially, have a hard time working, and to lose sleep.
What’s The Underlying Cause of Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is still a bit of a mystery, but this condition has been narrowed down to a few causes. It shows up commonly in individuals who have damaged hearing, as well as people who have heart problems. It’s believed that tinnitus comes about due to limited blood flow around the ears, which causes the heart to pump blood harder in order for it to get where it needs to go. People who have iron-deficiency anemia often experience tinnitus symptoms because 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 ear infections, canal blockages, and Meniere’s disease. Situations where tinnitus becomes more pronounced occur with all of these condition because they all affect the hearing. Sometimes treatment can be difficult when the cause of tinnitus isn’t evident, but that doesn’t mean treatment is impossible.
Is There Any Cure For Tinnitus?
There are a number of treatments available to help stop the ringing in your ears, all depending on the root cause of your tinnitus. One significant thing to note, however, is that there is currently no known cure for tinnitus. But these treatments can still offer a good chance for your tinnitus to get better or disappear completely.
Studies have shown that hearing aids help cover up tinnitus in people who have hearing loss.
If masking the noise doesn’t help, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been proven to help people live with the buzzing in their ears that does not fade away with other treatments. This kind of mental health treatment helps patients change their negative ideas about tinnitus into more positive, practical thoughts that help them function normally on a day to day basis.
