As you most likely appreciate, prolonged periods of stress aren’t healthy for the body. When you endure acute stress, everything from headaches to extreme muscle aches can be the result. But tinnitus, a clicking, buzzing, or ringing in the ears can also be the outcome.
Tinnitus can be triggered by various different health factors, such as stress, sinus infections, or loud sounds. Let’s take a look at some potential causes.
Unhealthy Stress – How to Identify it
How does stress relate to tinnitus? We typically don’t consider the negative impact stress can have on our bodies or how it can result in frustrating, painful, or even serious medical conditions. Stress isn’t something you should disregard.
Healthy Stress
Stress that lasts a few minutes, or even a few hours, can actually play an important role in accomplishing demanding tasks. Stress can supply a boost of energy and adrenalin to complete tasks and projects that really need to get done.
But temporary, healthy stress and long term, unhealthy stress are two very different things. Healthy stress helps you accomplish a goal without damaging your body. Unhealthy stress is hazardous for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Normally, an irrational fear is the trigger of unhealthy stress. When someone stays in a heightened state of anxiety, the consequence is usually unhealthy stress.
Unhealthy stress relates to our “fight or flight” response, a normal reaction that helps keep us safe in hazardous situations. Harmful physical symptoms occur when somebody remains in a hyper-stressful situation for prolonged periods.
Worrying
Worrying is a very universal cause of unhealthy stress. We might exaggerate the importance of a situation or an interaction with another person. We might tell ourselves we ruined a chance at a promotion because of something we said. When you worry like this your invasive thoughts can really run away from you.
Invasive Thoughts And Unhealthy Stress
We may believe that we are falling behind and failing to accomplish our everyday schedule. Fixation, perpetual internal dialog, and even panic attacks are a common part of this type of stress. If we don’t take a few positive actions to deal with this stress it will continue to wear down our body.
Usually, unhealthy stress affects the upper part of the body by causing muscle tension and pain. The shoulders, neck, head, and jaw are areas that can be impacted.
Anger And Jaw Tension
Have you ever heard someone depict their anger as jaw clenching? Stress, worry, anger, and intrusive thoughts commonly come with jaw strain.
Pressure can be put on the fragile bones of the inner ear and eardrum by sustained tension. Ringing in the ears can be the result.
Ear Strain And Sinus Infections
From sore throats to stuffy noses, sinus infections bring lots of unwelcome symptoms.
Sinus infections cause headaches, sinus pressure, and ear pressure. These issues can produce buzzing, clicking, or ringing in the ears.
During a sinus infection, your nasal congestion often spreads to your ears. This can create excessive earwax, which causes clogged ears and severe pressure on the eardrums. And with this comes ringing in the ears.
You might not need to see a hearing specialist if the ringing is being caused by a sinus infection, as the symptoms may go away on their own. If the ringing persists for more than a few days, however, you should make an appointment with a hearing professional.
Prolonged Exposure to Loud Noises
The intermittent music show is probably not going to cause lasting ear-ringing. If you routinely expose your ears to intense sounds, however, you might be introducing stress to the tender areas of your ears.
Ringing, clicking, or buzzing can be the result when the eardrum and inner ears are put under the enormous strain of frequent exposure to loud noises.
Beyond the intermittent ringing in your ears, exposure to loud sounds over a prolonged period of time can lead to temporary or permanent loss of hearing. Listening to music at a reasonable volume and using ear protection when necessary is crucial for hearing health.
Protecting Your Ears
Whether caused by stress, muscle tension, an illness, or loud noises, tinnitus shouldn’t be ignored. It’s best to have your ears examined by a hearing professional regularly. If you suspect the ringing in your ears has a significant underlying medical cause, you should get them checked for your peace of mind.