Public opinion surrounding marijuana and cannabinoids have changed remarkably in the last few decades. Most states currently allow the use of marijuana, THC, or cannabinoid products for medicinal purposes. Not as many states have legalized pot for recreational purposes, but even that would have been unimaginable even just a decade ago.
Cannabinoids are classified as a group of substances produced from the cannabis or marijuana plant. New things are being uncovered about cannabinoids every day in spite of their recent legalization in some states. We often think of these particular substances as having universal healing qualities, but established research implies there could also be negative impact such as a strong connection between cannabinoid use and the occurrence of tinnitus symptoms.
There Are Numerous Types of Cannabinoids
There are numerous forms of cannabinoids that can be used now. It’s not just weed (or Mary Jane, or grass… look, let’s just all agree upfront that marijuana has many nicknames and move on). Oils, mists, pills and other variations of cannabinoids are currently obtainable.
Each state has different laws regarding what types of cannabinoids you can get, and under federal law, many types are still illegal if the THC content is more than 0.3%. That’s why some people are very cautious about cannabinoids.
The issue is that we don’t yet grasp much about some of the long term side effects or risks of cannabinoid usage. One example is the new information about how cannabinoids influence your hearing.
New Research Into Cannabinoids And Hearing
A wide variety of illnesses and medical conditions are thought to be helped by cannabinoids, regardless of what you want to call it. Vertigo, nausea, seizures, and more seem to be improved with cannabinoids, according to anecdotally available information. So is it possible that cannabinoids help with tinnitus? That’s just what researchers decided to figure out.
Tinnitus could actually be triggered by cannabinoid use, as it turns out. Ringing in the ears was described by more than 29% of participants after implementing cannabinoids. And these participants had never had tinnitus symptoms before the study. Furthermore, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report experiencing tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
And for people who already have tinnitus, marijuana usage made it worse. So, it seems pretty certain that cannabinoids and tinnitus aren’t very compatible.
How Cannabinoids Make Tinnitus Worse
Your tinnitus can be worsened by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. The first is that your tinnitus can become more frequent. Cannabinoids can also cause tinnitus symptoms to become more overwhelming. Louder ringing that can be much harder to ignore can be the result.
The research also appears to indicate that cannabinoids are capable of causing the development of initial tinnitus symptoms. To put it a different way: after you start using cannabinoids you may develop tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
Unclear Causes of Tinnitus
Just because this link has been discovered doesn’t inevitably mean the root causes are very well understood. It’s clear that cannabinoids can have an impact on the middle ear and symptoms of tinnitus. But it’s far less evident what’s causing this impact.
But we know that using marijuana, unlike other mood altering substances like alcohol, will cause tinnitus.
Of course, we will continue to do the research. Cannabinoids nowadays come in so many kinds and forms that understanding the root link between these substances and tinnitus would help individuals make better choices.
Beware The Miracle Cure
In recent times there has been a lot of hype created around cannabinoids by marketers. In part, that’s the result of changing attitudes surrounding cannabinoids themselves (and, to some extent, is also an indication of a desire to turn away from opioid use). But cannabinoids can and sometimes do produce unwanted effects, based on this new research, and this is especially true concerning hearing.
You won’t be able to steer clear of all of the cannabinoid fanatics and evangelists in the world, the marketing of cannabinoids has been extremely aggressive.
But cannabinoids and tinnitus are clearly linked based on this research. So regardless of how much advertising you see for CBD oils, if you’re worried about tinnitus, you should probably keep away from them. The connection between tinnitus and cannabinoids symptoms has been quite firmly established by the research, so it’s worth exercising a little caution.