As you most likely appreciate, extended periods of stress are not good for the body. When you are afflicted by acute stress, everything from serious muscle aches to headaches can be the outcome. But tinnitus, a clicking, buzzing, or ringing in the ears can also be the outcome.
Stress isn’t the only thing that can cause tinnitus, it can also be brought about by a sinus infection, loud noises, and other variables. Let’s have a look at a few potential causes of that aggravating noise in your ears.
Unhealthy Stress – How to Recognize it
You might be wondering how stress lends to tinnitus. It’s often easy to neglect how extreme the medical consequence of stress can be on our bodies. Stress is not something you should disregard.
Healthy Stress
Stress that lasts a few minutes, or even several hours, can actually play an important role in accomplishing demanding tasks. If you’re facing a deadline and need to focus on completing a project, stress can be an ally by giving the boost of energy required to finish the job.
But temporary, healthy stress and chronic, unhealthy stress are two very different things. The ability to accomplish goals can be helped by healthy stress while unhealthy stress can physically harm you.
Unhealthy Stress
Often, an irrational fear is the cause of unhealthy stress. When a person stays in a heightened state of anxiety, the outcome is often unhealthy stress.
Unhealthy stress relates to our “fight or flight” response, a natural reaction that helps keep us protected in hazardous conditions. When an individual remains in a hyper-stressful state for a long period, it can lead to harmful physical symptoms.
Worrying
Worrying is a very common cause of unhealthy stress. The importance of a relationship or situation can often be exaggerated. We may tell ourselves we wrecked a chance at a promotion because of something we said. When you worry in this way your invasive thoughts can really run away from you.
Unhealthy Stress And Intrusive Thoughts
We may think that we are falling behind and failing to complete our day-to-day routine. We may obsess, lecture ourselves, or even have panic attacks. If we don’t take a few positive steps to manage this stress it will keep wearing down our body.
Usually, unhealthy stress affects the upper part of the body by producing muscle tension and pain. Affected areas might include the jaw, neck, head, or shoulders.
Anger And Jaw Tension
Have you ever heard someone express their anger as jaw clenching? Jaw strain is a common symptom of stress, anger, worry, and intrusive thoughts.
Sustained strain can put pressure on the delicate bones of the inner ear and eardrum. Over time, this strain can cause ringing in your ears.
Sinus Infections And Ear Strain
Sinus infections cause lots of undesirable symptoms, from a soar throat to a stuffy nose.
Headaches, sinus pressure, and pressure in the ears are typical symptoms of a sinus infection. These issues can lead to ringing, buzzing, and clicking in the ears.
When you have a sinus infection, your nasal congestion often spreads to your ears. This can produce excessive earwax, which causes clogged ears and intense pressure on the eardrums. And with this comes ringing in the ears.
If the ringing is triggered by a sinus infection it will most likely go away by itself and you won’t have to see a hearing specialist. If the ringing persists for more than a few days, however, you should schedule an appointment with a hearing professional.
Extended Exposure to Loud Noises
Lasting ringing in the ears will probably not happen due to the occasional concert. However, you might be putting stress on the delicate parts of your ear if you routinely expose yourself to extremely loud sound.
When you expose your ears to intense noises on a regular basis, your eardrums and the bones of the inner ears are strained, which can lead to buzzing, ringing, or clicking.
Beyond the intermittent ringing in your ears, exposure to intense sounds over a long period of time can lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss. Listening to music at a sensible volume and using ear protection when required is essential for hearing health.
Safeguarding Your Hearing
Tinnitus is not something you should ignore whichever one of these is the cause. It’s best to have your ears checked by a hearing specialist regularly. If you suspect the ringing in your ears has a significant hidden medical cause, you should get them examined for your peace of mind.