Ringing Sounds in my Ear: Three Things you Need to Know
Did you know that the ringing sounds in my ear are almost gone and I feel better? I have had tinnitus since I was 27 and now I’m 36. For more than five years, I have been looking for significant treatment procedures. Nevertheless, I was ignoring the fact that there were important things that must be taken into consideration. We usually leave the healing process on medicines, therapies, devices, and various other techniques, without ever contemplating on what we can and should do to help these methods work.
Look at this list of three important things.
• Read and learn about tinnitus. You should know what you are dealing with and what you are up against. Ask doctors, medical experts, ear specialists, audiologists, otolaryngologists, and ENT specialists. Nevertheless, you can find valuable information in the web. Surfing the internet is a much less expensive way of getting information. Searching through the internet broadened my knowledge about the ringing sounds in my ear.
• Change your lifestyle. It does not call for some dramatic change. There are just a few things you need to do away with. First is loud noise, so you cannot enjoy loud speakers, disco clubs, and bars anymore. If you have to, bring ear muffs. In general, avoid loud noise. Remember stress intensifies tinnitus. Notice how the ringing becomes louder on days when you are tired, worried, depressed, or mad. Keep calm. Learn relaxation methods – yoga, meditation, etc. Modify your diet. Refrain from drinking caffeine containing drinks and food such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. Avoid alcohol. Minimize salt intake. Decrease consumption of foods high in fat and cholesterol. Abstain from smoking. Exercise daily and engage in recreational activities to keep yourself busy. Couch potatoes hear their tinnitus more than active persons. Remember also that too much silence is not recommended. Play your favorite music or tv show at low to moderate volumes.
• Get habituated to tinnitus. This is supposed to be a natural brain reaction over a long term experience with it, but this may not occur due to many emotional factors such as brooding about it and feeling accountable for not coping with it. You will most probably get used to tinnitus if you accept it and pay no much attention to it.
After nine years of living with the ringing sounds in my ear and going through a lot of methods (and some of them did not work), I do not find tinnitus as a nuisance any longer. The best way to healing comes from within.
Sudden Ringing in Ears
It can be frightening to just experience a sudden ringing in ears just out of the blue. You may wonder why it occurs in the first place. There are a lot of factors that must be considered. Are you in an elevated place or are you inside a descending plane? Did you just dive into the deep waters? Have you been to a loud concert? These are just some of the several factors that you need to consider.
If you hate to see yourself being in a situation where you will just hear a sudden ringing in ears, you may want to know what things you must not do:
· Never put anything inside your ears to clean it
Whether you try to use an ear scraper, q-tips, hairpins, tissue or even your finger, you are not doing your ears any good. We do feel our ears get dirty at times and we feel the urge to clean it. However, our ears have the ability to clean itself by allowing the earwax to move out as a way of protecting the eardrums. Any act of digging in the ear canal will only push back the cerumen causing it to block the ear canal and even place the ear drums in danger of being punctured.
· Never expose your ears to loud noise
Whether the source of noise is loud music or explosives, both are equally damaging to the ears. Anything that is loud can be damaging to the very sensitive nerve endings in your cochlea. Constant exposure to loud noise or music can slowly damage your cochlea and cause temporary to permanent hearing loss. In fact, a single exposure to a really loud noise like that of a gunshot or explosive can potentially bring irreversible hearing damage.
· Do not eat anything that you want
Contrary to what most of us believe that since it is a condition in the ear, our diet or the food that we eat does contribute to the ringing in our ears. Foods that are high in cholesterol and salt, and containing caffeine, must be avoided to help minimize the frequency and intensity of the ear ringing for those who have a problem with tinnitus.
· Never delay a consultation with a specialist
Since we know that it is just a condition affecting the ears and nothing serious, we need to know that there are also some serious health complications which may arise when a symptom of a ringing in the ears is disregarded.
Sudden ringing in ears is not a pleasant experience. You do not need to feel the agony of having to bear with the noise all day if you do the right things at the right time.
What are the Causes of Ringing Ears?
Many people do not realize that they should be concerned about their hearing. Frequent exposure to loud noises can harm your ears more than you know. We ignore this, but the real thing is we are in constant exposure to noises that injure our ears. Pay no attention to this, but if you get ringing ears, think again. Nevertheless, what are the causes of ringing ears?
Tinnitus is the medical term for the condition that brings about ringing ears. It’s definitely not a disease in itself but a symptom of a condition. The causes of ringing ears come as a variety of factors which we may be in constant exposure to. Take loud noises for example. Have you been in a rock concert lately? Are you working in industrial establishments or factories where you come in contact with sets of machinery that generate heavy noise? Do you love turning the volume of your stereos too high? Are you fond of loud rock music? Is your house near a heavily trafficked highway where there is continual deafening buzzes and horns of vehicles passing by? Well, you are not in much luck. Let me tell you that you are likely a candidate to have “ringing ears” later.
John, a sound engineer, has had his ears uncomfortably ringing for about three years now. As his job description dictates, he is in constant exposure to loud noises, but never took the thought of using ear protection. Now he does have his own ear plugs every time and the ear ringing as well. He consulted an ear specialist and asked what are the causes of ringing ears. His job, of course – the ear specialist told him. Seems too late for him to undo his bad luck, but he is enduring and coping with his condition.
He says it is an annoyance, but he does not have much of a choice now that his ordeal with tinnitus seems to last long, perhaps even for the rest of his life. He states that it becomes bothersome whenever he is supposed to enjoy quiet, serene moments. It troubles him in his job, and even when he sleeps, the ringing does not go away. He hopes it does not get worse because he is just having enough of the discomfort and inconvenience already.
John warns everyone to be aware of what are the causes of ringing ears. Tinnitus is a troubling condition. Constant exposure to noise could take a toll on your hearing, and the next thing you know when you’re 60, you have got ringing ears!
Cure for Ringing Ears
A ringing ear that is constant may be an endless torture for a person having the problem. There are in fact some who were unable to cope with their condition that they even committed suicide. The question is, did you ever think you can find a cure for ringing ears, even if your physician has told you there is no hope to find a cure for it? A ringing in ears is a symptom and each case has a different cause, thus there is no single pill which can eliminate a ringing in the ear for all cases of tinnitus.
It’s not the end of the world if you have ringing in ears; you just need to keep in mind a few things:
· Do not believe your doctor if they tell you it cannot be cured. Most doctors would instill this impression to their patients that a cure for ringing ears is impossible. Unfortunately, even doctors themselves are not aware or do not care about of the psychological effects of tinnitus. Physicians who would still tell their patients that nothing can be done about ringing in ears just do not know the right information.
· A persons coping mechanism does not lessen the volume of the noise but it may help a person in coping up with the irritating ringing in ears. The volume of the noise may intensify but the way a person reacts or gets affected with the noise depends a lot on his or her coping mechanism. Some may be able to react fairly well at the start and have a worse reaction after several years.
· Not everyone with a hearing damage will hear a ringing in ears. This is best explained by disparities with each person’s lifestyle. Such disparities may also be a big factor for a ringing in ears. There are foods that have high salicylate content (broccoli and strawberries) and aggravate a ringing in ears.
· Stress not only causes tinnitus but can also worsen the ringing in the ears. While searching for something that can be your cure for ringing ears, anxiety and stress may become a very big problem that it is important to learn from those who have experienced a ringing in the ears and ask them how they were able to cope with their ringing in the ears and why they are able to live life comfortably.
Pop in Your Ears
If you are a jet setter then you probably often experience a pop in your ears when you are on board a plane, thus it is something normal for you. On the other hand, for those people who seldom travel by plane or may be travelling for the first time, it may be something that bothers them.
Why do you hear a pop in your ears when you are on board an airplane?
The main reason for the ear popping is the high air pressure when you are inside the cabin of the plane. It is pretty much the same when you are on top of a high mountain. As we are in an elevated area, there are lesser number of molecules present in the air, thus the air pressure increases and the ears react to balance the pressure inside and outside of our ears. Take note that you also need to breathe in faster since there is lesser oxygen and you need to compensate the amount of oxygen that your lungs need.
How come the sound that we hear becomes barely audible when we are flying on an airplane?
The Eustachian tube inside the ears needs to regularly open wide in order to balance the change in the air pressure. As it fails to balance the pressure, we begin to hear a muffled sound. We only resume hearing sound clearly when the Eustachian tube opens and you hear a popping sound in your ears.
Is there a way to alleviate the popping of our ears during a flight?
Swallowing is a good way of relieving yourself from the pressure that is inside your sinus cavity. As you swallow, the muscles which are responsible for the opening of the Eustachian tube functions. Thus it is advisable to prepare yourself by swallowing just before the plane takes off and lands.
What happens if you hear a popping in your ear and you are neither inside an airplane nor in an elevated place?
This happens when something is wrong with your ears of you have what we call a tinnitus or simply called a ringing in the ears. It happens when the ears is impacted with ear wax. This may be relieved simply by removing the ear wax but never attempt to do it by yourself for you may damage your inner ears and ear drums. Let your doctor handle the removal of the ear wax.
Our ears are a very sensitive organ that we need to take extreme care of it. A pop in your ears is normal when flying a plane but any unusual popping must be checked with your physician for proper identification of a possible health problem.
If there is ONE BOOK on tinnitus that every tinnitus patient absolutely SHOULD READ, it is the bestseller from Ellen Currie entitled Living Tinnitus Free...