It’s well known that stress, especially for extended periods, can be extremely harmful for your body. Stress can cause extreme muscle aches and headaches. But tinnitus, a buzzing, clicking, or ringing in the ears can also be the outcome.
Stress isn’t the only thing that can trigger tinnitus, it can also be brought about by a sinus infection, loud noises, and other factors. Let’s take a peak at some potential causes.
Unhealthy Stress – How to Identify it
How does stress relate to tinnitus? It’s often easy to neglect how extreme the medical impact of stress can be on our bodies. Stress is not something you should neglect.
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 give a boost of energy and adrenalin to complete tasks and projects that really need to be finished.
There is a difference, though, between healthy, temporary stress and unhealthy, harmful stress. Healthy stress helps you reach a goal without harming your body. Unhealthy stress is hazardous for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Usually, an irrational fear is the source of unhealthy stress. Unhealthy stress is produced when a person stays in a heightened state of anxiety for a long period of time.
Unhealthy stress relates to our “fight or flight” response, a natural reaction that helps keep us protected in hazardous conditions. When someone stays in a hyper-stressful condition for an extended period, it can result in harmful physical symptoms.
Worrying
Worrying is an extremely common cause of unhealthy stress. The importance of a relationship or situation can often be exaggerated. We might have ourselves convinced that we did or said something to spoil our chances at a promotion. Unreasonable worrying can cause intrusive, apparently uncontrollable thoughts.
Unhealthy Stress And Intrusive Thoughts
We might worry about what we didn’t get completed today and stress over what we have to get done tomorrow. We may obsess, talk to ourselves, or even panic. If we don’t take some positive actions to manage this stress it will keep wearing down our body.
Typically, unhealthy stress affects the upper part of the body by creating pain and muscle tension. Impacted areas could include the head, neck, jaw, or shoulders.
Jaw Tension And Anger
Have you ever heard someone express their anger as jaw clenching? Jaw tension is a common symptom of stress, worry, anger, and intrusive thoughts.
Sustained strain can put pressure on the delicate bones of the eardrum and inner ear. Ringing in the ears can be the result.
Sinus Infections And Ear Strain
Sinus infections cause lots of unfavorable symptoms, from a stuffy nose to a soar throat.
Headaches, sinus pressure, and pressure in the ears are common symptoms of a sinus infection. These problems can produce buzzing, clicking, or ringing in the ears.
During a sinus infection, your nasal congestion often spreads to your ears. Clogging in the ears and severe pressure on the eardrum will develop because of the excessive earwax this produces. Pressure on the fragile bones of the inner ear can trigger tinnitus symptoms.
If the ringing is caused by a sinus infection it will probably improve on its own and you won’t need to consult a hearing professional. 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
Lasting ringing in the ears will most likely not occur as a result of the occasional concert. If you routinely expose your ears to intense sounds, however, you might be putting stress on the tender areas of your ears.
Buzzing, Clicking, or ringing can be the consequence when the eardrum and inner ears are put under the incredible strain of frequent exposure to loud noises.
Beyond the occasional ringing in your ears, exposure to intense sounds over a prolonged period of time can result in temporary or permanent hearing loss. It’s important to safeguard your ears from the elements and listen to music at a reasonable volume level.
Protecting Your Ears
Whether caused by stress, muscle tension, an illness, or loud noises, tinnitus is nothing to ignore. It’s best to have your ears checked by a hearing professional on a regular basis. For your peace of mind, you should get examined, especially if you suspect that your tinnitus is being caused by a significant underlying medical issue.