It’s well known that stress, particularly for prolonged periods, can be extremely harmful for your body. Stress can cause severe muscle pain and headaches. But did you know stress can also result in tinnitus, a ringing, buzzing, or clicking in the ears?
Tinnitus can be triggered by numerous different health factors, including stress, sinus infections, or loud sounds. Let’s take a peak at some potential factors.
Unhealthy Stress – How to Recognize it
You might be wondering how stress lends to tinnitus. We often don’t consider the negative effect stress can have on our bodies or how it can lead to troublesome, painful, or even serious medical conditions. Disregarding stress is a bad idea.
Healthy Stress
Temporary stress can actually be a very motivating factor when it comes to completing tasks. If you’re dealing with a deadline and need to focus on accomplishing a project, stress can be an ally by giving the boost of energy needed to finish the job.
But temporary, healthy stress and chronic, harmful stress are two very different things. Healthy stress helps you complete a goal without damaging your body. Unhealthy stress is harmful for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Unhealthy stress is caused by the fear of something that, generally, never actually happens. Unhealthy stress is generated when an individual remains in a heightened state of anxiety for an extended period of time.
In dangerous conditions, the fight or flight response is a natural reaction but it also relates to unhealthy stress. Harmful physical symptoms happen when someone stays in a hyper-stressful situation for extended periods.
Worrying
Unhealthy stress is often caused by worrying. The significance of a relationship or situation can often be exaggerated. We may have ourselves convinced that we said or did something to ruin 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 worry over what we need to do tomorrow. We might obsess, talk to ourselves, or even panic. If we don’t take some positive measures to manage this stress it will continue to wear down our body.
Pain and muscle tension on the upper body are common effects of unhealthy stress. Impacted areas may include the jaw, neck, head, or shoulders.
Anger And Jaw Tension
Have you ever heard someone express their anger as jaw clenching? Jaw tension is a common symptom of stress, anger, worry, and intrusive thoughts.
Continuous strain can put pressure on the fragile bones of the inner ear and eardrum. Over time, this strain can lead to ringing in your ears.
Sinus Infections And Ear Strain
From sore throats to stuffy noses, sinus infections bring lots of unwelcome symptoms.
Sinus infections cause sinus pressure, headaches, and ear pressure. A ringing, clicking, or buzzing can be the outcome.
During a sinus infection, your nasal congestion frequently spreads to your ears. Blockage in the ears and extreme pressure on the eardrum will develop because of the accumulated earwax this creates. Pressure on the little bones of the inner ear can cause tinnitus symptoms.
You may not need to see a hearing specialist if the ringing is being caused by a sinus infection, as the symptoms may go away naturally. But you should absolutely schedule an appointment with us if the ringing continues for more than a few days.
Prolonged Exposure to Loud Noises
Long-term ringing in the ears will probably not happen due to the occasional concert. However, you might be putting stress on the sensitive parts of your ear if you routinely expose yourself to intense sound.
Buzzing, Clicking, or ringing can be the consequence when the eardrum and inner ears are put under the incredible strain of continual exposure to intense noises.
Above and beyond tinnitus, temporary or even permanent hearing loss can be the result of continued exposure to loud sounds. Listening to music at a sensible volume and using ear protection when required is essential for hearing health.
Protecting Your Hearing
Tinnitus isn’t something you should ignore whichever one of these is the cause. It’s best to get your ears examined by a hearing professional regularly. For your peace of mind, you should get examined, especially if you suspect that your tinnitus is being caused by a serious underlying medical issue.