Tinnitus can affect sufferers in a variety of different ways. If you’ve developed a sensitivity to noise, you’re hearing noises you suspect other people are not aware of, or snippets of songs seems to remain in your head with a frequency you suspect is not normal, you could be suffering from tinnitus. As you know, it is is one of those conditions that cannot be completely cured as of yet, but can be contained.
Causes of stress
You can have stress from many different factors that come into play in your life. From small triggers, to growing stress over time, it’s important to understand the effect of stress to your body – especially when it comes to tinnitus. The important thing to remember is that majority of stress is all linked, so when understanding where the root cause of it will help tackle and manage it in the first place. When it comes to tinnitus, it has been reported to amplify the condition and make it ring louder when stressed – it’s important to understand that the ringing in your ears is not getting louder, only your stress levels rising.
How is stress and tinnitus linked?
The way people respond to ringing in the ears varies greatly. For some people, it is considered the biggest stress in their life and others may respond to it in a neutral and calm way. With that being said, the difference could simply be down to the different levels of tinnitus people have. However, research has suggested this isn’t completely accurate with research stating that the reason one person is stressed and another is not is because they have different beliefs about tinnitus.
People who are stressed by their tinnitus tend to think about it in ways that are similar to panic, despair and lack of enjoyment. A belief that they will never get the peace and quiet they deserve and others not understanding their issue. They wish to escape from the noise and worry about other things like their health and sanity.
Another way of understanding the relationship between tinnitus and stress is by considering the role of attention. We receive countless of information on a daily basis, this can be both good and bad pieces of information and its impossible to give all these informative pieces enough information during the day. However, if the information is seen as threatening and it leads to stress arousal then you will have extreme difficulty filtering it out which means it can cause chain reactions in your body, including your tinnitus.
The same rule can apply to tinnitus itself, if you the ringing in your ears as a threat to your wellbeing, your attention will focus on it.
Can you cure tinnitus?
Here at Jonathan Hughes, we understand how hard it is to manage your tinnitus if it is a persistent problem – especially with the mixture of stress. If you feel like you may have tinnitus and would like help alleviating the unpleasant symptoms then visit our ear clinic here in Harley Street, London today.