It’s common knowledge that stress, especially for extended amounts of time, can be extremely hazardous to the body. When you endure acute stress, everything from severe muscle aches to headaches can be the result. But tinnitus, a clicking, buzzing, or ringing in the ears can also be the result.
Stress isn’t the only thing that can cause tinnitus, it can also be caused by a sinus infection, loud noises, and other variables. Let’s take a look at some potential causes.
How to Recognize Unhealthy Stress
You may be asking yourself how stress contributes to tinnitus. It’s often easy to ignore how extreme the medical impact of stress can be on our bodies. Stress isn’t something you should disregard.
Healthy Stress
Temporary stress can actually be a really motivating factor when it comes to completing duties. Stress can give a boost of energy and adrenalin to accomplish tasks and projects that really need to be finished.
There is a difference, however, between healthy, short-term stress and unhealthy, destructive stress. Healthy stress helps you accomplish a goal without damaging your body. Unhealthy stress is hazardous for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Often, an irrational fear is the cause of unhealthy stress. Unhealthy stress is produced when a person remains in a heightened state of anxiety for a long period of time.
In dangerous situations, the fight or flight response is a natural reaction but it also relates to unhealthy stress. When an individual stays in a hyper-stressful condition for an extended period of time, it can lead to harmful physical symptoms.
Worrying
Worrying is an extremely common cause of unhealthy stress. The importance of an interaction or situation can often be exaggerated. We might have ourselves convinced that we did or said something to spoil our chances at a promotion. When you worry in this way your intrusive thoughts can really get away from you.
Unhealthy Stress And Invasive Thoughts
We might think that we are falling behind and failing to fulfill our daily routine. We may obsess, talk to ourselves, or even have panic attacks. If we don’t take some positive actions to deal with this stress it will continue to wear down our body.
Typically, unhealthy stress affects the upper part of the body by causing pain and muscle tension. The head, neck shoulders, and jaw are areas that can be impacted.
Jaw Tension And Anger
Have you ever read a book where the writer talks about a character as being so angry his jaw clenched in rage? Stress, anger, worry, and invasive thoughts frequently come with jaw tension.
Continuous tension can put pressure on the delicate bones of the inner ear and eardrum. Over time, this strain can lead to ringing in your ears.
Sinus Infections And Ear Strain
Sinus infections bring many unwelcome symptoms, from a stuffy nose to a soar throat.
Sinus infections generate headaches, sinus pressure, and ear pressure. These problems can produce ringing, buzzing, and clicking in the ears.
A stuffy nose frequently spreads to the ears during a sinus infection. This can generate accumulated earwax, which leads to blockages in the ears and severe pressure on the eardrums. And with this comes ringing in the ears.
If the ringing is triggered by a sinus infection it will probably improve by itself and you won’t have to see a hearing specialist. If the ringing continues for more than a few days, however, you should make an appointment with a hearing professional.
Prolonged Exposure to Loud Noises
The occasional music performance probably won’t cause long-term ear-ringing. If you regularly expose your ears to very loud sounds, however, you may be introducing stress to the tender parts of your ears.
Ringing, clicking, or buzzing can be the result when the eardrum and inner ears are put under the incredible strain of frequent exposure to intense noises.
Above and beyond tinnitus, temporary or even lasting hearing loss can be the result of repeated exposure to loud sounds. It’s important to safeguard your ears from the elements and listen to music at a sensible volume level.
Protecting Your Ears
Whether caused by stress, muscle tension, an illness, or loud noises, tinnitus shouldn’t be ignored. Having your hearing examined by a hearing specialist frequently is your best bet. For your peace of mind, you should get checked, particularly if you think that your tinnitus is being caused by a significant underlying medical problem.