Tinnitus, characterized by a ringing or buzzing in the ear, is a common symptom affecting between 10% and 25% of adults. Not everyone experiences tinnitus the same way. For some people, it may only pop up once, often after exposure to a loud noise. Others may find that their tinnitus starts small and grows over time.
Why Does Tinnitus Worsen?
Because tinnitus is subjective, it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly why it worsens, but there are a few commonly suggested causes:
- Hearing loss. Approximately 90% of tinnitus cases are associated with underlying hearing loss. When you have hearing loss, your brain receives less auditory input. Your brain may try to fill that gap by generating noise in the form of tinnitus. As hearing loss progresses, and your auditory system gets less and less input, tinnitus may intensify.
- Stress. A 2023 study found that stress has the same probability of developing or worsening tinnitus as occupational noise exposure. If you have new stressors in your life, you may notice that your tinnitus feels louder or occurs more frequently.
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. You have a temporomandibular joint on either side of your jaw that helps it open and close. Those joints share nerve pathways with the cochlea (the hearing organ in the inner ear). Due to these connections, TMJ complaints are often more prevalent in subjects with severe tinnitus (36%). The stress associated with TMJ and tinnitus may also aggravate each condition.
Tinnitus has no known cure, but you may be able to find some relief from addressing each of these causes.
Tinnitus Relief Options
Try the following relief options based on the cause of your tinnitus:
- Sound masking. Try sound masking with hearing aids or a white noise machine to cover the internal noise with an external one. Even without a specific tinnitus-masking setting, your hearing aids provide your brain with the audio input it wants, minimizing its need to generate additional sounds.
- Stress relief. Mitigating stress in your life can help you find relief from tinnitus and TMJ disorders. Different people destress in different ways, but you can try things like limiting phone time, doing a daily meditation video, taking a hot bath, delegating chores, reducing your social commitments or attending weekly classes at Inner Harmony Yoga.
- See a dentist. A dentist may recommend a mouth guard, exercises to strengthen the jaw muscles, electrical nerve stimulation or surgery to reduce TMD symptoms and the associated tinnitus.
Everyone’s tinnitus experience is unique, so your management techniques should be too. Contact Western Montana Hearing and Speech today to learn more about managing your tinnitus.