It’s common knowledge that stress, especially for prolonged amounts of time, can be very hazardous for your body. Stress can cause serious muscle aches and headaches. But did you recognize stress can also lead to tinnitus, a ringing, buzzing, or clicking in the ears?
Tinnitus can be caused by various different health factors, including stress, sinus infections, or loud noises. Let’s have a peak at some potential causes.
How to Distinguish Unhealthy Stress
How does stress relate to tinnitus? We typically don’t think about the negative effect stress can have on our bodies or how it can cause frustrating, painful, or even serious medical problems. Ignoring stress isn’t a good idea.
Healthy Stress
Stress that persists a few minutes, or even a few hours, can actually play an important role in accomplishing demanding tasks. If you’re dealing with a deadline and have to focus on completing a project, stress can be an ally by giving the boost of energy needed to get the job done.
There is a difference, though, between healthy, temporary stress and unhealthy, damaging stress. Healthy stress helps you reach a goal without harming your body. Unhealthy stress is harmful for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Unhealthy stress is caused by the fear of something that, in most cases, never in fact happens. Unhealthy stress is created when a person stays in a heightened state of anxiety for an extended period of time.
Unhealthy stress is associates with our “fight or flight” response, a normal reaction that helps keep us safe in hazardous situations. When someone remains in a hyper-stressful state for a long period, it can lead to harmful physical symptoms.
Worrying
Worrying is a very common cause of unhealthy stress. The significance of an interaction or situation can often be exaggerated. We may have ourselves convinced that we said or did something to hurt our chances at a promotion. Excessive worrying can cause invasive, apparently uncontrollable thoughts.
Unhealthy Stress And Invasive Thoughts
We might worry about what we couldn’t get completed today and stress over what we have to get done tomorrow. Obsession, perpetual internal dialog, and even panic are a typical part of this type of stress. Ultimately, our unhealthy stress wears on our bodies unless we do something to curtail these thoughts.
Normally, unhealthy stress affects the upper part of the body by causing pain and muscle tension. Impacted areas could include the head, neck, jaw, or shoulders.
Jaw Tension And Anger
Have you ever heard someone describe their anger as jaw clenching? Stress, worry, anger, and intrusive thoughts often come with jaw strain.
Pressure can be put on the fragile bones of the eardrum and inner ear by sustained tension. Eventually, this strain can lead to ringing in your ears.
Ear Strain And Sinus Infections
From sore throats to stuffy noses, sinus infections bring lots of unwelcome symptoms.
Headaches, sinus pressure, and pressure in the ears are common symptoms of a sinus infection. These issues can trigger buzzing, clicking, or ringing in the ears.
When you have 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 causes. Pressure on the fragile bones of the inner ear can lead to tinnitus symptoms.
You may not need to go to a hearing professional if the ringing is being caused by a sinus infection, as the symptoms could improve naturally. If the ringing continues for more than a few days, however, you should schedule an appointment with a hearing professional.
Extended Exposure to Loud Noises
The occasional music performance probably won’t cause long-term ear-ringing. However, you may be putting stress on the sensitive parts of your ear if you regularly expose yourself to intense sound.
When you expose your ears to loud noises regularly, your eardrums and the bones of the inner ears are strained, which can result in buzzing, ringing, or clicking.
Above and beyond ringing in the ears, temporary or even lasting hearing loss can be the outcome of continued exposure to loud noises. Listening to music at a reasonable volume and using ear protection when needed is indispensable for hearing health.
Protecting Your Ears
Tinnitus is not something you should ignore whichever one of these is causing it. Getting your hearing examined by a hearing specialist regularly is your best bet. If you think the ringing in your ears has a significant hidden medical cause, you should get them examined for your peace of mind.