Public opinion surrounding marijuana and cannabinoids have transformed incredibly over the last few decades. THC, cannabinoids, and even marijuana are legal for medical use in most states. Ten or fifteen years ago it would have been unthinkable for pot to be legal for recreational use but some states have even passed this law.
A group of compounds originating from the cannabis plant (the marijuana plant, essentially) are known as cannabinoids. New things are being uncovered about cannabinoids every day despite their recent legalization in some states. Even though we now are starting to recognize the numerous medical beneficial properties of these compounds, it has been recognized for a while that tinnitus might be activated by cannabinoids.
Numerous Kinds of Cannabinoids
There are lots of forms of cannabinoids that can be taken now. It’s not just weed (or refer, or grass… ok, let’s just all agree upfront that marijuana has a significant number of nicknames and move on). Nowadays, THC and cannabinoids can be obtained in pill form, as topical spreads, as inhaled mists, and lots of others.
Every state has different laws regarding which types of cannabinoids you can buy, and under federal law, many types are still illegal if the THC content is over 0.3%. That’s the reason why some people are very careful about cannabinoids.
The concern is that we don’t yet grasp much concerning some of the potential side effects or complications of cannabinoid usage. Some new research into how cannabinoids affect your hearing is a prime example.
New Research Into Cannabinoids And Hearing
A large number of illnesses and medical conditions are thought to be helped by cannabinoids, whatever you want to call it. According to evidence that is anecdotally available, conditions including Nausea, seizures, vertigo, and countless more appear to be helped by cannabinoids. So investigators resolved to find out if cannabinoids would be helpful with tinnitus, as well.
Tinnitus might actually be triggered by cannabinoid use, as it turns out. Ringing in the ears was reported by more than 29% of participants after implementing cannabinoids. And that’s in individuals who had never experienced tinnitus before. Furthermore, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report experiencing tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
And for those who already have tinnitus, marijuana use caused it to get worse. In a nutshell, there’s some pretty persuasive evidence that cannabinoids and tinnitus don’t really mix very well.
How Cannabinoids worsen tinnitus
Your tinnitus can be aggravated by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. First, the incidents of tinnitus symptoms can get more consistent, you may experience the ringing or buzzing in your ears more often. Also, your struggles with tinnitus can become more overwhelming when you use cannabinoids. More intense ringing that can be much harder to dismiss can be the result.
The research also appears to indicate that cannabinoids can cause the development of the initial symptoms of tinnitus. To put it a different way: after you start using cannabinoids you could develop tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
The Causes of Tinnitus Are Unclear
Just because this connection has been discovered doesn’t necessarily mean the underlying causes are all that well grasped. That cannabinoids can have an affect on the middle ear and on tinnitus is pretty clear. But it’s much less obvious what’s causing this impact.
But we recognize that marijuana use, unlike other mood altering substances like alcohol, will cause tinnitus.
Of course, we will continue to do the research. Cannabinoids nowadays come in so many varieties and forms that discovering the underlying connection between these substances and tinnitus would help individuals make smarter decisions.
The Miracle Cure Beware
Lately there has been lots of hype created around cannabinoids by marketers. In part, that’s due to changing perceptions surrounding cannabinoids themselves (and, to some extent, is also a reflection of a desire to go away from opioid use). But this new research makes it clear that cannabinoids can and do create some negative consequence, especially if you’re worried about your hearing.
The marketing about cannabinoids has been particularly aggressive and you can’t entirely escape all of the enthusiasts.
But tinnitus and cannabinoids are clearly connected based on this research. So regardless of how much advertising you see for CBD oils, if you’re worried about tinnitus, you should probably avoid them. The link between tinnitus and cannabinoids symptoms has been quite firmly established by the research, so it’s worth exercising a little caution.