As you most likely recognize, prolonged periods of stress aren’t healthy for the body. When you are dealing with persistent stress, everything from headaches to extreme muscle aches can be the outcome. But did you recognize stress can also result in tinnitus, a ringing, buzzing, or clicking in the ears?
Stress isn’t the only thing that can trigger tinnitus, it can also be brought about by a sinus infection, loud noises, and other variables. Let’s take a look at several potential causes of that irritating ringing in your ears.
How to Distinguish Unhealthy Stress
How does stress relate to tinnitus? We often don’t think about the negative effect stress can have on our bodies or how it can result in frustrating, painful, or even severe medical conditions. Disregarding stress isn’t a good idea.
Healthy Stress
Temporary stress can actually be a very motivating factor with regards to completing duties. If you’re dealing with a deadline and have to focus on accomplishing a project, stress can be an ally by giving the boost of energy needed to finish the job.
There is a difference, however, between healthy, temporary stress and unhealthy, destructive stress. Healthy stress helps you complete a goal without damaging your body. Unhealthy stress is hazardous for your body.
Unhealthy Stress
Unhealthy stress is a consequence of the fear of something that, generally, never actually happens. Unhealthy stress is created when an individual remains in a heightened state of anxiety for a long period of time.
Unhealthy stress is associates with our “fight or flight” response, a normal reaction that helps keep us safe in dangerous situations. Harmful physical symptoms happen when someone remains in a hyper-stressful situation for prolonged periods.
Worrying
Worrying is an extremely universal cause of unhealthy stress. We might exaggerate the importance of a situation or a relationship with other people. We may convince ourselves we destroyed a chance at a promotion because of something we said. When you worry like this your invasive thoughts can really run away from you.
Invasive Thoughts And Unhealthy Stress
We may believe that we are falling behind and failing to fulfill our day-to-day tasks. Fixation, perpetual internal dialog, and even panic are a typical part of this type of stress. If we don’t take some positive actions to manage this stress it will keep wearing down our body.
Usually, unhealthy stress impacts the upper part of the body by producing muscle tension and pain. The head, neck shoulders, and jaw are areas that can be impacted.
Jaw Tension And Anger
Have you ever read a book where the author describes a character as being so angry his jaw clenched in rage? Stress, anger, worry, and intrusive thoughts commonly come with jaw strain.
Pressure can be put on the fragile bones of the inner ear and eardrum by continuous tension. Ringing in the ears can be the result.
Sinus Infections And Ear Strain
From sore throats to stuffy noses, sinus infections bring about lots of undesired symptoms.
Headaches, sinus pressure, and pressure in the ears are common symptoms of a sinus infection. A buzzing, clicking and ringing can be the result.
Nasal congestion often spreads to the ears during the course of a sinus infection. This can generate accumulated earwax, which causes blockages in the ears and extreme pressure on the eardrums. And with this comes ringing in the ears.
If the ringing is brought on by a sinus infection it will most likely go away on its own and you won’t have to consult a hearing professional. If the ringing lasts for more than a few days, however, you should make an appointment with a hearing professional.
Prolonged Exposure to Loud Noises
The intermittent music show probably won’t cause lasting ear-ringing. However, you could be putting stress on the fragile parts of your ear if you frequently expose yourself to extremely loud sound.
Buzzing, Clicking, or ringing can be the consequence when the eardrum and inner ears are put under the incredible strain of repeated exposure to loud noises.
Beyond the intermittent ringing in your ears, exposure to loud sounds over a prolonged period can trigger temporary or permanent hearing loss. Listening to music at a reasonable volume and using ear protection when required is crucial for hearing health.
Protecting Your Ears
Tinnitus is not something you should dismiss whichever one of these is the cause. Getting your hearing tested by a hearing specialist regularly is the smartest thing you can do. If you think the ringing in your ears has a significant underlying medical cause, you should get them examined for your peace of mind.