Hearing Health Blog

Woman with tinnitus and ringing in her ears getting a headache.

As you probably know, sustained periods of stress aren’t good for the body. When you endure acute stress, everything from headaches to severe muscle aches can be the outcome. But did you realize stress can also bring about 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 factors. Let’s have a look at some potential factors.

How to Distinguish Unhealthy Stress

You might be asking yourself how stress lends to tinnitus. We often don’t consider the negative impact stress can have on our bodies or how it can cause troublesome, painful, or even severe medical problems. Disregarding stress isn’t a good idea.

Healthy Stress

Stress that persists a few minutes, or even several hours, can actually play an important role in getting necessary tasks completed. Stress can provide a boost of energy and adrenalin to accomplish tasks and projects that really need to be finished.

But short term, healthy stress and long term, harmful stress are two very different things. The ability to accomplish goals can be helped by healthy stress while unhealthy stress can physically harm you.

Unhealthy Stress

Usually, an irrational fear is the trigger of unhealthy stress. When an individual remains in a heightened state of anxiety, the consequence is often unhealthy stress.

Unhealthy stress is associates with our “fight or flight” response, a normal reaction that helps keep us safe in hazardous situations. Harmful physical symptoms happen when somebody remains in a hyper-stressful circumstance for extended periods.

Worrying

Unhealthy stress is often the result of worrying. We may exaggerate the importance of a situation or an interaction with another person. We might convince ourselves we ruined a chance at a promotion because of something we said. Excessive worrying can produce invasive, apparently uncontrollable thoughts.

Invasive Thoughts And Unhealthy Stress

We may believe that we are falling behind and failing to fulfill our daily schedule. Obsession, endless internal dialog, and even panic attacks are a common part of this kind of stress. Ultimately, our unhealthy stress wears on our bodies if we don’t take steps to curb these thoughts.

Usually, unhealthy stress affects the upper part of the body by producing pain and muscle tension. The head, neck shoulders, and jaw are areas that can be impacted.

Anger And Jaw Tension

Have you ever heard someone express their anger as jaw clenching? Jaw strain is a prevalent symptom of stress, anger, worry, and invasive thoughts.

Continuous strain can put pressure on the delicate bones of the eardrum and inner ear. Ringing in the ears can be the consequence.

Sinus Infections And Ear Strain

Sinus infections bring lots of undesirable symptoms, from a stuffy nose to a soar throat.

Sinus pressure, headaches, and pressure in the ears are typical symptoms of a sinus infection. These problems can trigger ringing, buzzing, and clicking in the ears.

During a sinus infection, your nasal congestion often spreads to your ears. This can create excessive earwax, which leads to clogged ears and intense pressure on the eardrums. And with this comes ringing in the ears.

You might not need to go to a hearing professional if the ringing is the result of a sinus infection, as the symptoms could improve naturally. But you should absolutely make an appointment with us if the ringing persists for more than a few days.

Extended Exposure to Loud Noises

The intermittent music show probably won’t cause long-term ear-ringing. However, you may be putting stress on the fragile parts of your ear if you routinely expose yourself to extremely loud sound.

When you expose your ears to loud noises on a regular basis, your eardrums and the bones of the inner ears are strained, which can lead to buzzing, ringing, or clicking.

Above and beyond ringing in the ears, temporary or even permanent hearing loss can be the result of repeated exposure to loud sounds. It’s essential to protect your hearing from the elements and listen to music at a sensible volume level.

Safeguarding Your Ears

Whether caused by stress, muscle tension, an illness, or loud noises, tinnitus is nothing to ignore. Getting your hearing checked by a hearing specialist frequently is the smartest thing you can do. For your peace of mind, you should get checked, especially if you suspect that your tinnitus is being triggered by a serious underlying medical problem.

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The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. To receive personalized advice or treatment, schedule an appointment.
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