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Ringing in My Ears – What Is It?
You go to your doctor, and you tell him or her, “I experience ringing in my ears. Can you tell me what is it?” The most likely answer that you will get from your doctor is that you have tinnitus. You should not be overly anxious about it as it is not fatal or life-threatening.
Tinnitus, which is defined as the perception of sound in the ears or head where there is no external source, is associated with other sounds other than ringing. These include buzzing, booming, hissing, clicking, whistling, chirping, and roaring noises. The unwanted sound perceived may be high-pitched or low-pitched, loud or soft, and it may just come and go or may be experienced day in day out.
If we look at the statistics, ear ringing is common. In the United States alone, around 66 million people experience it in one way or another. Around 12 million of these people are severely affected to the extent that they are deprived of being able to live their normal lives. It is ironic, though, that majority of these people do not know anything about it until they have been told about it by their doctors.
Ringing in the ears is often mistaken as an infection or a disease. The truth is it is only a symptom of an underlying medical condition. The most common conditions associated with it include noise-induced cochlear damage, stress, sinus problems or allergic reactions, and Meniere’s Disease.
One fact about tinnitus that you should understand is that there is no cure for it, as of yet. There are various treatments, though, that you can make use of to manage and reduce the level of its symptoms, one of which is stress. Proper stress management is emphasized as stress as tends to aggravate the ringing in your ears. Do not forget to set a certain time of the day where you can relax. Stress, while you need it to be more motivated and productive, can take its toll on you if it piles up, and your body will not be able to respond to it positively. Counseling, hypnotherapy, and meditation may also help you manage or control stress.
Other remedies for ear ringing include the use of devices like white noise maskers and hearing aids and alternative treatments like acupressure, acupuncture, herbal preparations, and homeopathic tinnitus remedies.
More importantly, do not think like “The ringing in my ears is so annoying. It just makes me so unproductive.” Do not be too conscious about the unwanted sound as much as possible, and do not ever make it as an excuse for doing nothing, for being unproductive. You should, on the other hand, have a positive mental attitude all the time.
