2023-12-27 15:34:06
The Relationship Between Stress and Tinnitus: What You Need to Know
From a higher heart rate to faster breathing, stress rages through your body like a biological shock wave. In addition to the classic complaints, stress can also have an impact on the hearing of some people. The result? A high-pitched beep, a loud noise, or other sounds that can make your life miserable. But how does stress cause tinnitus and perhaps even more importantly: how do you get rid of it? ENT doctor Diane Smit opens a book about the relationship between stress and tinnitus.
“What is tinnitus?” asks Smit. “With ringing in the ears – or tinnitus – you hear a sound that is not there. This could be anything: a beep, a noise, a whoosh, the sound of an airplane taking off, a train passing by, or something else entirely.”
Regarding the cause of tinnitus, Smit says, “There are several explanations. One of the main causes is hearing loss. A little bit of damage can be enough. The amount of information that goes from your ear to your brain then changes. Different intermediate stations on those nerve pathways then work differently. This ultimately causes increased activity in your auditory cerebral cortex, which your brain perceives as a beep or noise.”
According to Smit, stress can also play a role in the development of tinnitus. “Many people have hearing loss,” she explains. “But not everyone develops tinnitus. It may well be that, in addition to hearing loss, a stress stimulus is needed to make the brain hyper-alert. Think of emotional stress due to sadness or a move, but also physical stress due to the flu or an operation.”
Stress can make tinnitus worse, but can this process be reversed? “Often when the stress subsides, the severity of the tinnitus also decreases,” Smit explains. “It’s just not that the tinnitus disappears completely. People do notice that relaxation reduces their complaints.”
People often learn over time what helps to reduce the symptoms of tinnitus in their case,” says Smit. “Furthermore, in some cases treatments are possible to improve hearing through surgery or a hearing aid. The tinnitus often fades into the background.”
“There are also psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy in which you learn to shift your attention,” Smit adds. “These types of treatments mainly help to reduce the nuisance caused by tinnitus. Finally, experiments are being conducted with neurostimulation as a treatment for tinnitus. This technique attempts to use electrical pulses to influence the information that goes to your brain. The future will tell whether this might be the treatment for tinnitus.”
From the above discussion, it is evident that stress and tinnitus are closely linked. People who experience high-stress levels and also suffer from tinnitus should consider seeking medical advice to manage both conditions effectively.]
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