Can You Prevent Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is usually described as a ringing or hissing in the ears and can develop due to a number of different reasons. Depending on the cause, tinnitus can actually be prevented with the right care and a good understanding of the condition.

What is tinnitus?

To start, let’s define tinnitus to get a better understanding of it.

Tinnitus is when we consciously hear a sound that doesn’t come from a source outside of the body, but happens within the body. It’s not a disease, but often described as a symptom of another problem. The noise is subjective to the person and it can be described in a number of different ways such as humming, hissing, ringing or even rumbling.

Tinnitus typically isn’t an indicator of a serious issue, but can be frustrating to deal with and could cause high amounts of stress depending on the severity. There’s also a low chance that the noise could be objective, meaning that others can also hear the noise. This is often due to cardiovascular or musculoskeletal movements and is a sign that you need urgent medical attention. The best way to diagnose if you have tinnitus or not is to speak to an audiologist.

What exactly causes tinnitus?

Tinnitus can be caused by a number of different things:

• Infections: Tinnitus can be caused by ear infections that happen in and around the ear
• Stress: Stress is known to be a trigger of tinnitus
• Anxiety: Much like stress, feeling anxious can also lead to tinnitus
• Loud noises: A sudden and loud sound can cause ringing in your ears. Exposure to this for too long could lead to you developing tinnitus
• Head injury: An injury to the head could cause tinnitus to develop depending on how and where the injury occurred
• Neck injury: Neck injuries can also lead to tinnitus
• Impacted earwax: This often occurs as a result of using cotton buds to clean your ears. The wax is pushed deeper into your ear and causes a blockage that can cause tinnitus, pain and other symptoms

Preventing tinnitus

Now that we know some of the causes of tinnitus, we can now describe ways to avoid developing it.

• Keep your ears clean: If you ever use earplugs, headphones or expose your ears to something, it’s a good idea to keep them clean so that bacteria cannot develop
• Use earplugs: If you plan to attend a concert or work in a noisy environment, then it’s a good idea to use earplugs whenever possible. This will ensure that you protect your ears from sounds that could potentially damage your hearing
• Reduce stress: Because stress and anxiety both trigger tinnitus, it’s a good idea to try and avoid it and keep a healthy life balance

With a better understanding of what causes tinnitus, you can take measures to ensure that you aren’t affected by the condition in the future. Many of the causes of tinnitus can be avoided, but there are still a couple of causes of tinnitus (such as aging) that will happen regardless and cannot be prevented. Regardless, it’s never a bad idea to take the right measures.