If you are one of the millions of individuals in the U.S. suffering from a medical condition known as tinnitus then you most likely know that it often gets worse when you are trying to go to sleep. But what’s the reason for this? The ringing or buzzing in one or both ears is not a real noise but a side-effect of a medical problem like hearing loss, either permanent or temporary. Naturally, knowing what it is won’t explain why you have this buzzing, ringing, or whooshing noise more frequently during the night.
The real reason is fairly simple. To know why your tinnitus increases as you attempt to sleep, you need to understand the hows and whys of this really common medical problem.
What is tinnitus?
For most individuals, tinnitus isn’t an actual sound, but this fact just adds to the confusion. The person with tinnitus can hear the sound but nobody else can. It sounds like air-raid sirens are going off in your ears but the person sleeping right near you can’t hear it at all.
Tinnitus is an indication that something is wrong, not a condition on its own. Substantial hearing loss is usually at the base of this disorder. For many, tinnitus is the first sign they get that their hearing is at risk. Hearing loss tends to be gradual, so they don’t notice it until that ringing or buzzing begins. Your hearing is changing if you begin to hear these sounds, and they’re warning you of those changes.
What causes tinnitus?
At this time medical scientists and doctors are still unsure of exactly what causes tinnitus. It may be a symptom of inner ear damage or a number of other possible medical issues. There are very small hair cells inside of your ears that vibrate in response to sound. Tinnitus can indicate there is damage to those hair cells, enough to keep them from transmitting electrical messages to the brain. Your brain converts these electrical signals into identifiable sounds.
The absence of sound is the base of the current hypothesis. The brain remains on the alert to receive these messages, so when they don’t come, it fills that space with the phantom sound of tinnitus. It tries to compensate for sound that it’s not receiving.
That would clarify a few things about tinnitus. Why it can be caused by so many medical conditions, like age-related hearing loss, high blood pressure, and concussions, for starters. That may also be why the symptoms get worse at night sometimes.
Why are tinnitus sounds louder at night?
Unless you are profoundly deaf, your ear receives some sounds during the day whether you realize it or not. It will faintly hear sounds coming from a different room or around the corner. At the very least, you hear your own voice, but that all stops at night when you try to fall asleep.
All of a sudden, the brain becomes confused as it searches for sound to process. It only knows one thing to do when faced with total silence – generate noise even if it isn’t real. Sensory deprivation has been demonstrated to trigger hallucinations as the brain tries to insert information, like auditory input, into a place where there isn’t any.
In other words, your tinnitus might get worse at night because it’s so quiet. If you are having a difficult time sleeping because your tinnitus symptoms are so loud, creating some noise might be the answer.
Creating noise at night
A fan running is frequently enough to decrease tinnitus symptoms for many people. Just the noise of the motor is enough to quiet the ringing.
But you can also get devices that are specifically made to reduce tinnitus sounds. White noise machines reproduce environmental sounds like rain or ocean waves. The soft noise soothes the tinnitus but isn’t distracting enough to keep you awake like keeping the TV on might do. Your smartphone also has the ability to download apps that will play calming sounds.
What else can worsen tinnitus symptoms?
Lack of sound isn’t the only thing that can cause an increase in your tinnitus. Too much alcohol before bed can contribute to more extreme tinnitus symptoms. Other things, including high blood pressure and stress can also contribute to your symptoms. If adding sound into your nighttime program doesn’t help or you feel dizzy when the ringing is present, it’s time to find out about treatment options by scheduling an appointment with us right away.
References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-loss-tinnitus-statistics/