A tricky thing about tinnitus is that it’s a subjective condition. It’s easy to point to other conditions, like a broken bone, for example, and assess how severe it is just by looking at it, but you can’t do that with tinnitus. Because of this, many patients struggle to know if their tinnitus is “severe” enough to seek professional help. We want to help dispel this confusion.
Signs You Should Seek Help
Many patients disregard their tinnitus, believing they can ignore it or that it’s temporary. Sometimes that is true, but here are some signs that there might be more going on.
It’s Affecting Your Sleep
During the day, you might be able to ignore the ringing in your ears, but at night, it’s a different story. Perhaps you’re struggling to fall asleep, or you’re waking up in the middle of the night. Perhaps you’re struggling with both of those things. Because sleep quality can have so many ripple effects on your daily life, health and well-being, it’s important not to ignore this phenomenon. Seek help and get the sleep you need.
You Feel Sluggish and Brain Foggy
Tinnitus is known to cause brain fog. Your brain needs energy to function, and tinnitus is eating up your brain’s energy by generating this noise and perceiving it. It also makes regular listening more difficult by obscuring the sounds you do need to hear, which overworks the auditory processing center in the brain. This can affect social energy, work performance, enjoyment of your favorite hobbies and your mood.
You’re Noticing Mental Health Issues
There’s a well-documented link between tinnitus and problems with anxiety and depression. This could come about due to the distress, feelings of isolation, poor sleep quality (as we discussed above) and the neural hyperactivity that comes with tinnitus, among many other reasons. We at Lakelands ENT don’t want tinnitus to cause you mental health issues. If you’re noticing signs of anxiety or depression, it might be linked to tinnitus, and it’s time to seek help.
What Professional Tinnitus Treatment Can Look Like
While there is no cure for tinnitus, there are ways to manage it, and our professionals at Lakelands ENT can guide you through these management strategies. Some possibilities include:
- Counseling
- Tinnitus retraining therapy
- Hearing aids
- Sound therapy
If it’s time to seek professional tinnitus treatment and you’re interested in learning more about these treatment options, give us a call today to schedule a tinnitus evaluation!
