If you are one of the millions of individuals in the U.S. dealing with a medical disorder called tinnitus then you most likely know that it tends to get worse when you are attempting to fall asleep. But why should this be? The ringing or buzzing in one or both ears is not a real noise but a side-effect of a medical issue like hearing loss, either permanent or temporary. Of course, knowing what it is will not clarify why you have this buzzing, ringing, or whooshing noise more frequently during the night.
The truth is more common sense than you may think. But first, we need to discover a little more about this all-too-common condition.
What is tinnitus?
For the majority of individuals, tinnitus isn’t an actual sound, but this fact just compounds the confusion. It’s a noise no one else can hear. It sounds like air-raid sirens are going off in your ears but the person sleeping right beside you can’t hear it at all.
Tinnitus alone isn’t a disease or disorder, but an indication that something else is happening. Substantial hearing loss is usually at the base of this disorder. For many, tinnitus is the first sign they get that their hearing is in jeopardy. Hearing loss is often gradual, so they don’t detect it until that ringing or buzzing starts. Your hearing is changing if you begin to hear these sounds, and they’re alerting you of those changes.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus is one of medical science’s biggest mysteries and doctors don’t have a strong comprehension of why it happens. It might be a symptom of a number of medical problems including damage to the inner ear. There are very small hair cells inside of your ears that vibrate in response to sound. Tinnitus can indicate there’s damage to those hair cells, enough to keep them from sending electrical signals to the brain. Your brain translates these electrical signals into identifiable sounds.
The current hypothesis regarding tinnitus has to do with the absence of sound. The brain stays on the alert to receive these messages, so when they don’t arrive, it fills in that space with the phantom noise of tinnitus. It attempts to compensate for input that it’s not receiving.
That would explain a few things about tinnitus. Why it can be a result of so many medical conditions, like age-related hearing loss, high blood pressure, and concussions, for starters. It also tells you something about why the ringing gets louder at night for some individuals.
Why are tinnitus sounds louder at night?
You may not even notice it, but your ear is picking up some sounds during the day. It hears very faintly the music or the TV playing in the other room. But at night, when you’re trying to sleep, it gets really quiet.
All of a sudden, the brain becomes confused as it listens for sound to process. When faced with total silence, it resorts to making its own internal sounds. Hallucinations, like phantom sounds, are frequently the outcome of sensory deprivation as the brain tries to produce input where there isn’t any.
In other words, your tinnitus may get louder at night because it’s too quiet. If you’re having a difficult time sleeping because your tinnitus symptoms are so loud, producing some noise may be the solution.
How to produce noise at night
For some individuals dealing with tinnitus, all they need is a fan running in the background. Just the sound of the motor is enough to quiet the ringing.
But, there are also devices designed to help those with tinnitus get to sleep. White noise machines reproduce nature sounds like rain or ocean waves. If you were to leave a TV on, it may be distracting, but white noise machines generate calming sounds that you can sleep through. Your smartphone also has the ability to download apps that will play soothing sounds.
What else can worsen tinnitus symptoms?
Your tinnitus symptoms can be worsened by other things besides lack of sound. For instance, if you’re indulging in too much alcohol before bed, that could contribute to tinnitus symptoms. Tinnitus also tends to become severe if you’re stressed out and certain medical issues can lead to a flare-up, too, like high blood pressure. Contact us for an appointment if these suggestions aren’t helping or if you’re feeling dizzy when your tinnitus symptoms are present.
References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-loss-tinnitus-statistics/
