If you are one of the millions of people in the U.S. suffering from a medical condition known as tinnitus then you probably know that it tends to get worse when you are attempting to fall asleep. But why would this be? The ringing is a phantom sound due to some medical disorder like hearing loss, it’s not an outside sound. But none of that information can give an explanation as to why this ringing gets louder during the night.
The truth is more common sense than you probably think. But first, we have to discover a little more about this all-too-common condition.
What is tinnitus?
To say tinnitus is not an actual sound just adds to the confusion, but, for most people, that is the case. The person with tinnitus can hear the sound but no one else can. Your partner lying next to you in bed can’t hear it although it sounds like a tornado to you.
Tinnitus by itself isn’t a disease or disorder, but a sign that something else is happening. It is generally linked to substantial hearing loss. Tinnitus is often the first sign that hearing loss is Taking hold. Hearing loss is typically gradual, so they don’t detect it until that ringing or buzzing starts. This phantom noise is a warning flag to signal you of a change in your hearing.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus is one of medical science’s biggest conundrums and doctors don’t have a clear comprehension of why it occurs. It may be a symptom of inner ear damage or numerous other possible medical conditions. There are tiny hair cells inside of your ears that vibrate in response to sound. Tinnitus often means there’s damage to those hair cells, enough to keep them from delivering electrical messages to the brain. Your brain converts these electrical signals into identifiable sounds.
The current theory pertaining to tinnitus is about the absence of sound. Your brain will start to fill in for information that it’s waiting for because of hearing loss. It gets perplexed by the lack of input from the ear and tries to compensate for it.
That would clarify a few things when it comes to tinnitus. For starters, why it’s a symptom of so many different illnesses that impact the ear: mild infections, concussions, and age-related hearing loss. It also tells you something about why the ringing gets louder at night for some individuals.
Why does tinnitus get worse at night?
You may not even detect it, but your ear receives some sounds during the day. 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 goes quiet during the night when you try to fall asleep.
All of a sudden, the brain becomes confused as it listens for sound to process. It only knows one response when faced with total silence – create noise even if it’s not real. Hallucinations, like phantom sounds, are frequently the result of sensory deprivation as the brain attempts to produce input where there isn’t any.
In other words, it’s too quiet at night so your tinnitus seems worse. If you’re having a difficult time sleeping because your tinnitus symptoms are so loud, creating some noise might be the solution.
Producing noise at night
For some people suffering from tinnitus, all they need is a fan running in the background. The volume of the ringing is reduced just by the sound of the motor of the fan.
But you can also get devices that are specifically made to decrease tinnitus sounds. Environmental sounds, like ocean waves or rain, are generated by these “white noise machines”. If you were to leave a TV on, it might be distracting, but white noise machines create soothing sounds that you can sleep through. Your smartphone also has the capability to download apps that will play soothing sounds.
Can anything else make tinnitus symptoms louder?
Your tinnitus symptoms can be amplified by other things besides lack of sound. Too much alcohol before bed can contribute to more extreme tinnitus symptoms. Tinnitus also tends to become severe if you’re under stress and certain medical issues can result in a flare-up, also, like high blood pressure. Give us a call for an appointment if these suggestions aren’t helping or if you’re feeling dizzy when your tinnitus symptoms are active.
References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-loss-tinnitus-statistics/
