Blood, Sweat, And Ears: Lesser-Known Causes Of Tinnitus

Tinnitus – a chronic condition that usually presents itself as a ringing, rushing, or static-like noise in your ears, often impairing your ability to hear – is a common condition but can still be somewhat mysterious to those who contract it, especially when they're not sure what has caused this ringing sensation. But tinnitus isn't just caused by one factor, and your tinnitus may have been brought on by the combined efforts of a variety of sources. So if you're interested in the causes of tinnitus (excepting a few obvious ones, such as injury to the ear) that could have brought yours on, then here's what you need to know.

Irregular Blood Pressure

Everyone's felt blood pumping in their ears at some point in their life, whether it's because of a stressful job interview or a playoff game in the sport of their choice. Chronic high or low blood pressure, however, is a bit different than that, and that irregularity in pressure can lead to you developing tinnitus. Your doctor will be the best bet for fixing this cause; they can provide you with medication that can either help lower or raise your blood pressure, equalizing you out and (hopefully) nixing your tinnitus.

Vitamin/Mineral Deficiency

Chances are good that unless you keep a list of the vitamins and minerals you need to consume each day (and check it twice at least), you're probably lacking in some nutrient or another. But a chronic vitamin or mineral deficiency is a little more serious than that, and can actually cause that annoying ringing in your ears. This is especially worrisome for athletes, who often keep strict diets for their sport and sweat out essential vitamins and minerals. Fixing this isn't as simple as just popping a multivitamin in the morning; go talk to your doctor to get your vitamin and mineral levels tested and get feedback on how to improve your nutrition.

Earwax

Not all the causes of tinnitus are as dramatic as irregular blood pressure or malnutrition – sometimes tinnitus can be caused by a very mundane physical feature: the wax in your ears. While earwax by itself isn't anything you need to worry about (it's more annoying to you than anything else), when the earwax grows too big or when it is pushed back too far by a q-tip, it can cause a problem. If the wax touches your eardrum, it can inhibit your hearing and can thus cause the ringing, whining, rushing, or buzzing noises so commonly associated with the condition. You can go to your doctor to get your ear cleaned out if you think that this is the cause of your problem, just as long as you're more careful with your q-tip in the future.

Visit a clinic like West Ocean City Injury & Illness Center for more info.

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