If you are one of the millions of people in the U.S. suffering from a medical condition called tinnitus then you probably know that it tends to get worse when you are trying to fall asleep. But why would this be? The ringing or buzzing in one or both ears is not a real noise but a complication of a medical issue like hearing loss, either permanent or temporary. Of course, knowing what it is will not explain why you have this buzzing, ringing, or whooshing noise more often at night.
The truth is more common sense than you might think. To know why your tinnitus increases as you try to sleep, you need to understand the hows and whys of this very common medical problem.
What is tinnitus?
To say tinnitus is not a real sound just adds to the confusion, but, for most people, that is true. It’s a noise no one else can hear. Your partner lying next to you in bed can’t hear it even though it sounds like a tornado to you.
Tinnitus alone is not a disease or condition, but a sign that something else is wrong. It is typically associated with significant hearing loss. 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 starts. This phantom noise is a warning flag to warn you of a change in how you hear.
What causes tinnitus?
Tinnitus is one of medical science’s biggest conundrums, doctors don’t have a clear understanding of why it happens. It could be a symptom of a number of medical problems including inner ear damage. The inner ear contains many tiny hair cells designed to move in response to sound waves. Tinnitus often means there is damage to those hair cells, enough to keep them from sending electrical messages to the brain. These electrical messages are how the brain translates sound into something your brain can clearly comprehend like a car horn or person talking.
The current hypothesis regarding tinnitus has to do with the absence of sound. The brain remains on the alert to get these messages, so when they don’t come, it fills that space with the phantom noise of tinnitus. It gets confused by the lack of feedback from the ear and tries to compensate for it.
That would explain a few things when it comes to tinnitus. For one, why its a symptom of so many different illnesses that affect the ear: mild infections, concussions, and age-related hearing loss. It also tells you something about why the ringing gets worse at night for some people.
Why does tinnitus get worse at night?
Unless you are profoundly deaf, your ear picks up some sounds during the day whether you realize it or not. It hears very faintly the music or the TV playing in the other room. At the very least, you hear your own voice, but that all stops at night when you try to go to sleep.
Suddenly, all the sound disappears and the level of confusion in the brain rises in response. It only knows one thing to do when faced with total silence – create noise even if it’s not real. Sensory deprivation has been shown to induce hallucinations as the brain tries to insert information, like auditory input, into a place where there isn’t any.
In other words, your tinnitus could get worse at night because it’s too quiet. Creating sound may be the solution for those who can’t sleep due to that annoying ringing in the ear.
How to create noise at night
For some people suffering from tinnitus, all they need is a fan running in the background. Just the noise of the motor is enough to quiet the ringing.
But, there are also devices made to help those with tinnitus get to sleep. White noise machines simulate environmental sounds like rain or ocean waves. The soft noise soothes the tinnitus but isn’t distracting enough to keep you awake like leaving the TV on might do. Alternatively, you could try an app that plays soothing sounds from your smartphone.
Can anything else make tinnitus symptoms worse?
Lack of sound isn’t the only thing that can cause an upsurge in your tinnitus. For example, if you’re indulging in too much alcohol before bed, that could be a contributing factor. Tinnitus also tends to get worse if you’re under stress and certain medical problems can lead to a flare-up, too, like high blood pressure. If introducing sound into your nighttime routine doesn’t help or you feel dizzy when the ringing is active, it’s time to find out about treatment options by scheduling an appointment with a qualified specialist today.
