Health Conditions Related to Tinnitus

Are there health conditions related to tinnitus? Despite being lesser known, nearly 50 million Americans are struggling with tinnitus. However, since people sometimes think that a faint ringing in their ear is fine or natural, less than half of those diagnosed will seek out help.

Health conditions related to tinnitus
Source

More importantly, tinnitus is often not the problem since it is more or less a signal that an underlying health condition needs your attention. To help educate people about the health conditions often related to tinnitus.

Common Types of Tinnitus

While tinnitus refers to the noise or ringing people can hear inside their ears, they often fall into two broader categories. These include subjective tinnitus and objective tinnitus. The main difference between the two is that the subjective category is unique to the individual.

But as for objective tinnitus, a medical expert can hear noise in your ear using devices such as a stethoscope. An audiologist will likely perform the tests necessary to determine which category you have.

Each category can have unique causes, with objective tinnitus often resulting from severe muscle spasms. But as for the subjective type, it is more than likely that subjective tinnitus results from factors like aging or exposure to loud noise.

Tinnitus is often a sign that an individual has other, more serious health conditions for which they should get treatment. Here is a more detailed list of the medical conditions often related to tinnitus.

Diabetes

People with diabetes are at an increased risk of developing tinnitus for various reasons. People with diabetes will already have trouble with their blood flow, which can make them significantly more susceptible to trouble with their hearing.

Elevated blood sugar levels can also lead to people developing tinnitus symptoms.

Higher Blood Pressure

Higher blood pressure can contribute to people developing tinnitus. Of course, it will still contribute to tinnitus if people have naturally higher blood pressure or are in situations where it is likely to rise.

Other factors that can increase blood pressure, such as caffeine and alcohol, are more than likely to spike blood pressure. And when it does, it is not uncommon for people to hear a ringing in their ears.

Ear Infections

If an individual has an ear infection, they are more than likely to have tinnitus. Since blood flow to the ears is restricted during an ear infection, the inner ear will likely develop tinnitus.

Autoimmune Disorders

Another serious health condition related to tinnitus is an autoimmune disease known as lupus. People struggling with autoimmune diseases will eventually lead to peripheral auditory dysfunction, which can lead to hearing a noise in their ears.

Source

Hearing Loss

People who lose their hearing, whether due to old age or an accident, are most likely to develop tinnitus. The only treatment to deal with this condition is for the individual to get hearing aids to reduce tinnitus symptoms.

Sinus and the Common Cold

Along with various other conditions, tinnitus could signify that the individual has a sinus infection or the common cold. The blocked sinus can restrict blood flow to the ear, but this noise shouldn’t worry you since it is more likely to pass in some time.