If you are one of the millions of individuals in the U.S. dealing with a medical disorder known as 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 is a phantom sound due to some medical condition like hearing loss, it’s not an external sound. Naturally, knowing what it is will not explain why you have this buzzing, ringing, or whooshing noise more frequently at night.
The real reason is fairly simple. But first, we need to discover a little more about this all-too-common disorder.
What is tinnitus?
For most individuals, tinnitus isn’t a real sound, but this fact just compounds the confusion. It’s a noise no one else is able to 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 by itself is not a disease or condition, but a sign that something else is happening. Substantial hearing loss is generally at the base of this condition. For many, tinnitus is the first indication they get that their hearing is in jeopardy. Hearing loss tends to be gradual, so they don’t detect it until that ringing or buzzing begins. This phantom sound is a warning flag to warn you of a change in how you hear.
What causes tinnitus?
Presently medical scientists and doctors are still not sure of exactly what causes tinnitus. It may be a symptom of a number of medical problems including damage to the inner ear. The inner ear has lots of tiny hair cells made to move in response to sound waves. Tinnitus often means there is damage to those hair cells, enough to keep them from delivering electrical signals to the brain. Your brain translates these electrical signals into identifiable sounds.
The absence of sound is the basis of the current hypothesis. The brain stays on the alert to receive 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.
When it comes to tinnitus, that would explain some things. Why it can be a result of so many medical conditions, such as age-related hearing loss, high blood pressure, and concussions, to begin with. It also tells you something about why the ringing gets worse at night for some individuals.
Why does tinnitus get 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 somewhere close by. But at night, when you’re trying to sleep, it gets very quiet.
All of a sudden, the brain is thrown into confusion as it listens for sound to process. It only knows one thing to do when confronted with complete silence – generate noise even if it’s not real. Hallucinations, such as phantom sounds, are frequently the outcome of sensory deprivation as the brain tries to produce input where none exists.
In other words, it’s too quiet at night so your tinnitus seems louder. If you are having a difficult time sleeping because your tinnitus symptoms are so loud, creating some noise might be the solution.
Creating noise at night
A fan running is frequently enough to decrease tinnitus symptoms for many individuals. Just the noise of the motor is enough to quiet the ringing.
But you can also buy devices that are specifically made to reduce tinnitus sounds. Environmental sounds, like ocean waves or rain, are generated by these “white noise machines”. The soft noise soothes the tinnitus but isn’t disruptive enough to keep you awake like leaving the TV on might do. Your smartphone also has the capability to download apps that will play soothing sounds.
Can anything else make tinnitus symptoms worse?
Your tinnitus symptoms can be exacerbated by other things besides lack of sound. Too much alcohol before bed can lead to more severe tinnitus symptoms. Tinnitus also tends to worsen if you’re under stress and certain medical problems can trigger a flare-up, too, like high blood pressure. Contact us for an appointment if these tips aren’t helping or if you’re feeling dizzy when your tinnitus symptoms are present.
References
https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/hearing-loss-tinnitus-statistics/
