Some years ago my thoughts on tinnitus turned inwards, looking back this was probably out of total despair as I had exhausted every single external option available. I could no longer frantically search for help “out there” I’d essentially “given up!”

The irony of this was that in surrendering, giving up and accepting, a shift in my perspective took place. This shift led me on a journey inwards, where healing truly took place.

Let me attempt to help you view your high pitched ringing in ears in a different light, who knows maybe just like me it might alter your perspective somewhat taking you one-step closer to true healing and peace.

Let me start by asking you an important question. This question served as the catalyst for personal change and self-discovery in the realms of my own battle with tinnitus.

“Why is it that one person can have ringing in ears and it drives them bonkers whilst another person can have their ears ringing and it doesn’t seem to bother them at all”?

The Answer might come as a surprise as it has nothing to do with the tone, pitch, type or volume of their tinnitus. Rather it has everything to do with their nervous system and how and why it responds in the way it does to the new stimuli (tinnitus).

Let me start by highlighting this fascinating fact. Did you know that in total silence most people experience tinnitus or their ears ringing. An experiment conducted in the 1950’s found that 93% of participants reported ringing (or other noises) in the ears, even though they were in complete silence. It’s interesting to note that your eyes react the very same way when in total darkness. They adjust, dilate, and do everything in their power to help you see automatically. Well, much the same happens with our hearing.

So, If this is the case, Why Am I Constantly Aware of The Ringing in My Ears?

The truth of the matter is that our ears work all the time and only relax once they have latched onto harmless background noise. It’s part of our evolution. We feel safe when our senses are familiar and relate with our environment. So, if it is completely silent, most people’s hearing intensifies until it becomes hypersensitive and starts detecting internal nervous information. This is what is called “hypersensitivity.”

The entire process activates a stress response in your system, and increases your internal auditory hypersensitivity. Take a minute to ask your self, why as a tinnitus sufferer am I constantly aware of the ringing in my ears? When perhaps most of the population is blissfully unaware of their ears ringing? More importantly, why has my hearing become so sensitive and latched onto internal sounds?

Why Has My Hearing Become So Sensitive?

Right this second, you might not feel anxious, but your central nervous system is idling in a constant state of red-alert. Under the surface, your whole system has locked itself into a state of emergency, as if it senses that there is a threat that is ever-present. This is a very subtle and silent process called stress!

Stress releases hormones, most notably adrenaline. These chemicals keep your entire system locked into a stress state. So why does your body get into this state in the first place?

If you can recognize the patterns in yourself, you can prevent them.

The key to understanding what is tinnitus for a vast majority of people is learning to understand your body’s relationship with stress. When you have high levels of stress hormones surging through your system, your body senses an emergency. Although you might not be aware of it, when your senses become heightened, your sense of hearing becomes acute (hypersensitivity) Sound familiar?

With the increase of stress hormone levels, you become much more reactive to the world around you (hypersensitive). This is an ancestral survival mechanism that has evolved into your nervous system, for protection. So when danger appears, you don’t have to think about protecting yourself.

Ironically enough, this is why most people start complaining about their ears ringing after periods of high levels of stress. Too much stress, releasing cortisol and adrenaline, over a long period of time can give you tinnitus, along with a myriad of other conditions.

But what about the hard of hearing I hear you say? Well, if one is hearing impaired (conduction deafness) partially deaf or completely deaf, every time they strain to hear they are increasing that hypersensitivity. When the brain does not get enough information from the external world, it tries to increase its receptivity by raising the inner volume. This is why the vast majority of people with hearing loss quite often experience their ears ringing. Think of setting a recording device say a tape recorder too high. Not only do you record the intended noise, you also record the buzzing, humming, clicking coming from the machine itself. Constant ringing in ears can be looked at like this—you are hearing the noises of the nervous system, on top of sounds coming in from the world around you. Now, for those who are hard of hearing or hearing impaired, stop straining to hear! You are only making yourself more prone to Tinnitus.

Getting to Grips with Stress Hormones is an important first step in eradicating your ears ringing.
There is a place for stress hormones, these hormones, which heighten our awareness, also save our lives. Understanding them, controlling them is a vital tool towards Tinnitus eradication and our general health. It’s a proven fact that acute stress or shock, which produces large amounts of adrenaline, can literally divert blood flow from the cochlea and make you temporarily deaf!

Stress hormones cause you to become hyper aware of the nervous impulses that you normally would not pick up or respond to. If your adrenaline and cortisol levels were to balance out, your sensory perception would become less acute, and your tinnitus would ease.

Constant ringing in ears can be a classic symptom that your nervous system is taxed to the max. When it comes to your tinnitus, think of it this way, the alarm bells are ringing, and for a good reason. Find the reason and the alarm bell (ears ringing) will soon stop. Tinnitus won’t let go of you until you address some major patterns in your life. I’ve managed to do so and so can you!

So take control and say goodbye to that constant ringing in ears once and for all!