Why Is There A Ringing In My Ears After A Concert?
Many people who enjoy going out and seeing their favorite singer or band play live often experience a ringing in their ears after the concert is over. This happens especially when the volume of the music is really loud or they are too close to the concert speakers. The “ringing” can be a high pitched squeal or whine. Some people have also described hearing “white noise” which is like the sound of static. The ringing in the ears can sometimes last a day or two after the concert. Although it is not a serious condition, it can be quite annoying.
The answer to why your ears ring after you have attended a concert is simple. You have damaged your ears by subjecting yourself to the loud music and the screams of the audience.
When exposed to loud noises, the hair cells in the inner ear become bent causing the ringing sound. Those hair cells produce nerve signals that travel to the auditory area of the brain when a sound is heard. Normally, these cells only fire when they are stimulated by a sound. Unfortunately, when the cells have experienced trauma, they fire on their own causing the ringing in the ear.
Obviously, the answer to this problem is not to avoid concerts. We all need a little fun in life. Plus, going to a few concerts a year will not permanently cause a ringing in your ears. Most likely within a few days your ears will heal and the ringing will subside. But, there are some things that you can do to avoid having to deal with this annoying affliction.
Constant concert goers can really enlist the help of ear plugs. You still are able to experience the thrill and the music of the concert but you are giving your ears an extra layer of protection. Some ear plugs are so small that no one will even be aware that you are wearing them.
Some band members have learned to protect their hearing from years worth of exposure to loud music by wearing ear plugs every time they sit down to play their instrument. You should also try to avoid staying at close proximity to the speakers. The closer to the speakers you are, the greater the noise resulting in greater ear damage.
Once you have gotten the ringing in your ears from a concert, there really is not much to do but wait until it goes away. Normally the hair cells in the inner ear will heal themselves but it is possible for them to break off entirely causing permanent damage to your hearing. Rarely do people experience permanent ear damage from attending concerts. It normally takes extended exposure to loud noises to cause permanent damage.
How can you tell if you are exposing your ears to something that is too loud? If you are within three feet of someone and you have to raise your voice for the person to hear you talking, the noise level within the environment is too loud. Sound louder the 110 decibels will damage your hearing. It is recommended that you do not expose your ears to a noise level over 85 decibels which is roughly the sound of a lawn mower.
Sudden Ear Ringing
Almost everyone has experienced a sudden ringing in the ears sometime in one’s life. Normally the sound only lasts for a few seconds to a minute or two. It can be in one or both ears and range from low to high pitch. Sometimes the ringing can last much longer than a few minutes. This kind of constant ringing in the ears is known as tinnitus.
Several reasons could cause tinnitus or sudden ear ringing. For example, a build-up of dirt or wax in the ear canal and severe ear infection are two of the common factors. Keep in mind that trying to dig out the wax build-up in your ears is dangerous and can damage the ear canal if you are not careful. If you visit a local drugstore you will find over-the-counter wash for ears which you can use to clean up the dirt or wax build-up in a gentle and safe manner.
Sometimes a sudden ear ringing may be caused by an event such as a car accident. After a traumatic head injury, many automobile crash victims experience tinnitus. Some people have reported a sudden onset of tinnitus after having certain procedures done on their teeth such as an ultrasonic cleaning or a difficult tooth extraction. This happens when bone conduction of loud sounds directly to the ear that can cause hearing damage.
Unfortunately, in the case of dental procedures, because the sound is internal, there is not much you can do to protect your hearing. On the other hand, earplugs can normally protect your hearing from MRI’s, CAT’s and other non-invasive scanning machines. These machines are very loud and even if your head is outside of the machine while it is running it could still damage your hearing. Most modern imaging facility would supply you with earplugs when you are doing these tests.
Over-the-counter or prescription drugs may also cause a sudden ear ringing. Sometimes after the dosage of the medication is reduced, the ringing of the ears will be reduced or even eliminated completely.
Some of the medicines that may have tinnitus as a side effect include naproxen sodium (Naprosyn, Aleve), non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, aminoglycoside antibiotics, anti-depressants, ibuprofen, loop-inhibiting diuretics, salicylate analgesics (which is higher doses of aspirin), oral contraceptives, quinine/anti-malarials, and chemotherapy.
Ear ringing caused by an ear infection could be related to the use of ototoxic antibiotics. Unfortunately, sometimes these medications can also lead to permanent tinnitus and/or hearing loss.
If you experience a sudden ear ringing, look for the simplest explanation first. Perhaps you recently exposed yourself to a loud noise. Many people who have attended a concert sometimes complain of ear ringing even for the entire day after the event is over. In these cases the ringing in the ears is due to the slight damage to the inner ear and typically it is not permanent.
Ringing of the Ears
The ringing in one’s ears is not a sound that can be heard by other people. The medical term of this is tinnitus. Very often it is not a serious condition. The noise may sounds like a ringing in the ear, whistling, hissing, roaring, or buzzing. Some tinnitus patients may describe the noise as a humming, clanging, beating, chirping, or whooshing sound.
Not only the type but also the severity of the sound can vary from person to person. For example, some tinnitus sufferers may hear sounds like a low roar while others hear a high pitched squeal. The noise may be so loud to some patients that they cannot concentrate on daily tasks or even get to sleep. Even the most focused person can be disrupted by the constant ringing sound within the ears.
For people with tinnitus, the ringing sound can occur in one or both ears, or it may alternate from one ear to the other sometimes. It also interferes with the person’s normal hearing and prevents him or her from hearing well.
Basically there are two categories of tinnitus. The first one is most common but less understood. This type of tinnitus is caused by the damage occurred in the inner ear canal. But it can happen anywhere in the person’s auditory system including anything from the ear canal to the brain.
In many cases the damage comes from loud noises. The loud sound can bend the hair cells within the inner ear. This is normally not permanent and the patients may find their tinnitus disappears after a few days.
However, loud noises can break off the hair cells entirely. When this happens, the damage is permanent and the patient may hear the constant ringing sound for the rest of his or her life.
The second type of tinnitus is called pulsatile tinnitus. Atherosclerosis is another name for it. The patients suffer from this kind of tinnitus hear a pulsing or rhythmic sound in their ears. It is a rare form of tinnitus and usually signals more serious underlying health conditions.
The major difference between pulsatile tinnitus and the first kind of tinnitus is that people who suffer from the first kind of tinnitus can only hear the sounds themselves while the doctor can hear the sound of a pulsatile tinnitus patient with a stethoscope placing near the patient’s neck or ear.
Typically what they are hearing is their own pulse that’s rushing through the ear. People who suffer from pulsatile tinnitus generally have other health issues such as high blood pressure or hypertension, or abnormal arteries or veins, glomus tumor, Eustachian tube disorder, heart murmur, or other cardiovascular diseases.
Tinnitus is such a common problem that research has shown that twenty percent of the population has some degree of tinnitus at least sometime in their lives. In the past the patient has to learn how to live with it but now there are natural remedies available that can cure the condition.
Is the Ringing in My Ears Caused by Blood Pressure?
Studies have shown that many people suffer from hearing a constant ringing or noise in their ears called tinnitus. Most of the time tinnitus is caused by the damage occurred within the inner ear. But, sometimes tinnitus can actually be a symptom of an underlining condition. One of these conditions could be high blood pressure.
About three percent of tinnitus patients experience a rare form of tinnitus known as pulsatile tinnitus. It occurs when there is a narrowing of the blood vessel opening or an increased blood flow through the blood vessels inside the head or neck of the patient. The turbulent blood flow can then be heard in either one or both ears.
People suffer from pulsatile tinnitus can hear the noise as a rhythmic pulsing often in sync with their heartbeat. It can sometimes be heard as a whooshing or thumping sound. It is caused by a disturbance of the individual’s blood flow.
Pulsatile tinnitus is completely independent from traditional tinnitus that is caused by damage to the hearing nerve located in the cochlea of the inner ear. However, some people may experience both types of tinnitus at the same time.
With pulsatile tinnitus the problem can be a serious underlying condition such as high blood pressure. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can have many symptoms or it may occur with no symptoms at all. Although hearing a ringing in the ears might be a symptom of high blood pressure, studies have shown that it is not a common one.
Typically pulsatile tinnitus patients suffering from high blood pressure won’t start to hear ringing noise in their ears until after they have begun their blood pressure medication. The tinnitus usually resolves on its own after about four to six weeks. A change in the medication can also resolve the issue. Other individuals with tinnitus caused by high blood pressure find the ringing disappears after medication starts to reduce the pressure within the blood vessels.
Several other conditions can also cause pulsatile tinnitus. One of the common causes of pulsatile tinnitus is due to a glomus tumor, which is a benign vascular tumor typically found just below the artery or in the ear. It is a result of a cholesterol build-up along the artery wall.
Another cause for pulsatile tinnitus is benign intracranial hypertension or BIH for short. This is a condition where the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain experiencing an increased pressure. It occurs often in young, overweight females. In addition, a middle ear inflammation or infection can also cause pulsatile tinnitus.
Depending on the cause of the pulsatile tinnitus, the cures may vary from person to person. If you think that your tinnitus might be due to high blood pressure, you should visit your doctor’s office and have your blood pressure checked. If indeed it is cause by high blood pressure, you doctor may prescribe a medication to reduce the symptoms. It is important that you report any side effects caused by the new medication.
A Ringing in Your Ears Might be a Symptom of …
Have you ever had a brief ringing in your ears? Almost everyone has this experience at one time or another. A ringing in the ears might be a symptom of sinus problems or allergies. Usually medications like antihistamines and antibiotics and are used to treat these conditions. These medications can make the mucous in the ear difficult for the body to drain leading to pressure build up, ear infections and ringing in the ears.
A ringing in the ears can also be a symptom of anxiety. There are many different symptoms of anxiety. People who suffer from anxiety or have panic attacks normally exhibit these symptoms in many different ways. Some of them may hear ringing in their ears as a symptom. Although, a ringing in your ears does not necessary mean you have anxiety.
A ringing in the ears can result from having higher than normal cholesterol levels, or a problem with one’s blood pressure. As cholesterol gathers in blood vessels and more specifically the blood vessels near the ear, the blood pressure can become more turbulent in its effort to force through some of the deposits. This can result in the noises you hear. If you are hearing a ringing in your ear, a simple test would be to check your cholesterol level.
Conditions like age-associated loss of hearing or presbycusis, temporomandibular joint disorder, muscle tension, thyroid disorder, and vitamin B12 deficiency could also produce symptoms like hearing a ringing in the ear.
Typically the ringing disappears within a few seconds but some people hear a constant ringing in their ears that almost never goes away. This condition is known as tinnitus.
Although the most common cause of ringing in the ear is tinnitus, there are several different forms of tinnitus. Atherosclerosis is a rare form of tinnitus. In most cases tinnitus produces a ringing in the ear that only the individual can hear. However, in the case of atherosclerosis, as it is indicative of some sort of structural problem within the individual, a doctor can hear the ringing in the ear as well when they place a stethoscope around the ear and the side of the patient’s neck.
Atherosclerosis is a more serious medical condition. This type of tinnitus cause more of a pulsing or a rushing sound which is the individuals own pulse that they can hear pulsing or rushing through the ear.
The other form of tinnitus, in which only the individual can hear the ringing, is more common but less understood. In addition, the noise hear within the ear is not limited to a ringing sound. It can be a whining, buzzing, popping or even a static sound. The sound can be in just one ear or both ears. The treatment for this condition varies with the individual. Some people have found alternative treatments for tinnitus. These individuals have turned to natural homeopathic treatments, acupuncture, hypnosis and even implants.
