IS the RINGING IN THE EARS A SIGN OF HYPERSENSITIVITY?
YOU WAKE UP ONE DAY AND ASK YOURSELF THE QUESTION: “WHY ARE MY EARS RINGING?”
Well, you’re not alone, you might not be aware of this, but in total silence, most people experience Tinnitus or ringing in the ears. An experiment conducted in the 1950’s found that 93% of participants reported ringing in the ears (or other noises) even though they were in complete silence. Your eyes react the same way when in total darkness. They adjust, dilate, and do everything in their power to help you see—automatically.
However it can be alarming to suddenly realize that my ears are ringing and if this is becoming a constant agitation and irritation, then you need to find out why ringing ears is grating on your nervous system in such as way. (There is an answer)
WHY ARE YOU CONSTANTLY AWARE OF THE RINGING IN YOUR EARS?
What’s this Rining in my ears all about?
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. Ask yourself, why are people with Tinnitus constantly aware of the ringing in their ears? When most of the population is blissfully unaware of it? More importantly, why has the Tinnitus victim’s 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 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.
ADRENALINE
MANY PEOPLE COMPLAIN OF RINGING IN THE EARS AFTER
PERIODS OF STRESS
What’s Stess got to do with it?
Tinnitus is bound up with this response. This is why most people start complaining about ringing in the ears 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.
What about the hard of hearing? If one is hearing impaired, 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 ringing in the ears, namely tinnitus.
It’s akin to setting a tape-recorder volume too high. Not only do you record the intended noise, you also record the buzzing, humming, clicking coming from the machine itself. Tinnitus 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 ringing in the ears.
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.
Ringing in the ears can be a classic symptom that your nervous system is taxed to the max. When it comes to your tinnitus, remember, the alarm bells are ringing, and for a good reason. Find the reason and the alarm bell will soon stop ringing. 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 ringing in your ears once and for all!
