Many different issues can cause tinnitus, and doctors have a variety of different theories as to why tinnitus occurs. As of yet, the exact cause of most forms of tinnitus is not entirely clear. Tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease, so many different factors may lead to tinnitus. Before reading forward, make sure you've taken my anxiety test to learn more about anxiety and its link to other symptoms. The most common cause of tinnitus is hearing loss due to loud noise exposure. An indeed, loud noise exposure can also cause temporary tinnitus. But what complicates matters is that tinnitus can be caused by many different issues. According to a research paper at the Willis Medical Network, tinnitus is caused by a host of issues, including: Otologic: Noise-induced hearing loss, presbycusis, otosclerosis, otitis, impacted cerumen, sudden deafness, Meniere's disease, and other causes of hearing loss. Neurologic: Head injury, whiplash, multiple sclerosis, vestibular schwannoma (commonly called an acoustic neuroma), and other cerebellopontine-angle tumors. Infectious: Otitis media and sequelae of Lyme disease, meningitis, syphilis, and other infectious or inflammatory processes that affect hearing (ear infections). Medications: Salicylates, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, aminoglycoside antibiotics, loop diuretics, and chemotherapy agents (e.g., platins and vincristine). But the authors are very quick to point out that in MANY cases, no underlying cause is found. In fact, while some of the above list may be frightening, the reality is that the vast majority of those are not only rare, but fraught with other symptoms that make tinnitus one of the least of your concerns. How Anxiety Causes Tinnitus The truth is that researchers aren't sure exactly how anxiety causes tinnitus, but they know that many people with anxiety do experience tinnitus. Anxiety activates the fight or flight system, and this places a great deal of pressure on the nerves, blood flow, body heat, and more. It's very likely that this pressure and stress travels up into your inner ear, and leads to the experience of tinnitus. But most of this tinnitus is temporary. It comes at the peak of an anxiety attack, and then quickly goes away. This does not explain why so many people experience long term tinnitus as a result of anxiety. Researchers strongly believe that anxiety may not cause tinnitus at all. Rather, anxiety may cause a mindset that makes someone more prone to tinnitus distress. http://www.calmclinic.com/anxiety/symptoms/tinnitus Anxiety and stress are similar or have similar signs.
