If tinnitus is through hearing loss how can stress make it worse?

[Ingrid-p]

I’ve just had a private hearing test and my hearing loss in my left ear is severe and moderate loss in my right ear, which is causing my t to get worse over the years.

If there’s something physically wrong with my ear why would stress make it worse?

It’s such a complicated thing, but I’ve always felt that stress has no impact on my t.

I’m pushing to get my NHS ENT appointment brought forward. If not I might have to go private as I’m scared that I’m going to lose my hearing altogether 😭

Anyone know if cochlear implants would help? I’ve read that they can reduce tinnitus. Googling is a bad thing tho!

[Smenkhare]

Hi Ingrid..........I have tinnitus and have no hearing loss, but I can confirm when I am under stress that my T worsens.

[alexx78]

Hi Ingrid! This happen because in the brain the part that work for "hearing" is very narrow to the part that work for "feelling"

[JamesJ_LTU]

Hi Ingrid,

I hope all is well with you. the short answer is that stress can and does make tinnitus worse. It's an important plank of my research, and all part of how the brain responds to stress. basically, stress moves you into a more heightened state where you are more aware of the world around you, what is happening to you, and the brain will orientate towards threat. It's a perfectly natural response, but it usually means that you wend up focusing on the unpleasant things round you. It's great if there is a tiger lurking in the bushes, but not great when we think of our tinnitus. But we can think about it the other way too. If stress makes tinnitus worse, then relaxation can make things better.

I am in the same boat in that I am severely deaf in both ears, and without my hearing aids, I cannot hear my own voice. However, technology is getting better, and almost exponentially so. My guess is that our hearing profiles may be comparable, and I do have hearing aids that work for me. And importantly, they enable me to better engage with the world around me so I have less left over to pay attention to my tinnitus. Hopefully, they can get to grips with your hearing loss, sort the equipment that work best for you, and enable you to hear all those not-tinnitus sounds out there instead.

I cam imagine some of what you must be going though, and my thoughts are with you.

James.

[Ingrid-p in reply to JamesJ_LTU]

Hi James thanks for your reply.

I actually don’t feel stressed, but I am about my t so I guess it’s a vicious circle. I take CBD oil which is definitely having a calming effect.

I can hear my own voice without aids so I guess in that respect I’m not as bad as you, but I fear that over the years I will lose my hearing completely.

I’ve seen your other posts and I will email you.

Ingrid