12 Warning Signs Of Tinnitus To Look Out For

1. You can hear a constant ringing in your ears

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If you've ever experienced ringing ears, you'll know how annoying and unpleasant it is. Now imagine this constantly. Someone with tinnitus may hear a constant ringing noise in their ears, as by definition, Tinnitus is a condition where the individual hears sounds that are not caused by external noise.

2. You have pain in your ears

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Not only can tinnitus cause annoying and continuous sounds in the ears it can also cause pain. If you have some kind of pain in your ear that cannot be identified as having a cause it could be the beginning of tinnitus. And, sounds and pain sometimes work in synch with one another.

3. You feel frequent dizziness!

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The ears are our main source of balance, the fluid in the ears is what helps us feel balanced. So, when something is wrong with our ears it can seriously affect how stable we feel and it can make you feel completely dizzy and even cause the feeling of vertigo!

4. You have sensitivity when you hear certain frequencies

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Tinnitus can sometimes be triggered by certain frequencies. So, while some pitches may feel fine or may not cause any reaction when you reach a certain pitch or frequency it could cause pain or discomfort or even distort the sound somewhat.

5. You find it hard to be in noisy settings

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Another sign to look out for when you may be developing tinnitus is how you react in noisy settings. Whilst it is overwhelming for many people, for those with tinnitus it may be very difficult to stand. It may feel as though you cannot process the sounds and it could feel like a huge blur of overpowering noise.

6. Your ears feel blocked

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Blocked ears can make you feel super disorientated. When you have blocked ears, the first thing to do is to check whether you have an excess build-up of wax. If this isn't the case and there is no infection etc., then this could be a warning sign that tinnitus is developing.

7. You have trouble eating

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If you've ever eaten whilst full of a cold you'll know the kind of unpleasant sensation we're referring to. But eating with tinnitus can be really difficult. All of our sinuses are connected and so when your ears are sensitive or have discomfort, eating can aggravate it even more!

8. You hear clicking noises in your ears

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One of the sounds that people with tinnitus may experience is a consistent clicking sound. Imagine feeling as though somebody was constantly clicking around you, but the noise is only apparent inside your ears. This noise may start or stop randomly at any given moment.

9. You get muscle spasms in your face

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Our facial passages are all connected with one another, and so often if we have a problem with one it can affect other areas of the face. Having tinnitus can cause random facial spasms and twitches. If you've started to notice your face twitching it could be linked to your ears...and could be a sign of tinnitus.

10. You experience jaw pain

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One of the less obvious signs to look out for when you are developing tinnitus is jaw pain. The pain may manifest within your jaw and travel down from the ear. And, you may be unknowingly clenching your jaw even more due to the discomfort from your ears.

11. You can feel pressure in your head/ ears

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It's a horrible feeling when our head feels full of pressure like somebody is squeezing it or pressing down upon it.  The pressure may be in your heart or your ears, or even both. This is definitely a sign to watch out for with the beginning of tinnitus.

12. You struggle to hear sometimes

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When you have tinnitus and noises in your ears, it can be very difficult to hear external noise. The noises you experience are distracting, AND, it can be hard to separate external noise from internal noise to realize what you should and shouldn't be hearing!

13. You hear changes in the pitch of sounds

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When the pitch of the external sound that you can hear starts to change from the actual sound, this could be a sign of tinnitus. When you are listening to a sound, the pitch may randomly waver, suddenly sounding very high or low randomly inside your head.

14. You've had bad ear infections

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One of the causes of tinnitus can sometimes be that you have had bad ear infections in the past. For example, some people suffer from chronic ear infections. This can sometimes lead to long-term problems with your ears and distort sound or affect your ear health in the long run.

15. Stress seems to make your ears feel worse

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Stress seems to make pretty much everything worse, and tinnitus is no exception. If you are suffering from tinnitus (whether you know it or not), you may find that when you are stressed it makes the symptoms and discomfort even worse, or the sounds even more prominent.

16. You've been exposed to a lot of loud noises

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It's no secret that super loud noises may damage our ears. Not only can loud noises affect our ears temporarily, but they can also cause damage to their long term and cause issues in your ears...perhaps even increasing the likelihood of developing tinnitus!

17. The feelings/ sounds in both ears may differ

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When sounds or feelings are different in each ear, it can completely throw you off balance and make you feel super disorientated. You may hear things in one ear more prominently, or you may hear them at a different pitch. This could be a sign that you may be developing tinnitus!

18. Your ears wake you/ keep you up at night

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When your ears are causing you issues or waking you up at night, then it is probably time to seek medical advice or opinion. If your ears are such a discomfort that they disrupt you throughout the night then this could be a sign of a medical ear issue, which could possibly be tinnitus!

19. It feels hard to focus

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When your ears feel bad, or you can hear sounds in them, it can be extremely distracting, making it difficult to concentrate. Hearing sounds in your ears or having pain/ discomfort in your ears may mean that you cannot fully concentrate on anything properly.

20. It seems to be getting worse

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When you have tinnitus, you may find that it gradually gets worse and worse rather than getting better. With other ear conditions, the symptoms may start to get better. However, you may find that if you are developing tinnitus, the symptoms start to get more severe.

21. You feel a pulsing sensation in your ears

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When you have tinnitus, not only may you experience strange sounds but you may also feel things and have certain sensations too or many at the same time. Sufferers of tinnitus have claimed that sometimes they may experience a pulsing sensation within their ears.

22. The external skin around your ears is sore

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Not many people realize that tinnitus may not only manifest itself inside the ear. The sounds experienced are intangible, however, some people also develop sore external ears too. Often when the internal ear is particularly sore, it can also affect the skin on the outside of the ear.

23. Your balance has gotten worse

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As we mentioned before, we are very reliant on our ears to retain our sense of balance. And so if you are suffering from tinnitus, or beginning to, it can really throw you off balance making you feel super clumsy and making you trip up on yourself or even fall.

24. You experience phantom smells

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This is probably not what you imagined. But, not only can you hear sounds that nobody else can when you have tinnitus, you may also smell phantom smells! These will not really be there, and nobody else will be aware of them. It may all be triggered by tinnitus!

25. The symptoms may appear on and off, suddenly

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Having tinnitus does not mean that you'll experience symptoms i.e. feelings or sounds constantly. Instead, you'll notice that sometimes they are there and sometimes they aren't! Sometimes they are worse and sometimes they may feel much less severe - this can happen completely randomly!

26. You have a medical history of ear issues

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Many of our health experiences may be linked with our medical history, in the case of recurring problems. This is no different when it comes to your ears. if you have a medical history of ear issues, then statistically you are more likely to develop tinnitus.

27. You have a build-up of earwax

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Although ear wax and tinnitus are not related in a way where ear wax CAUSES tinnitus, people with tinnitus may find that they are more likely to produce more earwax that can lead to an excess build-up of earwax! Yuck. If you do have a lot of earwax, don't try removing or cleaning your ears yourself as you may make it worse.

28. Certain foods make your symptoms worse

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Another unusual point that many people wouldn't even imagine is that certain foods may make some people's tinnitus worse. There have been accounts from people with tinnitus who have found that certain foods have been triggers to their own tinnitus and it has made their symptoms way worse.

29. Your ears pop

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Everyone has most likely felt their ear pop on many occasions, possibly when they are changing altitude and their ears adjust to the pressure. However, a sign that you may be developing tinnitus is when you can feel your ears pop frequently without apparent reason.

30. It's affecting your memory!

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Tinnitus can have much more severe effects than just causing sounds or discomfort. It can start to affect things such as your memory. If you've noticed that your memory has started to suffer, you should always get a proper diagnosis, however, one possible cause could be tinnitus!