Tinnitus causes a ringing, buzzing or roaring noise in the ears that cannot be heard from the outside. Affecting more than 50 million people in the U.S., tinnitus varies in severity from nonbothersome to debilitating. One factor that may trigger your tinnitus is the presence of migraines.
Migraines are a type of neurologic disease that causes debilitatingly painful headaches. Approximately 12% of Americans have migraines. A migraine can leave you in bed for days, prevent you from going to work or school and make you cancel plans with friends for dinner at M’s Pub. There are two prominent theories as to why migraines may trigger your tinnitus including:
- Spontaneous abnormal neural activity during a migraine can trigger tinnitus
- Migraines cause sensitive-to-touch nerve pain that triggers tinnitus
While tinnitus and migraines have no known cures, some effective symptom management options exist.
Managing Migraine Symptoms
A couple of effective methods to reduce the severity of your migraine symptoms include:
- Medication. Abortive and preventative medications are common in treating migraines. You can take abortive medications at the first sign of pain to help decrease the severity of migraine symptoms. Preventative medications are prescribed to reduce the severity and frequency of your migraine attacks. Preventative medications are taken daily to prevent migraines.
- Home management options. Home management options may include sitting in a dark room, applying a cold compress to the forehead, massaging your temples in a circular motion and meditating during a migraine attack.
Managing Tinnitus Symptoms
Distracting your brain from the internal sound of tinnitus is the best way to manage your symptoms. Hearing aids are an effective tool to distract your brain. By amplifying external sounds or playing white noise, they give your brain new sounds to focus on and lessen the adverse side effects of tinnitus.
If your tinnitus is bothersome at night, a sound machine can be an excellent replacement for hearing aids. Find either a tinnitus-specific noise machine or a white noise machine that plays sounds you find calming.
For more information on managing your tinnitus, contact Ear Specialists of Omaha & Bellevue today to make an appointment with one of our specialists.