Why is my tinnitus louder on some days more than others?

Tinnitus levels can fluctuate between one day and the next for a wide variety of reasons, begging the question: Why does my tinnitus come and go? These reasons can include physiological conditions in the body, environmental stressors, tinnitus management techniques used or the type of environment you are in. Here we look at some of the factors which can influence tinnitus levels.

How external stress can affect tinnitus loudness

One of the leading causes of tinnitus is stress. Tinnitus symptoms might manifest when we are at a particularly stressful point in our lives or having a stressful day.

When change occurs in our lives, be it at work or at home, stress enables our bodies to react and lets the body respond mentally, physically and emotionally. When we are stressed for long periods of time, we can become imbalanced or out of equilibrium causing our tinnitus to seem louder on some days more than others.

Typical stressful situations might include life-changing events like a bereavement or losing a job. But continuous stress caused by everyday situations like work deadlines or stressful interpersonal relationships can also play its part. These situations can give the appearance that your tinnitus is louder on some days more than others.

There are also stress conditions which are related to tinnitus and can make tinnitus worse. Post Trauma Stress Disorder and Tinnitus have similar mechanisms and can accentuate each other. Please see the PTSD and Tinnitus article on our partner website Tinnitus Hearing Solutions.

Controlling your internal stress

While external stress can have an influence on the perceived loudness of your tinnitus, how you deal with that stress (known as internal stress) is equally influential. If our bodies are not well equipped to handle external stress this can increase the level of tinnitus you experience.

Our ability to handle stress is influenced by the three pillars of good health. These include nutrition, exercise and sleep.

Diet and stress

While we can become immune to experts telling us that we must have a healthy diet, it is still one of the most important aspects of keeping your stress levels low and managing your tinnitus symptoms.

Eating processed foods makes it more difficult for us to handle stress, as these often contain high levels of sugar. This can cause our blood sugar levels to fluctuate activating the sympathetic arm of our nervous system. This is the part that deals with our fight or flight and readies us for action. When this happens, we release stress hormones which can cause stress symptoms. These might include nervousness, anxiety, irritability and sleep disturbance, especially whilst experiencing tinnitus symptoms.

Eating a well-balanced diet also means that we are able to replace the vitamins and nutrients which may become depleted during times of stress. In particular, vitamins which help with stress include zinc, magnesium, iron and B complex.

Consuming excessive stimulant type foods can make your tinnitus seem louder on some days more than others. Dietary stimulants can also affect tinnitus levels because they raise adrenaline levels in the body. Stimulant examples include, coffee, chocolate, tea and alcohol. Yes, I know all the good stuff! This doesn’t have to be a permanent change but certainly for a few months to give your system some time to regain homeostasis and balance itself out.

Sleep and stress

Sleep cannot be overestimated as an important part for us to maintain a healthy body and a healthy mind. Our stress levels go up with less sleep or if you are suffering from long-term sleep difficulties. And, when stress levels go up tinnitus can seem louder.

If you have not slept properly one night you might experience higher stress levels, and your tinnitus might seem louder than on a normal day. Not only that but sleeping properly also helps with our ability to handle stress. Giving our bodies the chance to recuperate and rest is essential for managing stress. Lack of sleep affects mood, memory and judgement.

Exercise and stress

In trying to reduce your stress levels to bring your tinnitus loudness down, the unfortunate Catch 22 is that experiencing tinnitus in itself can be stressful. This can engage the sympathetic arm of our autonomic nervous system, which means we have more stress hormones moving around the body. Namely cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline.

In order to reduce these hormones, we engage the other side of the autonomic nervous system by carrying out relaxed exercise. An example of this type of exercise is yoga. This means we feel relaxed and our tinnitus symptoms seem quieter and less intrusive and bothersome.