Health
Ask a doc: ‘Why are my ears ringing, and should I see a doctor?’
Anyone who has experienced a persistent ringing, buzzing or whooshing sound in their ears knows how annoying it can be — but is it a sign of something serious?
Approximately 50 million people in the United States are affected by tinnitus, a condition that fills the ears with internal sounds no one else can hear, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Daniel S. Troast, doctor of audiology at HearUSA, a hearing aid provider in Winter Garden, Florida, shared with Fox News Digital the symptoms, causes and myths surrounding tinnitus, as well as ways to treat and prevent it.
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Symptoms of tinnitus
“Most of us have experienced ringing in our ears after going to a concert, but if it lasts for less than a day, it’s very often not a cause for concern,” said Troast.
Some 50 million people in the U.S. are affected by tinnitus, which is a condition that fills the ears with internal sounds. (iStock)
Tinnitus is defined as a “persistent ringing, buzzing or whooshing sound in the ears that the patient can hear, but no one else can,” he said.
Some patients have even reported hearing crickets or music in their heads, according to the doctor.
Common causes of tinnitus
The most common cause of tinnitus is noise-induced hearing loss. Approximately 90% of people suffering from tinnitus have some form of hearing loss, according to Mayo Clinic.
“Tinnitus is more a brain condition than it is a hearing condition,” said Troast. “Essentially, it’s the brain’s response to a change in the auditory system.”
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For someone with normal hearing, the brain is used to receiving sound signals at various frequencies moving through the ear canal.
“However, when someone has hearing loss, the brain stops receiving those signals — and the tinnitus is the brain’s response to this miscommunication with the ears,” according to the audiologist.
A doctor holds and examines a model of a human inner ear and auditory system. “Hearing loss and resulting tinnitus could come from a single exposure — like military personnel firing weapons — or more commonly, built up over years of exposure to noise at dangerously high levels.” (iStock)
“Hearing loss and resulting tinnitus could come from a single exposure — like military personnel firing weapons — or more commonly, built up over years of exposure to noise at dangerously high levels, like a musician or frequent concertgoer,” Troast said.
Other possible causes of tinnitus and hearing loss include certain medications, blockages from earwax, ear infections, dental issues and head or neck injuries.
Myths about ear ringing
The most prominent myth is that tinnitus can be cured, said Troast.
“While it can be managed effectively, nothing will cure tinnitus entirely. Because of this, bogus tinnitus ‘cures’ regularly circulate on social media,” the doctor warned.
“Tinnitus is a brain condition, not an ear condition — anything that goes into your ear would do nothing to fix the underlying problem.”
Some of the most common recommendations include ear drops and supplements, which have no effect aside from a potential placebo, according to Troast.
“As mentioned earlier, tinnitus is a brain condition, not an ear condition,” he said.
The most common cause of tinnitus is noise-induced hearing loss. Roughly 90% of people suffering from tinnitus have some form of hearing loss. (iStock)
“So, anything that goes into your ear would do nothing to fix the underlying problem, which is a miscommunication between your ears and your brain.”
Another faux “cure” involves tapping the back of the head to create a reverberating sound.
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“While this may stop the tinnitus for a few seconds and may be an effective coping method, it will never make the tinnitus go away,” said Troast.
“When a person taps their head in this manner, they’re replacing the sound of their tinnitus with the sound of the thumping — but when the thumping stops, the tinnitus returns.”
When to see a doctor
While tinnitus isn’t physically dangerous, Troast warned that it can be extremely damaging for patients’ mental health, with proven negative effects on psychological well-being.
“If you’re suffering from tinnitus, a great first step is always to see an audiologist who can conduct a hearing test,” he advised. “The audiologist will be able to determine if hearing loss is the root cause of your tinnitus and can then establish a treatment plan.”
Experts recommend seeing an audiologist for persistent tinnitus symptoms. (iStock)
That plan will most often include hearing aids, which will amplify external sounds to help reduce the person’s focus on the tinnitus.
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Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with a psychologist can also be very effective when administered in tandem with audiological treatment, Troast said.
“CBT teaches the patient to live with tinnitus, helping them understand that they can acknowledge the existence of the sound without the doom and gloom that it’s typically associated with,” he said.
Can tinnitus be prevented?
The best way to prevent tinnitus is to limit your exposure to loud noise, the audiologist said.
He recommends wearing hearing protection in loud environments such as concerts and sporting events and while using loud equipment like a lawnmower or leaf blower.
“It’s also important to limit your time listening to headphones and earbuds at loud volumes,” he added.
While tinnitus isn’t physically dangerous, a doctor warned it can be extremely damaging for patients’ mental health, with proven negative effects on psychological well-being. (iStock)
Another step toward prevention is getting a regular hearing test.
“Hearing tests not only help in determining if you suffer from hearing loss, as mentioned above, but they also have the potential to point you in a direction that will treat both hearing loss and tinnitus,” said Troast.
Avoiding total silence is another way to reduce symptoms.
“Patients often say it’s most noticeable when they’re trying to sleep,” said Troast. “Having some sort of white noise or brown noise playing in the background can help drown out the incessant ringing.”
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Feeling lonely may take a toll on older adults’ memory — but it may not speed up cognitive decline, according to a new study.
Researchers from Colombia, Spain and Sweden analyzed data from more than 10,000 adults ages 65 to 94 across 12 European countries and found those who reported higher levels of loneliness did worse on memory tests at the start of the study, according to research published this month in the journal Aging & Mental Health.
Over a seven-year period, however, memory decline occurred at a similar rate regardless of how lonely participants felt.
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“The finding that loneliness significantly impacted memory, but not the speed of decline in memory over time was a surprising outcome,” lead author Dr. Luis Carlos Venegas-Sanabria of the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario said in a statement.
Loneliness may be linked to memory performance in older adults, a new study suggests. (iStock)
“It suggests that loneliness may play a more prominent role in the initial state of memory than in its progressive decline,” Venegas-Sanabria said, adding that the findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness as a factor in cognitive performance.
The findings add to debate about whether loneliness contributes to dementia risk. While loneliness and social isolation are often considered risk factors for cognitive decline, research results have been mixed.
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The study looked at data from the long-running Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which tracked 10,217 older adults between 2012 and 2019. Participants were asked to recall words immediately and after a delay to measure memory performance.
Social isolation and loneliness could play a surprising role in cognitive health among seniors. (iStock)
Loneliness was assessed using three questions about how often participants felt isolated, left out or lacking companionship.
About 8% of participants reported high levels of loneliness at the outset. That group tended to be older, more likely to be female and more likely to have conditions such as depression.
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Researchers found that those with higher loneliness had lower scores on both immediate and delayed memory tests at baseline. Still, all groups — regardless of loneliness level — experienced similar declines in memory over time.
The results suggest loneliness may not directly accelerate the progression of memory loss, though it remains linked to poorer cognitive performance overall.
Researchers look at a brain scan at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts warn, however, that the findings should not be interpreted to mean loneliness is harmless.
“The finding that lonely older adults start with worse memory but don’t decline faster is actually the most interesting part of the paper, and I think it’s easy to misread,” said Jordan Weiss, Ph.D., a scientific advisor and aging expert at Assisted Living Magazine and a professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
“It likely means loneliness does its damage earlier in life, well before people show up in a study like this at 65-plus,” Weiss told Fox News Digital.
By older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold, an aging expert says. (iStock)
He suggested that by older age, long-term social patterns may already be established, making it harder to detect when the effects of loneliness first took hold.
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“By the time you’re measuring someone in their late 60s, decades of social connection patterns are already baked in,” he said.
Weiss, who was not involved in the research, added that loneliness may coincide with other health conditions, and noted that participants who felt more isolated also had higher rates of depression, high-blood pressure and diabetes. The link, he said, may reflect a cluster of health risks rather than a direct cause.
“While they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia,” a psychotherapist says. (iStock)
Amy Morin, a Florida-based psychotherapist and author, said the findings reflect a broader pattern in research on loneliness and brain health, and that the relationship may be more complex than it appears.
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“The evidence shows there’s a link between loneliness and cognitive decline but there’s no direct evidence of a cause and effect relationship,” she said. “So while they can go hand-in-hand, it’s not clear that loneliness contributes to dementia.”
Morin added that loneliness, which can fluctuate, may not be the root of the problem, but rather a symptom of other underlying mental or physical health issues.
Researchers suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging. (iStock)
She said staying socially and mentally engaged is crucial for overall brain health.
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“It’s important to be proactive about social activities,” Morin said. “Joining a book club, having coffee with a friend, or attending faith-based services can be a powerful way to maintain connections in older age.”
The researchers also suggested screening for loneliness be incorporated into routine cognitive assessments as one way to support healthy aging.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers for comment.
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Research continues to uncover new details on how fasting may help extend life.
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications investigated how intermittent fasting can boost longevity in small worms often used in aging research.
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas compared worms that were fed normally to those that underwent a 24-hour fast in early adulthood and were then fed again, according to a press release.
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The scientists measured a variety of factors, including stored fat, gene activity related to fat metabolism and lifespan.
The results showed that the life-boosting benefit did not depend on the fasting itself but on the body’s behavior after eating again.
Experts say sustainability is key when choosing a long-term weight-loss strategy. (iStock)
Study lead Peter Douglas, associate professor of molecular biology and a member of the Hamon Center for Regenerative Science and Medicine at UT Southwestern, suggested that these discoveries “shift the focus toward a neglected side of the metabolic coin – the re-feeding phase.”
“Our data suggest that the health-promoting effects of intermittent fasting are not merely a product of the fast itself, but are dependent on how the metabolic machinery recalibrates during the subsequent transition back to a fed state,” he said.
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“Our findings bridge a gap between lipid metabolism and aging research,” he added. “By targeting aging, the single greatest risk factor for human disease, we move beyond treating isolated conditions toward a preventive model of medicine that enhances quality of life for all individuals.”
Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, called this a “high-quality” study that adds an “important nuance to how we think about fasting and longevity.”
Intermittent fasting typically involves limiting meals to an eight-hour daily window or fasting every other day. (iStock)
The benefits of the refeeding phase after fasting were “especially interesting,” Wright, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
“The researchers showed that longevity was linked to the body’s ability to turn off fat breakdown after fasting, allowing cells to restore energy balance,” she reiterated.
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“From a scientific standpoint, that’s a meaningful shift because it suggests fasting is not just about burning fat, but about metabolic flexibility.”
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Fasting may support longevity through triggering metabolic switching, enhancing cellular repair and stress resistance and improving markers like insulin sensitivity, research shows.
Limitations and cautions
Although this study provides “important insight” on the power of refeeding, Wright noted that the findings should be approached with caution, as the study was done on worms and cannot always be translated to humans.
“Additionally, it explains how a process might work in a controlled lab condition rather than real-world eating behaviors,” she added as a limitation. “Finally, the study is short-term and doesn’t give us the long-term translation on lifespan outcomes.”
The review found intermittent fasting was barely more effective than doing nothing, according to the study authors. (iStock)
Wright cautioned that fasting is “not a magic solution for longevity, and how you eat overall matters more than when you eat.”
“I advise, first and foremost, to focus on diet quality, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats and minimally processed foods,” she said.
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For those who are considering fasting, it’s better to stick with a moderate plan — like a 12- to 14-hour overnight fast — rather than going to extremes, Wright said. After fasting, she recommends focusing on well-balanced meals.
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Several groups of people should be cautioned against fasting, according to Wright, including those with diabetes who are on insulin or hypoglycemic medications, those who are pregnant or breastfeeding, anyone with a history of eating disorders and older adults at risk of malnutrition.
Anyone considering intermittent fasting should consult with a doctor before starting.
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