Tinnitus is a ringing of the ear, and it can be super annoying, even devastating. While current science has looked into managing this, there is no cure out there so it’s important that, if you have this, you look at the different ways to treat this.
What tinnitus is
This is basically ringing or bursts of sounds that last a couple of seconds before going away.
Those who have tinnitus though have the non-stop ringing, and they may feel like they’re going insane because of this. It’s something that may seem like a rare condition, but more and more are dealing with this,, and healthcare professionals are working to create treatment plans for each of these problems. The severity does depend, but usually it’s how strong it is, and how long it goes.
The cause of this does vary. Sometimes it’s due to a buildup of earwax, sometimes it’s something that is caused by the damage to parts of the ear, which can change.
Some other theories say that if you have hearing loss, head trauma, neck trauma, a benign tumor in that area, drugs that cause anti-inflammatory symptoms, and even thyroid and other conditions may be the reason for this, but there is no specific cause, since it’s something that is different for everyone, and every situation.
Can cannabinoids help?
There are a ton of different treatments for this, including various therapies, earwax removal, and also invasive surgeries to help with this. However, this is not very effective, and some patients don’t get better because of this. Currently, with the legalization of cannabis for a lot of conditions, you may wonder if there is a chance that this could possibly help with this.
Well, THC may be used to help with structuring the ECS, which plays a big part in the regulating of the body, so in a way, it does regulate the hearing of the system.
Right now, current research looks at the ECS in general, but we haven’t really done a ton of research on the auditory system and all of this. While there is some promising research, since it can be caused due to hyperactivity in the cochlear nucleus, which is seen as a type of epilepsy, so scientists are considering cannabis for this, since it does have properties which are antiepileptic.
But otherwise, there is not much surrounding it. The research is still very early on, and there haven’t been any human trials which are randomized to figure out if cannabis can help with this, so currently though, we’ve gathered a bit of evidence via surveys to help with this.
The study that’s been published in the Frontiers in Neurology discovered that the CB1 agonists may actually cause more tinnitus, but another study found that the rats who had tinnitus were able to lower the expression of the CB1, so it may help with the processing of the auditory systems, and reducing tinnitus as well.
Right now, animal studies are not very useful for understanding tinnitus, but some do suggest that it may cause the condition to worsen. While there are other studies which have factored in the CB1 agonists, other studies may look at the agonists, and the inverse agonists as well to see if it’s possible that this might be something worth mentioning.
Currently, there is still a lot to learn, so whether or not cannabis can help with this or not is still up for debate, since there are indeed a lot of factors you have to consider when looking at using this to help you too.
