What’s wrong with tinnitus during aerobic exercise

Tinnitus that occurs during aerobic exercise is mostly a temporary physiological reaction caused by the redistribution of the body's blood supply and changes in pressure inside and outside the ear. Only a small number of tinnitus is an early warning signal caused by underlying diseases. Don't be overly nervous, but don't take it completely seriously.

A while ago, I ran 15 kilometers with Xiao Li, a new member of the running group. When we ran about 10 kilometers, he said that his ears were buzzing, like a ball of cotton stuffed with cicadas.

Think about it, during strenuous exercise, the blood throughout the body preferentially flows to the parts of the body that are in urgent need, such as the heart, lungs, and skeletal muscles. The capillaries in the inner ear, which are as thin as a hair, are inherently delicate. When the blood supply shrinks, the hair cells responsible for sensing sound are temporarily "starved of food", and tinnitus naturally comes to the door. There is another more common situation that you have most likely encountered when running outdoors in winter: after opening your mouth and pouring cold air, the Eustachian tube connecting the middle ear and nasopharynx is stimulated and swollen, and the pressure inside and outside the ear becomes unbalanced. It is the same as the stuffiness in the ears and tinnitus when taking off and landing on an airplane. Most of the time, you can just hold your breath and slow down for a few minutes.

Of course, not all tinnitus after exercise is so "harmless". A cycling enthusiast I knew before, Lao Wang, would have tinnitus every time he rode uphill and would also experience bouts of dizziness. At first, he thought it was tiredness. It wasn't until he almost crashed that he went for a check-up and found out that he had latent hypertension. During exercise, his blood pressure rose sharply and impacted the blood vessels in the inner ear, which repeatedly induced tinnitus. People with otitis media and Meniere's disease are also prone to tinnitus, or even dizziness and hearing loss, when stimulated by exercise.

There is no consensus in the industry on whether to intervene in this kind of exercise-induced transient tinnitus. Many sports medicine doctors believe that as long as the tinnitus completely disappears within 1 hour after stopping exercise and there is no other discomfort, no special treatment is needed at all. At most, it is enough to appropriately reduce the intensity of exercise and gradually increase the amount. However, some otolaryngology scholars have suggested that for repeated tinnitus after exercise, even if there is no obvious discomfort, it is best to undergo an inner ear hearing screening, because this may be an early signal of slight damage to the inner ear hair cells, and hair cell damage is irreversible. Early detection can avoid subsequent permanent hearing problems.

Many of my friends who have been exercising for many years have almost experienced tinnitus once or twice after exercising. Most of them adjust their breathing rhythm, avoid opening their mouths to gasp for air during exercise, and do not suddenly increase the amount of exercise. After that, it rarely occurs again. If your tinnitus is induced every time you exercise, and it doesn't subside even after stopping for a long time, and you still have earache and stuffy listening, don't insist on pursuing the effect of exercise. It is safer to go to the otolaryngology department for a checkup in time.