Tinnitus Has Been Connected to Cannabinoids

Public opinion about cannabinoids and marijuana have transformed remarkably over the past few decades. THC, cannabinoids, and even marijuana are legal for medical use in most states. A decade ago it would have been unimaginable for pot to be legal for recreational use but some states have even passed this law.

Cannabinoids are identified as a group of substances that comes from the cannabis or marijuana plant. Notwithstanding their recent decriminalization in some states, we’re still finding out new things about cannabinoids. We usually think of these particular substances as having universal healing qualities, but current research implies there might also be negative impact including a strong connection between cannabinoid usage and the occurrence of tinnitus symptoms.

Many Types of Cannabinoids

These days, cannabinoids can be used in various forms. It’s not just pot (or refer, or grass.. look, let’s just all agree upfront that marijuana has a significant number of nicknames and move on). Oils, mists, pills and other variations of cannabinoids are currently obtainable.

The forms of cannabinoids available will vary state by state, and under federal law, many forms are still illegal if the THC content is over 0.3%. So it’s still common for people to be very cautious about cannabinoids.

We still require more study and experience before we will truly know the long range and side effects of cannabinoids. A good example is the new insight about how cannabinoids influence your hearing.

Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Research

A wide variety of illnesses and medical conditions are thought to be improved by cannabinoids, whatever you want to call it. Based on information that is anecdotally available, conditions including Nausea, seizures, vertigo, and many more seem to be helped by cannabinoids. So is it possible that cannabinoids assist with tinnitus? That’s what scientists decided to figure out.

Turns out, cannabinoids may actually trigger tinnitus. Based on the research, more than 20% of study participants who used cannabinoid products noted hearing a ringing in their ears. And these participants had never had tinnitus symptoms before the study. Furthermore, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report experiencing tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.

Added research suggested that marijuana use could exacerbate ear-ringing symptoms in those who already deal with tinnitus. In a nutshell, there’s some very strong evidence that cannabinoids and tinnitus don’t really mix very well.

How Cannabinoids worsen tinnitus

Your tinnitus can be worsened by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. To start with, the incidents of tinnitus symptoms can become more frequent, you may notice the ringing or buzzing in your ears more frequently. Cannabinoids can also make those tinnitus episodes more intense. More intense ringing that can be harder to dismiss can be the result.

Cannabinoids have also been shown to lead to the onset of tinnitus symptoms. Or, stated another way: if you didn’t suffer from tinnitus before, you could develop tinnitus after you use cannabinoids.

Unclear Causes of Tinnitus

Just because this link has been discovered doesn’t necessarily mean the underlying causes are very well understood. That cannabinoids can have an impact on the middle ear and on tinnitus is pretty clear. But what’s causing that impact is much less clear.

But we know that marijuana use, in contrast to other mood altering substances such as alcohol, will cause tinnitus.

Research, undoubtedly, will continue. Cannabinoids nowadays come in so many varieties and forms that learning the underlying connection between these substances and tinnitus could help individuals make better decisions.

The Miracle Cure Beware

There has definitely been no lack of marketing hype associated with cannabinoids in recent years. That’s partly because perceptions are changing about cannabinoids (and, to some extent, is also a reflection of a desire to turn away from opioid use). But cannabinoids can and sometimes do produce unwanted results, based upon this new research, and this is especially true when it comes to hearing.

You’ll never be able to avoid all of the cannabinoid enthusiasts and evangelists out there, the marketing of cannabinoids has been especially assertive.

But cannabinoids and tinnitus are clearly linked based on this research. So no matter how many adds you see for CBD oils, if you’re worried about tinnitus, you should probably avoid them. The link between cannabinoids and tinnitus symptoms has been pretty firmly demonstrated by the research, so it’s worth exercising a little caution.