Public opinion surrounding cannabinoids and marijuana have changed remarkably in the past few decades. THC, cannabinoids, and even marijuana are legal for medical use in most states. Far fewer states have legalized pot for recreational applications, but even that would have been impossible even just ten or fifteen years ago.
Cannabinoids are categorized as a group of substances derived from the cannabis or marijuana plant. New things are being discovered about cannabinoids all the time in spite of their recent decriminalization in some states. We often think of these particular substances as possessing universal healing qualities, but current research implies there might also be negative effects including a strong link between cannabinoid use and the occurrence of tinnitus symptoms.
Cannabinoids Have Numerous Kinds
These days, cannabinoids can be used in lots of forms. It isn’t just weed (or ganja, or pot…..ok, there are a lot of nicknames for marijuana so let’s move ahead). Oils, mists, pills and other forms of cannabinoids are currently obtainable.
Every state has different laws regarding what types of cannabinoids you can buy, and many of those forms are still officially illegal under federal law if the THC content is more than 0.3%. That’s the reason why some people tend to be rather careful about cannabinoids.
The issue is that we don’t yet know much concerning some of the long term side effects or risks of cannabinoid use. Some current research into how cannabinoids impact your hearing is a perfect example.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Research
A wide range of ailments and medical conditions are believed to be improved by cannabinoids, whatever you want to call it. According to evidence that is anecdotally available, conditions including vertigo, nausea, seizures, and many more seem to be improved by cannabinoids. So is it possible that cannabinoids help with tinnitus? That’s exactly what scientists decided to figure out.
Tinnitus could actually be triggered by cannabinoid use, as it turns out. According to the research, more than 20% of study participants who employed cannabinoid products documented 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.
And for people who already have tinnitus, marijuana use made it worse. This basically means, there’s some very convincing evidence that cannabinoids and tinnitus don’t really mix very well.
How Cannabinoids Make Tinnitus Worse
Your tinnitus can be aggravated by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. The first is that your tinnitus can happen more frequently. Cannabinoids can also make those tinnitus episodes more intense. The discomfort from the ringing might get more intense or harder to ignore.
Cannabinoids have also been found to lead to the onset of tinnitus symptoms. To put it a different way: after you begin using cannabinoids you may start to experience tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
The Causes of Tinnitus Are Unclear
We understand there is a connection between tinnitus and certain triggers but we’re still not certain what the actual underlying causes are. 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 are aware that marijuana is one of the few frequently used mood-altering substances that brings about tinnitus (alcohol, for example, hasn’t been shown to have a strong connection with tinnitus).
Research, invariably, will continue. People will be equipped to make a practical choice regarding which of the many forms of cannabinoid to go with as we gain greater insight into their link to tinnitus.
The Miracle Cure Beware
There has definitely been no shortage of marketing hype concerning cannabinoids lately. That’s partly because attitudes are transforming about cannabinoids (and, it could also reveal that people are making an attempt to move away from opioid use). But this new research makes clear that cannabinoids can and do create some negative consequence, especially if you’re worried about your hearing.
The marketing about cannabinoids has been very aggressive and you can’t entirely steer clear of all of the enthusiasts.
But this new research definitely suggests a strong link between cannabinoids and tinnitus. So if you suffer from tinnitus, or if you’re concerned about tinnitus it may be worth steering clear of cannabinoids if possible, no matter how many ads for CBD oil you may encounter. It’s worth being careful when the connection between cannabinoids and tinnitus has been so solidly established.