Public opinion about marijuana and cannabinoids have changed incredibly in the past several decades. The majority of states currently allow the use of marijuana, THC, or cannabinoid products for medicinal applications. A decade ago it would have been unimaginable for pot to be legal for recreational usage but some states have even passed this law.
A group of substances originating from the cannabis plant (the marijuana plant, basically) are known as cannabinoids. Despite their recent decriminalization in certain states, we’re still discovering new things about cannabinoids. We usually consider these particular substances as possessing universal healing qualities, but existing research implies there might also be negative effects including a strong link between cannabinoid use and the occurrence of tinnitus symptoms.
There Are Many Forms of Cannabinoids
Nowadays, cannabinoids can be taken in lots of forms. It isn’t just weed (or ganja, or refer…..ok, there are lots of nicknames for marijuana so let’s move ahead). Today, THC and cannabinoids are available in pill form, as lotions, as inhaled mists, and lots of others.
The types of cannabinoids obtainable will vary state by state, and many of those varieties are still officially illegal under federal law if the amount of THC is more than 0.3%. That’s why some people are quite careful about cannabinoids.
The problem is that we don’t yet know much concerning some of the potential side effects or complications of cannabinoid usage. One example is the new information about how cannabinoids affect your hearing.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Research
A wide variety of illnesses and medical conditions are thought to be helped by cannabinoids, regardless of what you want to call it. Seizures, nausea, vertigo, and more seem to be helped with cannabinoids, according to available anecdotal evidence. So investigators decided to see if cannabinoids would be helpful with tinnitus, as well.
Tinnitus may actually be caused by cannabinoid use, as it turns out. According to the research, over 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 having tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
And for people who already have tinnitus, marijuana use made it worse. So, it seems pretty certain that cannabinoids and tinnitus aren’t really compatible.
How Cannabinoids Make Tinnitus Worse
There are a couple of tangible ways that cannabinoids can make your tinnitus experience worse. The first is that your tinnitus can happen more frequently. Also, your bouts of tinnitus can get more overwhelming when you’re using cannabinoids. The discomfort from the ringing might become more noticeable or harder to just ignore.
Cannabinoids have also been shown to cause the onset of tinnitus symptoms. To put it another way: if you didn’t have tinnitus before, you might develop tinnitus after you use cannabinoids.
It’s Still Unclear What Causes Tinnitus
Just because this link has been discovered doesn’t inevitably mean the root causes are very well understood. It’s apparent that cannabinoids can have an effect on the middle ear and symptoms of tinnitus. But what’s causing that impact is much less obvious.
But we recognize that marijuana use, unlike other mood altering substances such as alcohol, can cause tinnitus.
Research, undoubtedly, will continue. Cannabinoids these days come in so many kinds and forms that discovering the underlying connection between these substances and tinnitus would help people make better decisions.
The Miracle Cure Beware
There has definitely been no shortage of marketing hype associated with cannabinoids recently. That’s partly because perceptions are changing about cannabinoids (and, it could also reveal that people are attempting to get away from opioid use). But cannabinoids can and sometimes do produce undesirable effects, based upon this new research, and this is especially true concerning hearing.
You’ll never be able to avoid all of the cannabinoid fans and evangelists in the world, the marketing of cannabinoids has been extremely assertive.
But cannabinoids and tinnitus are clearly connected based on this research. So no matter how many adds you see for CBD oils, if you’re concerned about tinnitus, you should most likely keep away from them. The link between tinnitus and cannabinoids symptoms has been quite securely established by the research, so it’s worth being careful.