Public opinion about cannabinoids and marijuana have changed remarkably over the past few decades. THC, cannabinoids, and even marijuana are legal for medical use in the majority of states. Ten or fifteen years ago it would have been unimaginable for marijuana to be legal for recreational use but some states have even passed this law.
A group of compounds originating from the cannabis plant (the marijuana plant, essentially) are known as cannabinoids. Notwithstanding their recent decriminalization in certain states, we’re still finding out new things about cannabinoids. Even though we now are beginning to acknowledge the countless medical beneficial properties of these chemical substances, it has been acknowledged for a while that tinnitus could be activated by cannabinoids.
There Are Many Kinds of Cannabinoids
Nowadays, cannabinoids can be taken in lots of forms. It isn’t just weed (or ganja, or refer…..ok, there are plenty of nicknames for marijuana so let’s move forward). Nowadays, THC and cannabinoids are available in pill form, as lotions, as inhaled mists, and lots of others.
The varieties of cannabinoids available will vary state by state, and under federal law, many types are still illegal if the THC content is more than 0.3%. That’s the reason why many people tend to be rather careful about cannabinoids.
We still need more research and experience before we will truly comprehend the long range and side effects of cannabinoids. One example is the new information about how cannabinoids influence your hearing.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Studies
Whatever you want to call it, cannabinoids have long been linked to improving a large number of medical conditions. Vertigo, nausea, seizures, and more seem to be improved with cannabinoids, according to anecdotally available evidence. So investigators decided to find out if cannabinoids could help with tinnitus, as well.
Turns out, cannabinoids might actually trigger tinnitus. Ringing in the ears was recorded by over 29% of participants after implementing cannabinoids. And that’s in individuals who had never had tinnitus before. Furthermore, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report experiencing tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
Further research suggested that marijuana use could worsen ear-ringing symptoms in those who already have tinnitus. So, it seems rather certain that tinnitus and cannabinoids aren’t really compatible.
How Cannabinoids worsen tinnitus
There are a couple of tangible ways in which cannabinoids can make your tinnitus experience worse. The first is that your tinnitus can happen more frequently. Cannabinoids can also cause tinnitus symptoms to become more overwhelming. More intense ringing that can be much harder to dismiss can be the result.
Cannabinoids have also been shown to trigger the onset of tinnitus symptoms. To put it another way: after you start using cannabinoids you may develop tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
Unclear Causes of Tinnitus
Just because this link has been discovered doesn’t necessarily mean the underlying causes are all that well grasped. It’s apparent that cannabinoids can have an impact on the middle ear and symptoms of tinnitus. But it’s far less clear what’s causing this impact.
But we know that using marijuana, unlike other mood altering substances such as alcohol, can cause tinnitus.
Of course, we will keep doing research. People will be equipped to make a practical choice as to which of the many kinds of cannabinoid to go with as we gain deeper insight into their connection to tinnitus.
The Miracle Cure Beware
There has undeniably been no lack of marketing hype surrounding cannabinoids lately. That’s partly because attitudes are transforming about cannabinoids (and, to some extent, is also an indication of a desire to go away from opioid use). But this new research makes clear that cannabinoids can and do produce some negative consequence, especially if you’re worried about your hearing.
You won’t be able to escape all of the cannabinoid enthusiasts and evangelists out there, the marketing for cannabinoids has been especially aggressive.
But this new research definitely reveals a strong link between cannabinoids and tinnitus. So if you have tinnitus, or if you’re worried about tinnitus it might be worth avoiding cannabinoids if possible, no matter how many ads for CBD oil you might run into. It’s worth being cautious when the connection between cannabinoids and tinnitus has been so firmly demonstrated.
