Public opinion surrounding marijuana and cannabinoids have changed remarkably over the last few decades. THC, cannabinoids, and even marijuana are legal for medical application in the majority of states. A decade ago it would have been unthinkable for pot to be legal for recreational use but some states have even passed this law.
A group of substances derived from the cannabis plant (the marijuana plant, basically) are called cannabinoids. Despite their recent legalization in some states, we’re still learning new things about cannabinoids. Even though we now are starting to know the numerous medical advantages of these compounds, it has been recognized for some time that tinnitus may be activated by cannabinoids.
Numerous Kinds of Cannabinoids
There are numerous varieties of cannabinoids that can be used now. It’s not just weed (or Mary Jane, or grass… ok, let’s just all agree right now that marijuana has many nicknames and move on). Nowadays, THC and cannabinoids can be obtained in pill form, as topical spreads, as inhaled vapor, and more.
Each state has it’s own regulations regarding what forms of cannabinoids you can purchase, and under federal law, many forms are still illegal if the amount of THC is more than 0.3%. So it’s still normal for people to be very careful about cannabinoids.
The issue is that we don’t yet know much concerning some of the potential side effects or risks of cannabinoid usage. A good example is the new information about how cannabinoids affect your hearing.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Research
A wide range of illnesses and medical conditions are believed to be helped by cannabinoids, whatever you want to call it. Vertigo, nausea, seizures, and more seem to be helped with cannabinoids, according to available anecdotal information. So scientists decided to see if cannabinoids would be helpful with tinnitus, too.
Tinnitus could actually be caused by cannabinoid use, as it turns out. According to the research, more than 20% of study participants who used cannabinoid products noted hearing a ringing in their ears. And that’s in individuals who had never experienced tinnitus before. Additionally, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report having tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
Added research indicated that marijuana use could worsen ear-ringing symptoms in those who already have tinnitus. So, it seems fairly certain that cannabinoids and tinnitus aren’t really compatible.
How Cannabinoids worsen tinnitus
Your tinnitus can be intensified by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. First off, the incidents of tinnitus symptoms can become more frequent, you may notice the buzzing or ringing in your ears more frequently. Also, your bouts of tinnitus can become more extreme when you use cannabinoids. More intense ringing that can be much harder to ignore can be the result.
Cannabinoids have also been found to lead to the onset of tinnitus symptoms. To put it a different way: after you start using cannabinoids you could start to experience tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
Unknown Causes of Tinnitus
We understand that there’s a connection between tinnitus and certain triggers but we’re still not certain what the actual root 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 far less clear.
But we can say for certain that marijuana is one of the few commonly used mood-altering substances that causes tinnitus (alcohol, for example, hasn’t been demonstrated to have a strong connection with tinnitus).
Research, undoubtedly, will continue. Cannabinoids these days come in so many varieties and forms that understanding the underlying link between these substances and tinnitus could help individuals make better choices.
The Miracle Cure Beware
In recent times there has been lots of hype created around cannabinoids by marketers. Partly, that’s due to changing perceptions surrounding cannabinoids themselves (and, to an extent, is also a reflection of a desire to go away from opioids). But cannabinoids can and sometimes do produce unwanted effects, based upon this new research, and this is especially true regarding hearing.
The marketing about cannabinoids has been very aggressive and you can’t totally avoid all of the enthusiasts.
But this new research definitely indicates a strong link between cannabinoids and tinnitus. So if you have tinnitus, or if you’re worried about tinnitus it might be worth steering clear of cannabinoids if you can, no matter how many adverts for CBD oil you might run into. It’s worth being cautious when the connection between cannabinoids and tinnitus has been so solidly demonstrated.