Public opinion surrounding marijuana and cannabinoids have changed incredibly over the last few decades. Most states currently allow the use of marijuana, THC, or cannabinoid compounds for medicinal applications. A decade ago it would have been unthinkable for pot to be legal for recreational usage but some states have even passed this law.
A group of compounds originating from the cannabis plant (the marijuana plant, basically) are called cannabinoids. New things are being uncovered about cannabinoids all the time in spite of their recent legalization in some states. Despite the fact that we now are starting to accept the numerous medical benefits of these compounds, it has been well known for some time that tinnitus may be triggered by cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids Have Several Kinds
There are numerous varieties of cannabinoids that can be consumed now. It’s not just weed (or refer, or grass… ok, let’s just all agree right now that marijuana has a significant number of nicknames and move on). These days, THC and cannabinoids are available in pill form, as topical spreads, as inhaled mists, and lots of others.
Each state has it’s own laws regarding what forms of cannabinoids you can get, and many of those forms are still officially illegal under federal law if the THC content is over 0.3%. That’s the reason why some people are rather cautious about cannabinoids.
The concern is that we don’t yet know much concerning some of the lasting side effects or risks of cannabinoid usage. A good example is the new insight about how cannabinoids influence your hearing.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Research
Whatever you want to call it, cannabinoids have long been linked to helping a wide variety of medical ailments. Based upon information that is anecdotally available, conditions such as vertigo, nausea, seizures, and countless more appear to be helped by cannabinoids. So scientists decided to find out if cannabinoids could help with tinnitus, as well.
Turns out, cannabinoids might actually cause tinnitus. Based on the research, more than 20% of study participants who used cannabinoid products reported hearing a ringing in their ears. And that’s in people who had never dealt with tinnitus before. What’s more, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report experiencing tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
Added research indicated that marijuana use could worsen ear-ringing symptoms in those who already deal with tinnitus. In a nutshell, there’s some pretty convincing evidence that cannabinoids and tinnitus don’t really mix very well.
How Cannabinoids worsen tinnitus
There are a couple of tangible ways that cannabinoids can make your tinnitus experience worse. First off, the incidents of tinnitus symptoms can get more consistent, you might experience the buzzing or ringing in your ears more often. Also, your struggles with tinnitus can get more overwhelming when you use cannabinoids. More intense ringing that can be much harder to dismiss can be the result.
The study also seems to reveal that cannabinoids are capable of causing the onset of the initial symptoms of tinnitus. Or, said another way: if you didn’t suffer from tinnitus before, you may develop tinnitus after using cannabinoids.
The Causes of Tinnitus Are Unknown
Just because this connection has been discovered doesn’t actually mean the underlying causes are very well understood. That cannabinoids can have an affect on the middle ear and on tinnitus is fairly clear. But it’s much less obvious what’s causing this impact.
But we are aware that marijuana is one of the few frequently used mood-altering substances that causes tinnitus (alcohol, as an example, hasn’t been demonstrated to have a strong connection to tinnitus).
Research, unquestionably, will continue. Cannabinoids these days come in so many varieties and forms that learning the underlying link between these substances and tinnitus should help individuals make smarter decisions.
Beware The Miracle Cure
There has definitely been no shortage of marketing hype concerning cannabinoids lately. That’s partly because attitudes are changing about cannabinoids (and, it could also indicate that people are making an attempt to move away from opioid use). But this new research clearly demonstrates that cannabinoids can and do produce some negative effects, specifically if you’re concerned about your hearing.
The marketing about cannabinoids has been particularly assertive and you can’t entirely escape all of the enthusiasts.
But this new research certainly indicates a strong link between tinnitus and cannabinoids. So if you suffer from tinnitus, or if you’re concerned about tinnitus it might be worth avoiding cannabinoids if you can, regardless of how many ads for CBD oil you may come across. The link between tinnitus and cannabinoids symptoms has been pretty firmly established by the research, so it’s worth being careful.