Public opinion surrounding marijuana and cannabinoids have changed remarkably over the last several decades. Many states currently permit the use of marijuana, THC, or cannabinoid products for medicinal purposes. A decade ago it would have been unimaginable for marijuana to be legal for recreational use but some states have even taken this step.
A group of substances derived from the cannabis plant (the marijuana plant, essentially) are known as cannabinoids. Regardless of their recent decriminalization in some states, we’re still learning new things about cannabinoids. Although we now are beginning to know the countless medical beneficial properties of these compounds, it has been recognized for a while that tinnitus could be activated by cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids Come in Several Forms
There are numerous varieties of cannabinoids that can be used now. It isn’t just weed (or ganja, or refer…..ok, there are plenty of nicknames for marijuana so let’s move on). Pills, oils, mists and other variations of cannabinoids are currently obtainable.
Each state has it’s own laws regarding which types of cannabinoids you can purchase, and many of those varieties are still technically illegal under federal law if the THC content is over 0.3%. So it’s still normal for people to be very careful about cannabinoids.
We still require more research and experience before we will really understand the long term and side effects of cannabinoids. A good example is the new insight about how cannabinoids affect your hearing.
Cannabinoids And Your Hearing, Some New Studies
A wide range of illnesses and medical conditions are thought to be improved by cannabinoids, regardless of what you like to call it. Vertigo, nausea, seizures, and more seem to be improved with cannabinoids, according to available anecdotal evidence. So could cannabinoids assist with tinnitus? That’s exactly what researchers resolved to find out.
Turns out, cannabinoids might actually trigger tinnitus. Ringing in the ears was reported by over 29% of participants after implementing cannabinoids. And these participants had never had tinnitus symptoms before the study. What’s more, marijuana users were 20-times more likely to report having tinnitus symptoms after 24 hours.
And for those who already suffered from tinnitus, marijuana use made it worse. In other words, there’s some pretty convincing evidence that tinnitus and cannabinoids don’t really mix very well.
How Cannabinoids Make Tinnitus Worse
Your tinnitus can be intensified by cannabinoids in a couple of concrete ways. The first is that your tinnitus can become more frequent. Also, your bouts of tinnitus can become more overwhelming when you’re using cannabinoids. The discomfort from the ringing may become louder or harder to ignore.
Cannabinoids have also been found to cause the onset of tinnitus symptoms. Or, explained another way: after you begin using cannabinoids you could develop tinnitus symptoms even if you had no symptoms before.
Unclear Causes of Tinnitus
We know that there’s a link between tinnitus and certain triggers but we’re still uncertain what the actual underlying causes are. That cannabinoids can have an impact on the middle ear and on tinnitus is fairly clear. But it’s far less evident what’s causing this impact.
But we know that marijuana use, as opposed to other mood altering substances like alcohol, can cause tinnitus.
Of course, we will keep doing research. People will be enabled to make a smart choice concerning which of the many forms of cannabinoid to go with as we obtain better insight into their link to tinnitus.
Beware The Miracle Cure
Lately there has been lots of hype created around cannabinoids by marketers. That’s partly because mindsets are changing about cannabinoids (and, to some extent, is also an indication of a desire to go away from opioids). But this new research makes it clear that cannabinoids can and do bring about some negative consequence, especially if you’re worried about your hearing.
The marketing about cannabinoids has been particularly aggressive and you can’t totally escape all of the enthusiasts.
But tinnitus and cannabinoids are clearly connected based on this research. So no matter how much advertising you see for CBD oils, if you’re worried about tinnitus, you should probably avoid them. It’s worth being careful when the link between tinnitus and cannabinoids has been so firmly demonstrated.