Studies show that those with high blood pressure are more likely to experience tinnitus – especially as they age.
Below we’ll explain what high blood pressure is and what can cause it.
High blood pressure is an increasing problem in the United States, affecting more than 100 million people every year.
Chronic high blood pressure can cause many different health complications including heart disease, strokes, hardening of your arteries (atherosclerosis), kidney disease, dementia, tinnitus and loss of vision.
If you have high blood pressure, don’t forget to tell your tinnitus specialist so that they can help you come up with a treatment plan to help both conditions.
Understanding what causes high blood pressure and learning to spot its symptoms will help you take control of your health.
What Is High Blood Pressure?
Pretty much what its name suggests: Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels.
When the force of the blood pushing against the walls of blood vessels is too high, you have high blood pressure.
Hypertension, or chronic high blood pressure, is when this force is too high almost all the time.
This means your heart is working much harder to pump blood through your body than it was designed to.
Having your heart work that hard for too long will cause significant damage if you don’t get it back down to normal.
So What Causes High Blood Pressure?
There are many different causes of high blood pressure.
Check out the list below to see which might be triggering your high blood pressure, or be putting you at a higher risk for developing high blood pressure.
1. Stress
Stress is probably the biggest factor in high blood pressure.
Stressful situations make your body release hormones that increase your heart rate and narrow your blood vessels, temporarily increasing your blood pressure.
This is a normal bodily response and it’s not harmful in the short-term.
But if you are living in a constant state of stress, that’s where the chronic high blood pressure problems begin.
Meditation, breathing exercises and some light physical exercises will help you reduce your stress levels.
To give you some ideas on ways to reduce stress, for both your high blood pressure and also ones that are known to help tinnitus sufferers, check out this handy guide.
2. Weight & Exercise
Another major factor in high blood pressure is being overweight.
Extra body weight puts more strain on your heart while it’s trying to pump blood to keep your body working.
The good news is, even if you just lose a few pounds, that can really make a big difference for your high blood pressure readings.
Studies show that people who’ve lost 20 pounds were able to lower their rating by 5-20 points.
Another factor that can be affecting your high blood pressure is if you’re having a hard time staying physically active – which can also help you lose weight more easily.
Take a look at the 7 Quick And Easy Workouts For Tinnitus Sufferers Of All Ages.
3. Diet
Did you know that the foods you eat can have an effect on your tinnitus?
Healthy food choices can also reduce your blood pressure and help you lose weight quickly and easily.
A special diet has been created to help lower high blood pressure.
It’s called the DASH diet and stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
Following this diet has proven that patients can lower their blood pressure by as much as 8-14 points.
The DASH diet is basically a simple guide to old-fashioned healthy eating – with a big emphasis on keeping your salt levels to a minimum.
Salt also has a big influence on tinnitus.
It’s a good idea to look for ways to cut down the sodium in your diet.
Another dietary factor that’s been shown to aggravate high blood pressure is too much alcohol consumption.
Keep your drinking to no more than one to two drinks per day to stay in line with the DASH recommendations.
An added bonus is that lowering alcohol consumption has been shown to help improve tinnitus, as well.
4. Smoking
Every time you smoke, your blood pressure rises temporarily.
Not only that but the chemicals found in tobacco damage the lining of your artery walls and increase your risk of heart disease.
Smoking is not only bad for high blood pressure – it’s also bad for tinnitus.
Studies show that smoking (and vaping) increases the ringing in your ears.
If you’re curious, there are some easy ways to quit smoking, which will help all aspects of your health.
5. Age & Family History
The genetics that you’re born with and your family history will have an impact on whether or not you’re more susceptible to high blood pressure.
Your age will also play a part.
It’s been shown that the older we get the more likely we are to develop health issues, such as high blood pressure and hypertension.
To combat these things that are beyond your control, keep in mind that a healthy weight, good food choices and eliminating some of the bigger risk factors like stress and smoking will go a long way in keeping you free from high blood pressure problems.
6. Underlying Medical Issues
There are a few known medical issues that can cause high blood pressure.
If you have chronic kidney disease, adrenal or thyroid disorders, or if you suffer from sleep apnea, you’re much more likely to have high blood pressure.
How Do I Know If I Have High Blood Pressure?
Unlike a lot of serious health conditions, high blood pressure often has no noticeable symptoms.
Symptoms that sometimes occur are:
- Headaches
- Blurred vision
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Nosebleeds
Because there are often no warning signs of high blood pressure, you should be taking the initiative to monitor your blood pressure.
There are many inexpensive self-testing machines available to purchase and also free tests available in most pharmacies.
Conclusion
Learning what you can do to manage your high blood pressure naturally is something you should take into your own hands.
- Make sure you are getting good sleep
- Cut back on sugar, salt and caffeine (and find healthy alternatives for coffee)
- Start a simple workout routine
- Learn how to manage your stress and anxiety levels
If you follow some of the advice above, you’ll be living healthier, with improved high blood pressure and less ringing in your ears in no time.
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/the-facts-about-high-blood-pressure/what-is-high-blood-pressure
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/in-depth/stress-and-high-blood-pressure/art-20044190
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-03-obesity-high-blood-pressureand-potential.html
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20048456
https://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/features/take-charge-of-your-blood-pressure#1
https://www.medicinenet.com/high_blood_pressure_symptoms/views.htm
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