Morning Tinnitus

Whistling, buzzing and ringing in the ears are all symptoms of tinnitus. Although it can manifest at any time of the day, many sufferers report that their tinnitus is worse in the morning when they wake up.  In such cases, we speak of tinnitus in the morning.

Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is the acoustic perception of sound without an external source. A distinction is made between objective tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In objective tinnitus, the sound source (e.g. blood flow in the case of vascular anomaly) occurs within the body and can also be heard by an ENT specialist during an examination. Subjective tinnitus, as its name implies, means that the noise can only be perceived by the affected person.

If you want to know more about tinnitus in general, we recommend you read our article: Things to know about tinnitus.

Sooner or later, everybody reports they woke up with ringing in one ear, or indeed both ears, without the presence of any external auditory trigger. Tinnitus in the morning manifests itself in a broad range of sounds, often described as a ringing or buzzing inside the ear. Some people also describe their tinnitus as pulsatile, i.e. pulsing in one or both ears, in time with their heartbeat. These ear noises can vary in their intensity, duration and, if neglected, also become chronic. 

If you want more learn about tinnitus symptoms in general, we recommend reading our article: overview on tinnitus symptoms.

Ringing in the ears (tinnitus) can have several different causes. However, very rarely are these signs of a serious illness. Sometimes, tinnitus occurs for no apparent reason at all, in which case it usually lasts for no longer than a minute or so. However, some people, report that the ringing in their ears lasts for a long time. If these symptoms persist for more than three months, it is called chronic tinnitus.

Morning tinnitus may be attributable to the fact that the brain, even during sleep, remains active thanks to synapses that enter into play while we are at rest.