We love Sacramento and are proud to call this city home, but there’s no denying that it’s a smoggy city. Our tinnitus patients know that tinnitus can be triggered by any number of things, so let’s discuss how air quality might also be affecting the ringing in your ears.
Sacramento Air Quality
The 2026 Asthma Capitals report, published by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, ranks Sacramento as the worst city in California and the 10th-worst city in the nation for asthma risk. Obviously, this is not a coveted title, and it certainly raises concerns about our city’s air quality.
Sacramento’s topological situation doesn’t help. Living in a valley means that air gets trapped and cycles around our environment. This means that air pollution, smoke from wildfires and other air particles don’t escape very easily.
Tinnitus Triggers
Tinnitus is a complicated condition. It can be affected minutely by a multitude of factors, including stress, sleep quality, noise exposure, illness, blood pressure, medications and environmental conditions. Additionally, because tinnitus is a highly subjective condition, no two people experience it in exactly the same way. Something that triggers tinnitus for you may have no effect on another tinnitus patient.
If you’ve noticed that your tinnitus seems worse on Sacramento’s worst air-quality days or in the middle of wildfire season, that’s a connection worth investigating.
What the Research Says About Air Quality and Tinnitus
Several studies have identified associations between exposure to air pollution and tinnitus. In particular, while there’s no evidence that air pollution causes tinnitus, there does appear to be higher incidence rates in places with consistently lower air quality.
How Lower Air Quality Can Impact Auditory Health
There are a few possible explanations as to why lower air quality might be associated with tinnitus.
The first theory concerns oxygen levels. The cochlea, the organ in your inner ear responsible for sending sound information to the brain, is delicate and requires healthy, oxygen-rich blood for its cells to function properly. Poor air quality means you’re inhaling less oxygen in every breath; that decreased level of oxygen can cause damage to the cochlea or scramble its signals, impacting your auditory health. This is especially true during wildfire season, when fine particulate matter is pumped into the atmosphere from burning organic matter. Inhaling these fine particles can affect respiratory and cardiovascular health.
The second theory suggests that inhaled pollutants and particulate matter can cause chronic inflammation in your airways. Your airways are intimately connected to your ears by way of the Eustachian tubes, which connect the middle ear to the back of the throat. If inflammation affects the Eustachian tubes, it can lead to Eustachian tube dysfunction, which is known to be connected with tinnitus, as it puts pressure on the middle ear and affects fluid drainage.
The third theory is more indirect (but that’s often the case with tinnitus). Even if air pollution is not directly affecting your ears, it may worsen factors that commonly make tinnitus more noticeable. Poor air quality can impact other known tinnitus aggravators, such as stress, sleep quality and anxiety.
What You Can Do About It
If you’ve noticed a connection between poor air quality days and your tinnitus, then it’s a good idea to take steps to mitigate your exposure to the smog. You can do this by:
- Staying indoors on poor air quality days as much as possible, with the windows and doors shut
- Investing in a HEPA air filter in your home to remove fine particulate matter from your indoor environment
- Wear a mask when going outdoors on poor air quality days or during wildfire season
- Limit smoking cigarettes and exposure to secondhand smoke
Furthermore, manage your tinnitus by avoiding other known tinnitus triggers (get enough sleep, stay hydrated, etc.) and loud noise. If you need to consult with a tinnitus specialist, contact an audiologist, like The Hearing Solution.
To learn more about tinnitus or to get help with managing your symptoms, give us a call!