Can your ears be a source of high cortisol production?

 

Can you be holding onto weight simply because of your ears and what you allow to overwhelm them?

Are your ears really suffering and causing your whole body to be out of whack and diss regulation of your hormones?

When the brain senses are overwhelmed, it can cause extreme irritability, stress, anxiety, and complete shut down. Did you know that you can become very overstimulated by the sounds you hear during the day? Just by hearing too many sounds or the wrong frequency of sounds can put your brain into overload. Sounds like construction equipment, coffee machines, crowds, or the screaming of children can really overwhelm your brain and put you into a high cortisol stress situation.

What happens when our cortisol spikes? When our cortisol spikes, it is good during dangerous situations. The stress response puts our bodies into fight or flight mode. This mode spikes the adrenaline and gives us valuable life saving skills. We become fast to act and ready to fight.

What happens when you are in fight or flight mode too often? A rise in cortisol over a long period of time can be so very hard on a body. It’s too hard on your organs and your entire body when you are stuck in this high stress mode.

The gut doesn’t get a chance to rest and digest. This leads to bloating, constipation and weight gain in the tummy. The face becomes rounded and full of fluid from the spike in cortisol as well. This is called Moon Face.

You may also notice a small hump on the back of your neck. That is called a Buffalo Hump. It is a patch of fat made from an increase of cortisol.

When your cortisol is raised it also becomes almost impossible to lose weight. Any high impact exercises even raise your cortisol instead of lowering it.

If your cortisol is too high, you may also have trouble with mood swings, depression, extreme exhaustion, sweating, lose of appetite, and the inability to stay asleep at night. You could swell anytime there’s stress too.

Another good way to tell if your cortisol is too high is to notice your cravings. Do you crave salt at night? This is a great indicator that your cortisol is too high as well.

So what do we do??

How can we lower that cortisol and start to feel better and lose weight?

Well lowering cortisol is hard to do quickly. But it does require a lifestyle modification and habit swapping. You can’t keep the same lifestyle that brought your body to this place if you want out. You must make some changes that help you relax and start to feel joy again. One way to do this is by paying attention to your ears. By slowly nurturing every part of your body, your body will start to love you back.

Here are 10 ways to reduce the high stress cortisol situations through your ears:

1. Buy noise canceling earbuds to prevent overstimulation.

Do you work in a daycare? Are you around any beeping equipment or loud machinery all day? Your brain could very well be overstimulated and in a high stress mode just by the daily sounds you experience.

Having noise cancelling ear buds can help way more than you realize. I have a pair of earbuds that I use whenever I’m going to be in any sort of group setting. They do not filter out all noise completely, which allows me to still hear what I need to hear without the overwhelming noise. Very high pitch noises like children, screaming or beeping machinery can really send me into overload very quickly.

These earbuds help prevent that plus create a calming affect so that I don’t get so overwhelmed in crowds. The next time you go grocery shopping or shopping for fun, try wearing noise cancelling ear buds. Notice if you feel calmer, more focused and more relaxed. See if you feel calmer on the drive home as well.

Noise cancelling ear buds are also amazing for stay at home Moms. They allow you to still hear but muffle the shrill screams and cries of children. Overstimulation is such a real thing. Hard sounds are very difficult on the brain and a person can only handle so much. If you find yourself snapping at your kids or husband at the end of the day, you are most definitely overstimulated. Try wearing the earbuds and see how different your day goes.

2. Listen to the right frequencies of music.

Your brain can either get overwhelmed and tired or nurtured just by the frequency of music you listen to. You may use music to relax but there may be frequencies that are making matters worse and overstimulating your brain. If you listen to music on the way home from work to unwind but are listening to the wrong frequencies, you’re doing more damage than good. You are also missing a key time of day to unwind and destress your brain. This time is excellent for lowering your cortisol.

Your cortisol is no doubt high at the end of the day. Why add to the problem with more stress?

A prefect music selection and frequency is called Binaural Beats. Binaural Beats are made with a frequency that is calming to the brain and helps us relax. It helps calm the brain and reduce anxiety as well. Binaural Beats are also perfect for maintaining focus. If you have a project to work on, use these beats while you work. Not only will it help keep your cortisol lower during work, it will also help you focus.

There are plenty of Binaural Beats on YouTube. Listen to any of them and feel more relaxed immediately. You can even use them with a Bluetooth headband to get a better night’s sleep.

Binaural beats, can also help with seizure recovery. If you or someone you know has seizures, ADHD, ADD, Autism or any other neurological issues, try binaural beats for brain recovery.

3. Take noise breaks.

If you work in a place that has a lot of noise or high pitch sounds during the day, make a habit of taking a noise break when you get home. Even on your drive home, try not to listen to the radio. If you want to listen to music to relax, listen to binaural beats. You will be amazed how much more relaxed you are when you walk in the door for the evening.

Your brain needs rest from over usage just like your body does. A great way to give it rest is through your ears. Help your brain rest and help your body lower cortisol by giving the ears a break from noise.

If time allows, take a hot bath in the evening and listen to binaural beats. You don’t have to listen to any music either, you can simply put on noise canceling headphones and relax.

Don’t rush home just to deal with more noise from the kids and your spouse. You need a transition phase in between bouts of heavy noise so that your body can calm down. Listening to binaural beats or having complete silence on your drive to work is also excellent.

4. Make sure you are protecting your ears in situations of high pitch noises.

If I am going to a very busy place, I make sure that I wear my AirPods the entire time. If there is a baby crying or any high-pitched loud talkers there, I am prepared. There is nothing worse than being in a situation with loud noises and regret even going. Stop dreading grocery shopping or going anywhere in public. You may not even realize it but dreading the public could very well just be a spike in cortisol. This can make you extremely irritable and avoidant. Just by taking care of your ears, you’ll be amazed at how much calmer your brain feels. One less thing for your brain to feel overwhelmed about.

5. When getting together with friends, try to keep it simple and small.

Instead of hanging out with the entire large group, hang out with a few friends at a time. The point of doing fun activities is to reduce your cortisol and lower your stress. It makes no sense to create more stress for yourself where you’re even more exhausted from the noise. It is also really hard to focus on more than one or two conversations at once. Low stress situation’s with a few friends is a lot easier to deal with mentally.

If your going to a child’s birthday party, try to limit the time you’re there to avoid overstimulation. If you can’t do that, take along noise protection and noise cancelling ear buds. Make sure your ears are protected in all group settings.

6. Protect your ears while shopping.

Enjoy shopping again! Shopping can be very chaotic for those with overstimulation problems. There are a lot of colors, a lot of items to look at, and a lot of noise. When you fight with overstimulation, shopping can really be hard to do. When you use noise canceling headphones or listen to binaural beats in your earbuds, shopping can become enjoyable again! The Binaural Beats calm the senses and allow your brain to relax. This helps prevent overstimulation and allows you to focus on just looking instead of noise and sight.

You may find that you don’t absolutely hate grocery shopping anymore. When you are able to calm your senses and focus better, shopping can be a lot more enjoyable. This will prevent you from overspending due to stress as well.

When we are stressed, we tend to buy more to cope with the stress. By simply limiting the stress, we won’t feel the need to buy extra snacks or things we don’t need just to feel better.

7. Lower your television and phone volume.

You may not realize how high your volume actually is on your phone or TV. This excess noise can be really damaging to the brain and hormone levels. Any excess high stress noise can spike your cortisol and cause your body excess stress. So you may be sitting on the couch thinking you’re relaxing, when really you’re aggravating your brain even further.

By simply lowering the volume down just a little, your ears will get a break, your brain will relax and your cortisol will lower. Once you’ve gotten used to the new lower volume, your ears will adjust. See if you can go a little lower again in a few weeks. Repeat the process until the volume is as low as you can stand and still feel comfortable.

8. Take a mental break before bed and have complete silence.

I know a lot of people these days love to mindlessly scroll on their phone before bed. This is such a terrible idea for so many reasons. The main reason is that the brain cannot relax and settle for bed. If you are someone that has trouble staying asleep at night already, this is a terrible idea for that reason.

If you find it hard to give up the scrolling habit, opt for just a small change first. Simply listen to binaural beats as you drift off or go sound less a little before bed. Get ready for bed alone in the quiet, take a warm bath in silence (even if it only lasts a few minutes) or lay in bed before you are tired and allow the silent calmness to relax you.

I’m the spring and summer months you can even sit outside and listen to nature while you sip some chamomile tea.

Your body needs a transition into sleep to regenerate. Take care of yourself and enjoy the quiet transition as often as you can.

9. Spend time in nature.

Nature’s melody is perfect for our bodies. It’s as if our minds were made to rest to the sound of our natural surroundings. The sound of a waterfall or bubbly brook for instance, has a perfect sound combination for relaxation and tranquility.

Studies have shown that natural actually calms the parasympathetic nervous system. Calming your nervous system helps lower your cortisol and reduce belly fat while regulating hormones. Just 10 minutes in nature does wonders for the body.

10. Keep your ears clean

If you are someone that has a lot of wax build up, make sure you have your ears cleaned regularly. Too much build up can middle sounds and cause straining when trying to hear. It can also trap excess moisture and cause infections. Infections will cause an immune response to your body. If you’re body is already overwhelmed by high cortisol, this immune response and flair up will cause extra bloat and excess cortisol. You may not even realize your bloating is in response to an infection until after the pain starts. Keep your ears clean to prevent this type of occurrence.

Take care of your body and nourish it so that it loves you back. Your body is a delicate system and deserves to be nurtured. One important way is to care for your ears. Caring for your ears gives your brain the rest it needs. Resting your brain gives your body a chance to regulate and relax. Relaxing reduces the need for cortisol. Reducing cortisol helps regulate your hormones and helps you drop weight.

You’re worth the love and care your body needs.

Love yourself today.

Don’t just survive, THRIVE!