With chronic tinnitus, it’s not the ringing in your ears that’s the actual problem. The real problem is that the ringing won’t stop.
At first, this may be a mild noise that’s not much more than a bit irritating. But after a day or a week or a month, that buzzing or ringing can become aggravating, frustrating, even debilitating.
That’s why it’s essential that if you are coping with tinnitus you follow some tips to make life easier. It can make a huge difference if you have a plan when you’re lying in bed struggling to fall asleep because of the buzzing or ringing in your ear.
Your Tinnitus Can be Made Worse
It’s beneficial to remember that tinnitus is commonly not static. Symptoms manifest themselves in spikes and valleys. Sometimes, your tinnitus might be an afterthought, lost in the background of everyday life. At other times the sounds will be screeching in your ears so loudly it’s impossible to disregard.
This can be a very uncertain and frightening situation. Maybe you even get panic attacks while driving to work because you’re concerned about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting. And the very panic attack caused by this worry can itself cause tinnitus.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
You will be in a better position to prepare for and manage tinnitus the more you know about it. And management is critical since tinnitus has no known cure. There’s no reason that your quality of life has to suffer if you establish the proper treatment.
Think About Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a common approach to tinnitus management. The sound of rain on a roof is a common analogy: it’s very loud and noticeable when it first begins but by the time the storm is ending you stop paying attention to it and fades into the background. TRT uses the same concept to train your brain to push the tinnitus symptoms into the background of your thoughts so you will have an easier time tuning it out.
It can take practice to get this technique down.
Distract Your Brain
Your brain is continuously searching for the source of the noise and that’s one of the reasons why tinnitus can be so aggravating. So giving your brain a range of different sounds to concentrate on can be really helpful. You could:
- Bring a book to the park and listen to the birds while reading.
- Take a bubble bath while reading a book.
- Do some drawing or painting while listening to music.
you get the gist: Your tinnitus may be able to be reduced by engaging your brain.
Meditation, as an alternate approach, helps you focus your attention on a mantra, or your breathing which helps take your focus away from your tinnitus. Another advantage of meditation, at least for some people, is that it can reduce blood pressure which is a common cause of tinnitus symptoms.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Hearing aids that help decrease tinnitus symptoms are already being manufactured by several hearing aid companies. This solution is very convenient because they are small and out of your way compared to other strategies. You can relax and let a discreet hearing aid manage the ringing for you.
Make a Plan (And Stick to it)
Having a plan for unforeseen spikes can help you control your stress-out reaction, and that can help you decrease certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from exacerbating them). Plan on having a “go bag” full of things you may need. Anything that will help you be more ready and keep you from having a panic attack, like making a list of helpful exercises, will go a long way toward management.
The Key is Management
Chronic tinnitus is an affliction that has no known cure. But that doesn’t mean that people can’t manage and treat their tinnitus. Make certain you are dealing with your tinnitus not suffering from it by utilizing these tips and any others that you find helpful.
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3303565/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5050200/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17956798/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4447068/
https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008664