With chronic tinnitus, it’s not the ringing in your ears that’s the actual issue. It’s the continuous never ending ringing, that’s the real problem.
Initially, this may be a moderate noise that’s not much more than a little irritating. But the ringing can become aggravating and even debilitating if it persists for days or months or more.
That’s why it’s vital to have some tips you can rely on, tips that make living with tinnitus easier. When you’re lying in bed, having difficulty falling asleep because you keep hearing ringing from your right ear, having a plan is going to help you a lot.
How You Can Worsen Your Tinnitus
Chronic tinnitus, in fact, is often not a static problem. Symptoms present themselves in spikes and valleys. There are times when your tinnitus is minor and practically lost in the background. In other moments, that ringing could be as hard to ignore as a full-blown, individualized symphony.
This can be a very uncertain and frightening situation. Perhaps you even experience panic attacks while driving to work because you’re worried about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting. And the very panic attack caused by this worry can itself cause the tinnitus.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
You will be in a better position to plan for and control tinnitus the more you understand about it. And management is the real key since tinnitus doesn’t have a known cure. With the right management, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus has to negatively affect your quality of life.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Many treatment options for tinnitus incorporate some kind of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The sound of rain on a roof is a common analogy: very noticeable at the beginning of a storm, but you stop paying attention to it after a while and that rain-on-rooftops sound goes into the background. It’s the same basic idea with TRT, training your brain to move that ringing into the background of your thoughts where it’s easier to ignore.
It can take training to master this technique.
Get Your Brain Distracted
One reason tinnitus can be so frustrating is because your brain is continuously looking for the source of that noise, trying to signal you to its presence. So giving your brain a range of different sounds to concentrate on can be really helpful. You could:
- Take a bubble bath and read a book.
- Do some drawing or painting while listening to music.
- Enjoy some time outside listening to the sounds of nature.
You get the idea: Your tinnitus might be able to be reduced by engaging your brain.
Alternately, many individuals have discovered that meditation helps because it concentrates your attention on something else, your breathing, a mantra, and so on. Some individuals have found that meditation reduces their blood pressure, which can also be helpful with tinnitus.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Hearing aids that help reduce tinnitus symptoms are already being developed by a number of hearing aid companies. This solution is really convenient because they are small and out of your way compared to other strategies. The ringing will be managed by the hearing aid and you can relax and enjoy your life.
Have a Plan (And Stick to it)
The effect of some tinnitus episodes can be lessened, and your stress response can be managed if you have a practical plan for any surges in your symptoms. Pack a bag of practical items to take with you. Anything that can help you be prepared for a tinnitus spike, even creating a list of helpful exercises will be good because it will keep you from panicking!
Management is Key
There is no cure for tinnitus which is often chronic. But control and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. Make certain you are managing your tinnitus not suffering from it by using these tips and any others that you find helpful.
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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
