The actual issue with chronic tinnitus isn’t only that you have a ringing in your ears. It’s the continual never ending ringing, that’s the real problem.
Initially, this may be a moderate 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 irritating, frustrating, even incapacitating.
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 unable to fall asleep because of the ringing or buzzing in your ear.
How You Can Exacerbate Your Tinnitus
It’s beneficial to keep in mind that tinnitus is commonly not static. There are increases and decreases in the presentation of symptoms. There are times when your tinnitus is mild and virtually lost in the background. 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 scary situation. You might be so concerned about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting that you get a panic attack while driving to work. And the very panic attack brought on by this worry can itself cause the tinnitus.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
You will be in a greater position to prepare for and control tinnitus the more you know about it. And management is crucial since tinnitus doesn’t have a known cure. With the right management, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus has to negatively impact your quality of life.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Many treatment options for tinnitus incorporate some kind of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The analogy that gets used most often is the sound of rain on your rooftops: it’s very loud and obvious when it first starts but by the time the storm is ending you stop focusing on it and recedes into the background. It’s the same basic idea with TRT, teaching your brain to move that ringing into the background of your attention where it’s easier to disregard.
It can take training to get this technique down.
Distract Your Brain
Your brain is continuously searching for the source of the sound and that’s one of the reasons why tinnitus can be so frustrating. So giving your brain a variety of different sounds to focus on can be very helpful. Try these:
- Read a book while soaking in a bubble bath.
- Bring a book to the park and listen to the birds while reading.
- Play music while you paint a picture.
You get the point: Your tinnitus may be able to be reduced by engaging your brain.
Meditation, as an alternate path, helps you focus your attention on a mantra, or your breathing which helps take your attention away from your tinnitus. Another advantage of meditation, at least for some people, is that it can decrease blood pressure which is a known cause of tinnitus symptoms.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Numerous hearing aid companies have developed hearing aids that help reduce the ringing in your ear. This option is really convenient because they are small and out of your way compared to other approaches. You can relax and let a discreet hearing aid manage the ringing for you.
Make a Plan (And Follow-Through)
Having a plan for unforeseen spikes can help you handle your stress-out reaction, and that can help you decrease certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from worsening them). Pack a bag of useful items to bring with you. Anything that can help you be prepared for a tinnitus spike, even making a list of useful exercises will be good because it will keep you from panicking!
Management is Key
Chronic tinnitus is a condition that has no known cure. But control and treatment of tinnitus is a very real possibility. These everyday tips (and more similar to them) can help make certain you are living with tinnitus, and not suffering from tinnitus.
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
