With chronic tinnitus, it’s not the ringing in your ears that’s the real issue. It’s the constant non-stop ringing, that’s the real issue.
Initially, this might 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 debilitating.
That’s why it’s essential that if you are coping with tinnitus you adhere to some tips to make life easier. When you’re lying in bed, having trouble falling asleep because you keep hearing ringing from your left ear, having a plan is going to help you a lot.
Your Tinnitus Can be Exacerbated
It’s important to remember that tinnitus is commonly not static. Symptoms manifest themselves in spikes and valleys. Sometimes, your tinnitus may be an afterthought, hidden in the background of daily life. In other moments, that ringing could be as difficult to ignore as a full-blown, personalized symphony.
That can leave you in a very frightening place of uncertainty. Maybe you even get panic attacks while driving to work because you’re worried about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting. 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 better position to prepare for and control tinnitus the more you understand about it. And management is the real key since tinnitus has no known cure. There’s no reason that your quality of life needs to suffer if you put in place the proper treatment.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is One Option
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a common strategy for tinnitus management. The sound of rain on a rooftop is a common analogy: very obvious 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. TRT uses the same concept to teach your brain to move the tinnitus symptoms into the background of your thoughts so you will have an easier time ignoring them.
Mastering this method can take a bit of practice.
Distract Your Brain
Your brain is continuously looking for the source of the noise and that’s one of the reasons why tinnitus can be so aggravating. So supplying your brain with a range of different sounds to focus on can be really helpful. You could:
- Read a book while taking a bubble bath.
- Play music while you paint a picture.
- Bring a book to the park and listen to the birds while you read.
You get the idea: Your tinnitus might be able to be reduced by engaging your brain.
Alternately, many people have discovered that meditation helps because it focuses your attention on something else, your breath, a mantra, and so on. Another advantage of meditation, at least for some, is that it can lower blood pressure which is a common cause of tinnitus symptoms.
Consider a Hearing Aid For Tinnitus Management
Hearing aids that help decrease tinnitus symptoms are already being manufactured by several hearing aid companies. This option is very convenient because they are small and out of your way compared to other approaches. 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 impact of some tinnitus episodes can be lessened, and your stress reaction can be managed if you have a practical plan for any surges in your symptoms. Think about having a “go bag” full of things you might need. Anything that can help you be prepared for a tinnitus spike, even creating 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 management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. Make sure you are dealing with your tinnitus not suffering from it by utilizing 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