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.
The constant noise, possibly rather modest in volume, may start as little more than a nuisance. But after a day or a week or a month, that ringing or buzzing can become irritating, frustrating, even incapacitating.
That’s why it’s essential that if you are living with tinnitus you follow some tips to make life easier. It can make a big difference if you have a plan when you’re lying in bed unable to fall asleep because of the buzzing or ringing in your ear.
Your Tinnitus Can be Exacerbated
Chronic tinnitus, in fact, is frequently not a static problem. There are spikes and valleys in the manifestation of symptoms. At times, your tinnitus may be an afterthought, lost in the background of everyday life. In other moments, that ringing could be as difficult to ignore as a full-blown, individualized symphony.
That can leave you in a pretty frightening place of uncertainty. You may be so concerned about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting that you get a panic attack while you’re driving to work. And the very panic attack caused by this worry can itself trigger the tinnitus.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
The more you understand about tinnitus, the better you can prepare for and manage the effects. And, because there’s no known cure for tinnitus, control of symptoms is essential. With the right management, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus has to negatively impact your quality of life.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is One Option
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a common approach to tinnitus management. The analogy that gets used most often is the sound of rain on your rooftops: very apparent at the beginning of a storm, but you stop paying attention to it after a while and that rain-on-rooftops sound fades into the background. It’s the same basic concept with TRT, teaching your brain to move that ringing into the background of your attention where it’s easier to ignore.
Perfecting this strategy can take a bit of practice.
Get Your Brain Distracted
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 more (and varied) stimulation to concentrate on can help. You could:
- Do some drawing or painting while playing music.
- Take a book to the park and listen to the birds while you read.
- Read a book while taking a bubble bath.
You get the idea: Your tinnitus might be able to be decreased by engaging your brain.
Alternately, many individuals have discovered that meditation helps because it focuses your attention on something else, your breath, a mantra, and etc. Another advantage of meditation, at least for some, is that it can reduce blood pressure which is a known cause of tinnitus symptoms.
Consider a Hearing Aid For Tinnitus Management
Hearing aids that help reduce tinnitus symptoms are already being manufactured by numerous hearing aid companies. This option 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.
Make a Plan (And Stick to it)
Having a plan for unexpected surges can help you control your stress-out reaction, and that can help you minimize certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from worsening them). Plan on having a “go bag” full of things you might need. Anything that can help you be equipped for a tinnitus spike, even making a list of helpful exercises will be beneficial because it will keep you from having a panic attack!
The Key is Management
Chronic tinnitus is a condition that has no known cure. But management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. 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