The real problem with chronic tinnitus is not just that you have a ringing in your ears. It’s the continuous non-stop ringing, that’s the real issue.
Initially, this may be a moderate noise that’s not much more than a little annoying. 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. When you’re lying in bed, having difficulty falling asleep because you keep hearing buzzing from your right ear, having a plan is going to help you a lot.
Your Tinnitus Can be Exacerbated
It’s beneficial to keep in mind that tinnitus is often not static. Symptoms manifest themselves in spikes and valleys. At times, your tinnitus might be an afterthought, hidden in the background of everyday life. At other times, that ringing could be as hard to dismiss as a full-blown, personalized symphony.
That can leave you in a very frightening place of anxiety. You might be so concerned about your tinnitus flaring up while you’re in a meeting that you have a panic attack while driving to work. That panic attack, in and of itself, can trigger the very episode you’re worried about.
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 vital. With the appropriate treatment, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus has to negatively impact your quality of life.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Several treatments for tinnitus involve some kind of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The sound of rain on a rooftop is a common analogy: very obvious at the start of a storm, but you stop focusing on it after a while and that rain-on-rooftops sound fades into the background. TRT uses the same principle to teach 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 master this method.
Get Your Brain Distracted
One reason tinnitus can be so infuriating is because your brain is constantly searching for the source of that noise, trying to alert you to its presence. So supplying your brain with more (and varied) stimuli to concentrate on can be helpful. Try these:
- Enjoy some time outside listening to the sounds of nature.
- Read a book while soaking in a bubble bath.
- Do some drawing or painting while playing music.
You get the point: engaging your brain can help you manage your tinnitus.
Meditation, as an alternate path, helps you concentrate your attention on a mantra, or your breathing which helps take your attention away from your tinnitus. Some individuals have found that meditation reduces their blood pressure, which can also be helpful with tinnitus.
Think about a Hearing Aid For Tinnitus Management
Hearing aids that help decrease tinnitus symptoms are already being developed by several hearing aid companies. Hearing aids are an ideal solution because you put them in and can forget about them the whole day, you won’t need to carry around a white noise generator or constantly use an app. The ringing will be handled by the hearing aid and you can relax and enjoy your life.
Make a Plan (And Follow-Through)
The impact of some tinnitus episodes can be lessened, and your stress reaction can be controlled if you have a practical plan for any surges in your symptoms. Think about having a “go bag” containing stuff you may need. Anything that will help you be more prepared and keep you from panicking, like making a list of helpful exercises, will go a long way toward management.
The Key is Management
Chronic tinnitus is a condition that has no known cure. But control and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. These daily tips (and more like 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