With chronic tinnitus, it isn’t the ringing in your ears that’s the real problem. The real problem is that the ringing won’t stop.
The constant noise, possibly somewhat modest in volume, might begin as little more than an annoyance. But the ringing can become frustrating and even incapacitating if it goes on for days or months or more.
That’s why it’s critical that if you are living 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 buzzing from your left ear, having a plan is going to help you a lot.
Your Tinnitus Can be Exacerbated
Chronic tinnitus, in fact, is frequently not a static condition. Symptoms manifest themselves in spikes and valleys. There are times when your tinnitus is minimal and practically lost in the background. At other times the noises will be screeching in your ears so loudly it’s impossible to dismiss.
That can leave you in a very frightening place of anxiety. You may be so worried about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting that you have a panic attack while driving to work. And the very panic attack brought on by this worry can itself cause the tinnitus.
Tips For Living With Tinnitus
You will be in a greater position to plan for and manage tinnitus the more you know about it. And management is the key since tinnitus doesn’t have a known cure. With the right management, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus needs to negatively affect your quality of life.
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. It’s the same basic strategy with TRT, teaching your brain to move that ringing into the background of your thoughts where it’s easier to disregard.
It can take training to master this method.
Get Your Brain Distracted
One of the reasons that tinnitus can be so frustrating is because your brain is constantly looking for the source of that sound, trying to alert you to its presence. So giving your brain more (and varied) stimuli to focus on can be helpful. You could:
- Have music playing while you paint a picture.
- Take a book to the park and listen to the birds while you read.
- Take a bubble bath and read a book.
You get the gist: 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 people have found that meditation lowers their blood pressure, which can also help with tinnitus.
Consider a Hearing Aid For Tinnitus Management
Hearing aids that help decrease tinnitus symptoms are already being developed by several hearing aid companies. This option is really convenient because they are small and out of your way compared to other approaches. The ringing will be handled by the hearing aid and you can relax and enjoy your life.
Have a Plan (And Stick to it)
Making a plan for unforeseen spikes can help you control your stress-out reaction, and that can help you minimize certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from worsening them). Consider having a “go bag” full of stuff you may need. Anything that will help you be more ready 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 an affliction that has no known cure. But that doesn’t mean that individuals cannot regulate and treat their tinnitus. 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
