With chronic tinnitus, it’s not the ringing in your ears that’s the actual issue. The real problem is that the ringing won’t stop.
The constant noise, possibly rather moderate in volume, might start as little more than a nuisance. But the ringing can become frustrating and even debilitating if it continues 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 difficulty falling asleep because you keep hearing ringing from your right ear, having a plan is going to help you a lot.
How You Can Exacerbate Your Tinnitus
It’s beneficial to remember that tinnitus is often not static. Symptoms manifest themselves in spikes and valleys. Sometimes, your tinnitus may be an afterthought, hidden in the background of everyday life. At other times the noises will be screaming in your ears so loudly it’s impossible to ignore.
This can be a very uncertain and scary situation. You may be so concerned 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 trigger the tinnitus.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
The more you know about tinnitus, the better you can plan for and control the effects. And management is the real key since tinnitus has no known cure. There’s no reason that your quality of life has to suffer if you establish the proper treatment.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Many treatment options for tinnitus incorporate some form of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The sound of rain on a roof is a common analogy: very noticeable at the start of a storm, but you stop paying attention to it after a while and that rain-on-rooftops sound fades into the background. TRT uses the same principle to train 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.
Distract Your Brain
Your brain is constantly looking for the source of the sound and that’s one of the reasons why tinnitus can be so frustrating. So supplying your brain with more (and varied) stimuli to focus on can be helpful. Try these:
- Do some drawing or painting while playing music.
- Take a book to the park and listen to the birds while reading.
- Take a bubble bath and read a book.
You get the idea: Your tinnitus might be able to be decreased by engaging your brain.
Alternately, many individuals have found that meditation helps because it focuses your attention on something else, your breath, a mantra, and etc. Some people have discovered that meditation reduces their blood pressure, which can also be helpful with tinnitus.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Many hearing aid companies have manufactured 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 deal with 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). Plan on having a “go bag” containing things you may 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 panicking!
Management is Key
There is no cure for tinnitus which is often chronic. But management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real possibility. Make sure you are dealing with your tinnitus not suffering from it by using 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