With chronic tinnitus, it’s not the ringing in your ears that’s the actual problem. The real issue is that the ringing doesn’t stop.
The continuous noise, possibly rather moderate in volume, might start as little more than an annoyance. But the ringing can become aggravating and even incapacitating if it persists for days or months or more.
That’s why it’s crucial that if you are coping with tinnitus you adhere to 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
It’s beneficial to remember that tinnitus is often not static. There are spikes and valleys in the presentation of symptoms. There are times when your tinnitus is mild and virtually lost in the background. At other times the sounds will be screeching in your ears so loudly it’s impossible to disregard.
That can leave you in a rather scary place of uncertainty. You may be so worried about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting that you have a panic attack while you’re driving to work. That panic attack, in and of itself, can trigger the very situation you’re concerned about.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
The more you know 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 appropriate management, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus has to negatively affect your quality of life.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is One Option
Several treatments for tinnitus involve some form of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The sound of rain on a roof is a common analogy: it’s very loud and noticeable when it first starts but by the end of the storm you stop paying attention to it and fades into the background. It’s the same basic idea with TRT, teaching your brain to move that ringing into the background of your attention where it’s easier to ignore.
Perfecting this technique can take a bit of practice.
Get Your Brain Distracted
Your brain is continuously 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 concentrate on can help. You could:
- Do some drawing or painting while listening to music.
- Take a bubble bath and read a book.
- Bring a book to the park and listen to the birds while reading.
You get the gist: engaging your brain can help you control your tinnitus.
Alternately, many individuals have discovered that meditation helps because it concentrates your attention on something else, your breath, a mantra, and etc. Another advantage of meditation, at least for some people, is that it can decrease blood pressure which is a common cause of tinnitus symptoms.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Hearing aids that help minimize tinnitus symptoms are already being developed by a number of hearing aid companies. This solution 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.
Have a Plan (And Stick to it)
Making a plan for unforeseen spikes can help you handle your stress-out reaction, and that can help you minimize certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from worsening them). Pack a bag of practical items to take with you. 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.
Management is Key
There’s no cure for tinnitus which is usually chronic. But that doesn’t mean that people can’t manage 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