The real problem with chronic tinnitus isn’t only that you have a ringing in your ears. It’s the constant non-stop ringing, that’s the real problem.
Initially, this might be a moderate noise that’s not much more than a bit irritating. But after a day or a week or a month, that ringing or buzzing can become irritating, frustrating, even debilitating.
That’s why it’s crucial 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 buzzing from your left ear, having a plan is going to do you a world of good.
How You Can Worsen Your Tinnitus
It’s important to keep in mind that tinnitus is commonly 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. In other moments, that ringing could be as difficult to dismiss as a full-blown, personalized symphony.
This can be a very uncertain and frightening situation. Perhaps you even get panic attacks while driving to work because you’re concerned about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting. That panic attack, in and of itself, can trigger the very situation you’re worried about.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
The more you know about tinnitus, the better you can plan for and manage the effects. And management is crucial since tinnitus doesn’t have a known cure. There’s no reason that your quality of life has to suffer if you put in place the right treatment.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a standard strategy for tinnitus management. 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 goes into the background. TRT uses the same concept 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.
Perfecting this strategy can take a bit of practice.
Distract Your Brain
One reason tinnitus can be so frustrating is because your brain is continuously looking for the source of that noise, attempting to alert you to its presence. So supplying your brain with a range of different sounds to concentrate on can be very helpful. You could:
- Do some drawing or painting while playing music.
- Take a bubble bath while reading a book.
- Bring a book to the park and listen to the birds while reading.
You get the point: 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 so on. Some individuals have found that meditation reduces their blood pressure, which can also be helpful with tinnitus.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Hearing aids that help minimize tinnitus symptoms are already being manufactured by several hearing aid companies. This option is very convenient because they are small and out of your way compared to other approaches. The ringing will be managed by the hearing aid and you can relax and enjoy your life.
Have a Plan (And Stick to it)
The effect of some tinnitus episodes can be minimized, and your stress response can be managed if you have a practical plan for any surges in your symptoms. Pack a bag of useful items to bring with you. Anything that will help you be more ready and keep you from having a panic attack, like making a list of practical exercises, will go a long way toward management.
The Key is Management
There’s no cure for tinnitus which is usually chronic. But management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real possibility. These everyday tips (and more similar to them) can help make certain you are living with tinnitus, and not suffering from tinnitus.
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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