The real problem with chronic tinnitus isn’t just that you have a ringing in your ears. The real problem is that the ringing doesn’t stop.
The continuous noise, possibly somewhat modest in volume, may begin as little more than a nuisance. But the ringing can become frustrating and even incapacitating if it persists for days or months or more.
That’s why it’s essential that if you are living with tinnitus you follow some tips to make life easier. It can make a huge 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.
How You Can Worsen Your Tinnitus
It’s beneficial to remember that tinnitus is frequently not static. There are spikes and valleys in the manifestation of symptoms. There are times when your tinnitus is minor and practically lost in the background. In other moments, that ringing could be as difficult to ignore as a full-blown, personalized symphony.
This can be a very uncertain and scary situation. You may be so concerned about your tinnitus flaring up while you’re in a meeting that you get 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 Living With Tinnitus
The more you understand about tinnitus, the better you can plan for and control the effects. And management is critical since tinnitus doesn’t have a known cure. There’s no reason that your quality of life needs to suffer if you put in place the proper treatment.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Several treatment options for tinnitus incorporate some kind of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The sound of rain on a rooftop is a common analogy: it’s very loud and obvious when it first starts but by the time the storm is ending you stop paying attention to it and fades into the background. It’s the same basic idea with TRT, training your brain to move that ringing into the background of your thoughts where it’s easier to dismiss.
It can take training to get this technique down.
Distract Your Brain
One reason tinnitus can be so frustrating is because your brain is continuously searching for the source of that noise, attempting to signal you to its presence. So giving your brain more (and varied) stimuli to concentrate on can help. Try these:
- Bring a book to the park and listen to the birds while you read.
- Take a bubble bath while reading a book.
- Do some drawing or painting while listening to music.
You get the idea: engaging your brain can help you manage your tinnitus.
Meditation, as an alternate path, helps you focus your attention on a mantra, or your breathing which helps take your attention away from your tinnitus. Another advantage of meditation, at least for some people, is that it can reduce 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 several hearing aid companies. Hearing aids are an ideal solution because you put them in and can forget about them the whole day, you don’t need to carry around a white noise machine or constantly use an app. You can relax and let a discreet hearing aid manage the ringing for you.
Make a Plan (And Stick to it)
Making a plan for unexpected surges can help you handle your stress-out reaction, and that can help you decrease certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from worsening them). 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 helpful exercises, will go a long way toward management.
Management is Key
Chronic tinnitus is an affliction that has no known cure. But management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. These daily tips (and more similar to 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/