The actual issue with chronic tinnitus isn’t just that you have a ringing in your ears. It’s the constant non-stop ringing, that’s the real issue.
The constant noise, perhaps somewhat moderate in volume, may start as little more than an annoyance. But after a day or a week or a month, that buzzing or ringing can become irritating, frustrating, even incapacitating.
That’s why it’s vital to have some tips to fall back on, tips that make living with tinnitus simpler. When you’re lying in bed, having difficulty falling asleep because you keep hearing buzzing from your right ear, having a plan is going to do you a world of good.
How You Can Exacerbate Your Tinnitus
Chronic tinnitus, after all, is often not a static problem. There are increases and decreases in the presentation of symptoms. At times, your tinnitus might be an afterthought, hidden in the background of everyday life. At other times the sounds will be screaming in your ears so loudly it’s impossible to ignore.
That can leave you in a rather scary place of uncertainty. You might be so worried 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 worried about.
Tips For Living With Tinnitus
You will be in a better position to plan for and manage tinnitus the more you understand about it. And management is crucial since tinnitus has no known cure. With the correct treatment, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus needs to negatively impact your quality of life.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is One Approach
Several treatment options for tinnitus involve some form 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 begins but by the time the storm is ending you stop paying attention to it and recedes into the background. It’s the same basic strategy with TRT, training your brain to move that ringing into the background of your thoughts where it’s easier to dismiss.
It can take practice to master this method.
Distract Your Brain
Your brain is continuously searching for the source of the noise and that’s one of the reasons why tinnitus can be so aggravating. So supplying your brain with more (and varied) stimuli to concentrate on can be helpful. Try these:
- Play music 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 approach, helps you concentrate your attention on a mantra, or your breathing which helps take your attention away from your tinnitus. Some individuals have found that meditation reduces their blood pressure, which can also be helpful with tinnitus.
Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid
Several hearing aid companies have developed hearing aids that help decrease the ringing in your ear. Hearing aids are an ideal solution because you put them in and can forget about them the entire day, you don’t need to carry around a white noise machine or constantly listen to an app. The ringing will be handled by the hearing aid and you can relax and enjoy your life.
Have a Plan (And Follow-Through)
Making a plan for unexpected spikes can help you handle your stress-out response, and that can help you reduce certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from exacerbating 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 practical exercises, will go a long way toward management.
Management is Key
There’s no cure for tinnitus which is often chronic. But control and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. These daily tips (and more like them) can help make sure 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