Gilberts Audiology & Hearing Aid Center - Oklahoma

Woman with her eyes closed trying to get relief from tinnitus with retraining therapy.

The actual problem with chronic tinnitus isn’t simply that you have a ringing in your ears. The real issue is that the ringing doesn’t stop.

The constant noise, possibly somewhat modest in volume, might start as little more than a nuisance. But after a day or a week or a month, that ringing or buzzing can become aggravating, frustrating, even debilitating.

That’s why it’s essential that if you are living with tinnitus you follow some tips to make life easier. 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.

Your Tinnitus Can be Exacerbated

It’s important to remember that tinnitus is commonly not static. There are increases and decreases in the manifestation of symptoms. At times, your tinnitus may be an afterthought, lost in the background of everyday life. In other moments, that ringing could be as hard to dismiss as a full-blown, personalized symphony.

That can leave you in a very frightening place of anxiety. You may be so concerned about your tinnitus flaring up while you’re in a meeting that you get 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

You will be in a greater position to prepare for and control tinnitus the more you know about it. And, because there’s no known cure for tinnitus, control of symptoms is vital. There’s no reason that your quality of life has to suffer if you put in place the proper treatment.

Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

Several treatment options for tinnitus include some kind of tinnitus retraining therapy (or TRT). The sound of rain on a rooftop is a common analogy: it’s very loud and noticeable when it first begins but by the time the storm is ending you stop paying attention to it and recedes into the background. TRT uses the same concept to teach 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 technique.

Distract Your Brain

One of the reasons that tinnitus can be so infuriating is because your brain is constantly looking for the source of that noise, attempting to signal you to its presence. So giving your brain a range of different sounds to focus on can be quite helpful. Try these:

  • Do some drawing or painting while playing music.
  • Enjoy some time outside listening to the sounds of nature.
  • Enjoy a book while soaking in a bubble bath.

You get the idea: Your tinnitus might be able to be decreased by engaging your brain.

Alternately, many people have found that meditation helps because it concentrates your attention on something else, your breathing, a mantra, and so on. Another benefit of meditation, at least for some, is that it can decrease blood pressure which is a known cause of tinnitus symptoms.

Manage Tinnitus With a Hearing Aid

Hearing aids that help reduce tinnitus symptoms are already being manufactured by numerous 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. The ringing will be handled by the hearing aid and you can relax and enjoy your life.

Have a Plan (And Stick to it)

Having a plan for unexpected surges can help you control your stress-out response, and that can help you minimize certain tinnitus episodes (or at least keep from exacerbating them). Pack a bag of useful items to bring 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.

The Key is Management

Chronic tinnitus is a condition that has no known cure. But management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real possibility. These everyday tips (and more similar to 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

The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. To receive personalized advice or treatment, schedule an appointment.
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