The real problem with chronic tinnitus isn’t only that you have a ringing in your ears. The real problem is that the ringing won’t stop.
At first, this may be a mild noise that’s not much more than a little irritating. But the ringing can become aggravating and even incapacitating if it goes on for days or months or more.
That’s why it’s essential to have some tips to fall back on, tips that make living with tinnitus less difficult. When you’re lying in bed, having trouble falling asleep because you keep hearing buzzing from your right ear, having a plan is going to help you a lot.
Your Tinnitus Can be Exacerbated
Chronic tinnitus, in fact, is commonly not a static problem. Symptoms manifest themselves in spikes and valleys. Sometimes, your tinnitus might be an afterthought, lost in the background of daily life. At other times, that ringing could be as difficult to ignore as a full-blown, individualized symphony.
This can be a very uncertain and frightening situation. You might be so worried about your tinnitus flaring up during a meeting that you get a panic attack while you’re driving to work. That panic attack, in and of itself, can cause the very situation you’re worried about.
Tips For Coping With Tinnitus
You will be in a better position to prepare for and manage tinnitus the more you understand about it. And, because there’s no known cure for tinnitus, control of symptoms is vital. With the right management, there’s no reason that chronic tinnitus has to negatively impact your quality of life.
Consider Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a standard strategy for tinnitus management. The sound of rain on a roof is a common analogy: very obvious at the start of a storm, but you stop paying attention to it after a while and that rain-on-rooftops sound goes into the background. TRT uses the same principle to teach your brain to move the tinnitus symptoms into the background of your thoughts so you will have an easier time ignoring them.
It can take practice to get this technique down.
Get Your Brain Distracted
One reason tinnitus can be so frustrating is because your brain is continuously looking for the source of that noise, trying to signal you to its presence. So supplying your brain with a variety of different sounds to concentrate on can be quite helpful. Try these:
- Take a book to the park and listen to the birds while reading.
- Enjoy a book while soaking in a bubble bath.
- Do some drawing or painting while listening to music.
You get the idea: engaging your brain can help you control your tinnitus.
Alternately, many people have discovered that meditation helps because it concentrates your attention on something else, your breath, a mantra, and so on. Another benefit of meditation, at least for some people, is that it can reduce blood pressure which is a known cause of tinnitus symptoms.
Think about a Hearing Aid For Tinnitus Management
Hearing aids that help decrease tinnitus symptoms are already being developed by numerous hearing aid companies. Hearing aids are an ideal option because you put them in and can forget about it the entire 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 take care of the ringing for you.
Make a Plan (And Stick to it)
The effect of some tinnitus episodes can be minimized, and your stress reaction can be controlled if you have a practical plan for any spikes in your symptoms. Pack a bag of useful items to bring with you. Anything that will help you be more prepared 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
Chronic tinnitus is a condition that has no known cure. But management and treatment of tinnitus is a very real potential. Make certain you are managing your tinnitus not suffering from it by using these tips and any others that you find helpful.
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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