How to Manage Tinnitus: Coping Strategies and Lifestyle Changes

Anyone who experiences tinnitus knows how frustrating it can be. The constant ringing, buzzing or whirring in your ears can reduce your quality of life, making it challenging to sleep or focus on conversations. Unfortunately, tinnitus is a common symptom of an underlying condition that affects millions of people globally. The subjective form occurs when the brain hallucinates sounds, causing you to hear noises that aren’t there.

Given that tinnitus can cause sleep loss and declines in mood and quality of life, getting diagnosed with it. But don’t despair! There are plenty of ways to manage and cope with tinnitus – and its effects. Your audiologist will be able to help you through managing tinnitus, giving you the proper treatment for your needs.

Unfortunately, you can’t usually eliminate chronic tinnitus. Even with treatment and management techniques, your brain may still continue to create sounds that aren’t there. However, techniques help you adapt and learn to live with it better.

Find Out What’s Causing It

The first step in managing tinnitus is to find out what’s causing it. Tinnitus isn’t a disease by itself but instead indicative of another underlying condition. The most common cause of tinnitus is hearing loss. Lack of stimulation of the brain’s auditory cortex can lead you to hallucinate sounds that aren’t there, leading to a constant ringing or buzzing in the ear. However, it can also result from ear infections, noise exposure, stress, medications or other health conditions.

By contrast, objective tinnitus is often a consequence of high blood pressure or problems with the blood vessels surrounding the ear. Once your audiologist knows what’s causing your tinnitus, they can have a productive conversation with you. They can point you to the best management techniques or recommend adjustments to your medication.

Avoid Silence

Avoiding silence is among the best ways to cope with tinnitus. The absence of noise can make the tinnitus more noticeable and annoying, creating a greater contrast between external and internal sounds. Nowadays, avoiding silence is pretty straightforward. Techniques include putting the TV or radio on a higher volume within safe range to protect your hearing, playing music or using fans. You can also buy special white noise machines that produce a sound that some people find masks their symptoms, making them less disruptive and easier to manage.

You can avoid silence at any time of day or night. You might find more active noises, like music or conversation better during the day and more passive or background sounds, like white noise, superior at night. Sleeping in a noisy environment can be challenging at first. However, your brain will eventually get used to it, and you may prefer external sounds to those generated by tinnitus.

Practice Relaxation Techniques

Another approach is to practice relaxation techniques to reduce the stress and anxiety tinnitus causes. These calm your nervous system and may improve your subjective experience of symptoms over time. Options include:

• Tai chi
• Yoga
• Massage
• Meditation
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Deep breathing

Talking therapies

Practicing these techniques can reduce your cortisol levels significantly. They can also lower heart rate and blood pressure, which may improve tinnitus symptoms independently. Moreover, even if symptoms don’t improve directly, these approaches can improve your mood and help you adjust psychologically to your tinnitus. After several sessions, you may feel happier and better able to live more normally. Talk with your audiologist about these relaxation techniques and which may work best for you.

Engage In Systemic Lifestyle Changes

Another approach is to engage in lifestyle changes that support your overall health and well-being. You might want to do things like:

• Protect your ears from loud noises with hearing protection to prevent aggravation of your tinnitus when at concerts, clubs or working in a factory.
• Eat a balanced diet and avoid foods and drinks that could increase tinnitus symptoms, such as alcohol, caffeine, salt and sugar.
• Exercise regularly to improve circulation and oxygen delivery to your ears to help them function better.
• Quit smoking, a habit shown to increase tinnitus symptoms in some people by constricting blood vessels and reducing blood flow to the ears and brain.

Tinnitus is a symptom of an underlying condition that can significantly affect your quality of life. However, minor lifestyle modifications and wellness interventions can change your subjective experience of symptoms. For help, more information or to schedule an appointment, call Clifton Springs Hearing Center at 315-496-4314. We look forward to seeing you.