Are you being kept up by ringing in your ears? You don’t have to just live with it. If you would like to get a better nights sleep, consider these tricks to tone down this annoying persistent noise.
Moderate to severe tinnitus can really throw a monkey wrench in your sleep cycle. In the middle of the day, you’re preoccupied with noise and activity so your tinnitus may seem less noticeable. But at night, when it’s quiet, tinnitus can get louder and more disturbing.
The good news is, if you want to have an easier time falling asleep, there are some techniques you can use.
Five tips for falling asleep with tinnitus are presented below.
1. Quit Fighting Against The Noise
Though this may sound impossible, if you pay attention to it, it becomes worse. If you start to become frustrated, your blood pressure increases and this makes tinnitus symptoms worse. So the more frustrated you become thinking about it, the worse you are probably going to feel. You can make the sound quieter by thinking about something else and employing the following techniques.
2. Establish a Nighttime Schedule
Developing good sleep habits such as winding down at least 30 minutes before bed, dimming the lights and going to bed at the same time every night helps condition your body to feel sleepy at the right time. When you’re ready to fall asleep it will be less difficult.
Stress has also been related to tinnitus. Developing habits to lessen your stress level before bed can also help, such as:
- Doing deep breathing or a quick meditation
- Listening to soft music or relaxing sounds
- At least an hour before going to bed, dim the lights
- Focusing on thoughts that make you happy and relaxed
- Going into a bath
- Turn down the heat in your bedroom
- Avoiding alcohol
- Sitting in a quiet room and reading a book
- Doing yoga and stretching
- Stay away from eating a few hours before you go to bed
Teaching your body to transition into sleep by getting into a predictable regimen before bed helps you transition away from the stresses of the day.
3. Pay Attention to What You Eat
There are known triggers to tinnitus such as alcohol and artificial sweeteners. If you discover, after tracking your diet and symptoms, that certain foods trigger or worsen your tinnitus, make it a practice to stay away from them. You might feel that you still need your morning coffee, but avoid caffeine in the afternoon or at nights.
4. The Common Causes of Tinnitus Should be Avoided
Ringing or other noises in your ears can be caused by many things. Dealing with the cause of tinnitus can help it improve or even stop it altogether. You can do several things to help:
- In order to determine whether your subjected to loud noises, and how to reduce that exposure, you have to evaluate your lifestyle
- Use headphones at a lower volume instead of earbuds
- Schedule an appointment for your annual exam
- Get treatment for depression or anxiety
- To find out if one of your medications is causing tinnitus symptoms ask your doctor
- Get help for inherent conditions like high blood pressure
- Safeguard your ears
If you can identify what’s causing the ringing in your ears, you may be able to deal with it better.
5. Make an Appointment to See a Hearing Specialist
A professional hearing exam can help you identify what’s causing your tinnitus and indicate possible treatments. Professionals can help you handle your tinnitus in many ways such as:
- Help you handle thought patterns shown to make tinnitus worse by suggesting cognitive behavior therapy
- Help you train your brain not to hear tinnitus by signing you up for therapy
- Scheduling a noise canceling hearing aid fitting
To speed up recovery and sleep better at night, seek professional help. Schedule an appointment with your hearing care professional to see if you can get some help with your tinnitus.