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, think about these tips to quiet this aggravating persistent sound.
Your sleep habits can be dramatically affected by moderate to severe tinnitus. During 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.
Fortunately, there are several techniques you can use to fall asleep more easily.
Below are 5 techniques to falling asleep in spite of your tinnitus.
1. Quit Fighting Against The Noise
While this might seem overwhelming, focusing on the noise actually makes it worse. This is partly because for most people higher blood pressure can worsen tinnitus symptoms. You will feel worse the more you dwell on it and your irritation will get worse. You can make the sound fade away a little by thinking about something else and using the following techniques.
2. Establish a Nighttime Routine
Establishing good sleep habits like winding down at least 30 minutes before bed, dimming the lights and going to bed at the same time each night helps condition your body to be sleepy at the right time. This will make it less difficult to fall asleep when you’re ready.
Stress has also been associated with tinnitus. It’s also helpful to develop habits to lessen stress before bed.
- At least one hour before going to bed, dim the lights
- Focusing on thoughts that make you happy and calm
- Making your bedroom a little cooler
- Staying away from alcohol
- Listening to quiet sounds or soft music
- Doing deep breathing or a short meditation
- Sitting in a quiet room and reading a book
- Avoiding eating a few hours before going to bed
- Doing yoga and stretching
- Bathing
Getting into a predictable schedule before bed helps you shift from the stresses of the day into night and teaches your body to transition into sleep.
3. Watch What You Eat
Artificial sweeteners and alcohol are known triggers for tinnitus. If you find, after tracking your diet and symptoms, that certain foods trigger or worsen your tinnitus, make it a habit to stay away from them. Caffeine is also a trigger so at least avoid having any in the afternoon and evening.
4. Avoid Common Causes of Tinnitus
Ringing or other noises in your ears can be caused by many things. Dealing with the cause of tinnitus can help it get better or even prevent it altogether. Here are several things you can do to help:
- Get treated for anxiety or depression
- If you have inherent conditions like high blood pressure, get help for it
- To find out if one of your medications is triggering tinnitus symptoms ask your doctor
- Use headphones at a lower volume instead of earbuds
- Make an appointment for your yearly examination
- Protect your ears
- In order to identify whether your exposed to loud noises, and how to reduce that exposure, you have to assess your lifestyle
You may be able to better deal with it if you can discover what’s causing the ringing.
5. Get Examined by a Hearing Care Specialist
A professional hearing exam can help you identify what’s causing your tinnitus and suggest possible solutions. There are many ways hearing professionals can help you control your tinnitus including:
- Enrolling in treatment to train your brain to not hear the tinnitus
- Help you manage thought patterns shown to make tinnitus worse by recommending cognitive behavior treatment
- Fitting you for hearing aids made to cancel out the noise
To speed up recovery and sleep better at night, seek professional help. To find out if you can get some help with your tinnitus, schedule your appointment with a hearing care expert.