Is the ringing in your ears keeping you awake? It’s not necessary. If you want to get a better nights sleep, consider these guidelines to quiet this aggravating persistent sound.
Moderate to severe tinnitus can definitely cause a problem with your sleeping habits. In the middle of the day, you’re distracted by noise and activity so your tinnitus may seem less noticeable. But during the night, when there’s less noise, tinnitus can get louder and more stressful.
The good news is, if you want to have an easier time falling asleep, there are some techniques you can use.
Below are 5 techniques to falling asleep in spite of your tinnitus.
1. Stop Resisting The Noise
While this might seem difficult to impossible, focusing on the noise really makes it worse. If you begin to get irritated, your blood pressure goes up and this causes tinnitus symptoms to get worse. So the more irritated you become dwelling on it, the worse you are probably going to feel. You can make the sound quieter by thinking about something else and utilizing the following techniques.
2. Establish a Nighttime Routine
Developing healthy sleep habits like winding down at least a half hour before bed, dimming the lights and going to bed at the same time every night helps condition your body to be sleepy at the right time. When you’re ready to fall asleep it will be less difficult.
Tinnitus has also been related to stress. It’s also helpful to create habits to lessen stress before bed.
- Stretching or doing yoga
- At least a few hours before you go to bed, avoid eating
- Listening to gentle sounds or relaxing music
- Staying away from alcohol
- reduce the temperature in your bedroom
- Reading a book in a peaceful room
- Focusing on thoughts that make you relaxed and happy
- At least an hour before going to bed, dim the lights
- Doing a short meditation or a deep breathing exercise
- Bathing
Getting into a predictable schedule before going to bed helps you shift away from the stresses of the day into night and teaches your body to transition into sleep.
3. Pay Attention to What You Eat
There are known triggers to tinnitus like alcohol and artificial sweeteners. Steer clear of certain foods if you discover, after tracking your diet and symptoms, that they trigger or worsen your tinnitus. Caffeine is also a trigger so at least avoid drinking it 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 improve or even prevent it altogether. You can do a few things to help:
- To find out if one of your medications is causing tinnitus symptoms consult your doctor
- Get treatment for anxiety or depression
- Go for your annual checkup
- Use headphones at a lower volume instead of earbuds
- Safeguard your ears
- Assess your lifestyle to determine whether you’re exposed to loud noises (and how to limit exposure)
- If you have inherent conditions such as high blood pressure, get help for it
If you can discover what’s causing the ringing in your ears, you may be able to manage it better.
5. Make an Appointment to See a Hearing Specialist
A professional hearing test can help you find possible solutions as well as identify what might be causing your tinnitus. Professionals can help you handle your tinnitus in many ways such as:
- Fitting you for hearing aids designed to cancel out the noise
- Recommending cognitive behavioral treatment to deal with thought patterns shown to make tinnitus worse
- Help you train your brain to not hear tinnitus by signing you up for therapy
Expert help can hasten recovery and assist you to sleep better at night. To see if you can get some help with your tinnitus, schedule your appointment with a hearing care specialist.
