Ringing in your ears stopping you from sleeping? You don’t need to just live with it. If you would like to sleep better, consider these guidelines to tone down this annoying persistent sound.
Your sleep habits can be significantly impacted by moderate to severe tinnitus. During the daytime, tinnitus is often less obvious because you’re preoccupied with noise and activity. But at night, when there’s less noise, tinnitus can seem louder and more disturbing.
Luckily, there are several strategies you can use to fall asleep easier.
Five tips for falling asleep with tinnitus are presented below.
1. Stop Fighting Against The Noise
Although this may sound difficult, if you pay attention to it, it gets worse. If you begin to become frustrated, your blood pressure goes up and this causes tinnitus symptoms to get worse. You will feel worse the more you dwell on it and your frustration will get worse. You can make the sound quieter by thinking about something else and utilizing the following techniques.
2. Follow a Nighttime Schedule
Developing 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 feel sleepy at the correct time. When you’re ready to fall asleep it will be less difficult.
Stress has also been related to tinnitus. It’s also helpful to develop habits to lessen stress before bed.
- Avoiding eating a few hours before going to bed
- Going into a bath
- Turn down the heat in your bedroom
- Dimming the lights at least an hour before bedtime
- Listening to quiet sounds or soft music
- Staying away from drinking alcohol
- Concentrating on thoughts that make you feel happy and relaxed
- Doing a quick meditation or deep breathing
- Sitting in a quiet room and reading a book
- Stretching or doing yoga
Teaching your body to transition into sleep by getting into a predictable routine before bed helps you transition away from the stresses of the day.
3. Watch What You Eat
There are known triggers to tinnitus like alcohol and artificial sweeteners. Avoid certain foods if you discover, after monitoring your diet and symptoms, that they trigger or worsen your tinnitus. You may feel that you still need your morning coffee, but avoid caffeine in the afternoon or evening.
4. The Common Causes of Tinnitus Should be Avoided
Ringing or other noises in your ears can be caused by many things. Addressing the cause can help avoid tinnitus or make it better. You can do several things to help:
- To determine whether one of your medications is causing tinnitus symptoms ask your doctor
- Make an appointment for your annual checkup
- Protect your ears
- Evaluate your lifestyle to identify whether you’re exposed to loud noises (and how to limit exposure)
- If you have inherent conditions like high blood pressure, get help for it
- Use headphones at a lower volume instead of earbuds
- Get treated for anxiety or depression
If you can determine what’s causing the ringing in your ears, you might be able to deal with it better.
5. Make an Appointment to See a Hearing Specialist
A professional hearing test can help you identify what’s causing your tinnitus and indicate possible solutions. Professionals can help you control your tinnitus in several ways such as:
- Scheduling a noise canceling hearing aid fitting
- Help you train your brain to not hear tinnitus by enrolling you in therapy
- Suggesting cognitive behavioral treatment to deal with thought patterns shown to make tinnitus worse
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 specialist.