Suffering From Tinnitus Get Help From An Audiologist
Although there is no cure for tinnitus, audiologists can still help patients manage their condition and live with the sounds they hear. Audiologists can prescribe an appropriate hearing aid and may prescribe sound therapy to make the problem more acceptable. If you feel your tinnitus is caused by anxiety, work with your physician to manage your emotional response to your condition.
See a doctor when you first notice the sound. Early treatment can help you learn to live with the noise of tinnitus while you continue to enjoy good quality of life.
Tinnitus Is A Big Problem
According to the American Tinnitus Association more than 50 million Americans experience tinnitus, often to a debilitating degree, making it one of the most common health conditions in the U.S. It is estimated that about 20 million people struggle with chronic tinnitus, and 2 million of those have extreme and debilitating symptoms. Perhaps not surprising considering the noise of combat, veterans are the fastest growing segment of the population suffering from severe tinnitus, now estimated at about 972,000 individuals.
Tips For Seeking Medical Treatment
If your anxiety or tinnitus symptoms progress or do not respond to home remedies, you may need to seek medical treatment.
Your doctor will likely do an ear exam for tinnitus and ask about your health history. Make sure to bring a list of your symptoms, noting the frequency of them and any remedies youve tried.
If your primary care physician cannot find a cause, they may refer you to an otolaryngologist for a more thorough exam or an audiologist to measure your hearing.
Whether or not a medical professional finds a cause for your tinnitus, there are currently no FDA-approved drugs to treat it. But some physicians may use certain medications off label to treat your symptoms. This is a conversation to have with your doctor.
If your symptoms include anxiety, your doctor may refer you to a mental health expert, such as a psychologist or psychotherapist. Treatment for anxiety may help relieve your tinnitus symptoms.
Be sure to bring a list of your symptoms, noting their frequency and severity. Mention any home remedies or other forms of treatment youve tried.
Common methods for treating anxiety include cognitive behavioral therapy , biofeedback, and lifestyle modifications like exercise, meditation, and breath work.
More specifically, a treatment regimen called tinnitus retraining therapy uses CBT and supplemental sound masking to help you adapt to tinnitus.
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Have Your Hearing Checked
Injuries or exposure to loud noises can increase the risk of tinnitus. For instance, veterans with traumatic brain injuries are more likely to experience it. And many people develop tinnitus as the result of hearing loss, which is more common as people age.
One type of hearing loss involves damage to the tiny hairs in the cochlea that make it possible to hear certain frequencies. With the loss of those hair cells, the brain starts to say, Wait a minute. Ive always heard that frequency before. Where is it? Gans, the psychologist, explains. So as the brain starts to search and doesnt find it, the brain can get confused. The is a signal that the overexcitement of the neurons creates, Gans explains.
Some people with hearing loss who develop tinnitus notice improvements with hearing aids, Sydlowski says. For severe cases of tinnitus, she says, some patients have benefited from using a cochlear implant.
Is There A Cure For Tinnitus
There have been great strides taken to better understand tinnitus through research funded by the U.S. government. Currently, there isnt a cure for tinnitus. Researchers arent giving up, and neither should anyone coping with tinnitus. Theres very progressive research currently underway.
Be careful what some claim on the internet, there arent any miracle cures for tinnitus, mainstream medicine or homeopathic, Ive tried everything. Although every persons tinnitus is different and specific to that individual, so it doesnt hurt to try everything once. I genuinely have to believe that one day I can have silence again, youll never realize how much you miss it, till its gone. Here are ways to reduce your risk of developing tinnitus:
- Turn down the volume, its not worth the risk of hearing loss and permanent ringing in your ears. And if youre not the owner of the volume knob, ask, your hearing is at stake.
- Bring earplugs to loud movies, I use to get weird looks when I forgot my earplugs and had to resort to using wads of napkin. Pride and vanity should not go before the health of your hearing.
- Avoid loud places. Nightclubs with debilitating loud music is just a risk no one should take. Ive never found the root cause of my tinnitus. Maybe if I avoided loud surroundings when I was younger, I probably wouldnt be writing at this moment.
- Mind your surroundings, dont be too macho to put your hands over your ears. If its too loud for you, assume the position and cover up!
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How To Get Rid Of Anxiety Associated Ringing In The Ears
When ringing in the ears symptoms are caused by stress, including anxiety-caused stress, reducing your stress should be your number one priority. As your bodys overall level of stress diminishes, ringing in the ears should also diminish.
Many of our members and therapy clients have found that as their bodys level of stress decreases overall, their ringing in the ears symptoms diminish, as well.
Because it can take time for the body to recover from the effects of chronic stress, you might need to work at stress reduction for a while before results appear.
Its also important to address your anxiety issues so that they dont continue to stress the body. Unaddressed anxiety issues is one of the main reasons why anxiety symptoms, including ringing in the ears , persist.
Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to overcome anxiety disorder and its symptoms. All of our recommended therapists have personally experienced and have successfully overcome anxiety disorder in their own lives. They know the struggle of anxiety personally but also know the road to lasting success. Their personal, professional, and years of practical experience make them an excellent choice to help you overcome hardship of anxiety disorder.
Apprehensive behavior creates anxiety. Worry is an example of apprehensive behavior.
If you are worried about your ringing in the ears, or if you distress about it, yes, those behaviors will create anxiety.
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What Is The Link With Tinnitus And Anxiety
The exact link between the two conditions is yet unknown, but what we do know is that anxiety can cause a number of psychological and physiological manifestations which can make other symptoms like tinnitus worse.
Some have reported that their tinnitus flares up when they are experiencing increased stress or a high level of anxiety or even during anxiety attacks.
When our brain registers something as a threat, the body will sometimes exhibit physiological symptoms that are associated with anxiety.
These include:
- Difficulty breathing
- Digestive troubles
Some of these symptoms can also lead to a tinnitus flare-up and the relationship between tinnitus and anxiety is not yet classified as causal, but rather people with it experience a symbiotic relationship.
In simpler terms, one does not cause the other they can go either way, but can be experienced both at the same time.
Preventative Coping Example: Difficult Mornings
Pattern of vulnerability: You often have a difficult time in the morning, right when you wake up.
Many tinnitus suffers have a tough time in the morning, right when they wake up, especially if they dont get out of bed right away. Its a time where many of us are vulnerable to negative thoughts and rumination.
One example of a preventative coping routine that can help would be to first go to sleep with sound masking. This way, you avoid waking to the sound of your tinnitus blaring in silence.
Remember, the strategy is to use your coping routine whether your tinnitus was bothering you when you woke up or not. The goal is to prevent it from even being a possibility. And you wont need to do this forever just long enough to break the pattern.
Next, get out of bed immediately and turn on some enjoyable audio, like a podcast or music you love. This is a difficult step for many people but more often than not, lying in bed when you are suffering only intensifies the negative thoughts and emotions. Keep the audio on as you go about your morning routine.
Lastly, you can finish out the coping routine with a meditation or some other relaxation technique, before you continue on with your day.
Many other combinations of coping tools can also work well for preventative coping when you first wake up. This is just one simple example.
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Get Help For Tinnitus
As horrible as tinnitus spikes can be to endure, you can learn a lot from the experience of overcoming this kind of adversity. Your worst spikes will always pass eventually, and if you can remain calm and cope effectively, you will come out the other side a little stronger and more resilient than you were before.
It will never be easy, but effective coping is always possible, and so is habituation. No matter how bad things may seem in the moment, there is always hope.
Are you experiencing ringing in your ears? If so itâs important to get a thorough hearing evaluation from a hearing care professional as tinnitus and hearing loss often occur in tandem. Find an audiologist that specializes in tinnitus treatment near you by visiting our directory of hearing care providers. Please note that not all hearing clinics treat tinnitus, so you may need to browse several clinic pages to find the right provider.
Factors That Contribute To Insomnia For A Person With Tinnitus
Sleep disturbance usually involves a combination of:
- health problems for example, arthritis, migraines or asthma
- psychological factors for example, stress or emotional crisis
- drug use for example, alcohol or sleeping medication
- disturbing environments for example, an uncomfortable bed or intrusive lighting
- conditioning for example, the more you associate bed with struggling to get to sleep, the harder it is to relax there.
To successfully improve your sleep patterns, you will need to look at all the contributing factors.Research has shown that relaxation techniques, such as yoga, meditation, biofeedback and progressive relaxation, can work well. Experiment and find the technique that works for you. You might like to try a regular relaxation class or use a self-help relaxation app.It may also help if you:
- try and get up at the same time every day
- reserve your bed for sleeping avoid arguments or serious discussions in bed
- avoid naps during the day
- experiment with low-intensity background noises in the bedroom, for example, leave the radio playing softly or play tape recordings of ocean surf.
- alcohol
- tea, coffee and caffeinated soft drinks
- cigarettes.
Regular exercise helps you to cope better with stress and reduce fatigue, both of which can make sleeping more difficult or disturbed.
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How Can Tinnitus Trigger Anxiety
The reality is that researchers are not entirely sure how anxiety triggers tinnitus, but they know that many people with anxiety can get tinnitus.
Anxiety activates the fight or flight system, which puts a lot of pressure on nerves, and increases blood flow, body heat, and more. This pressure and stress are very likely to travel up into your inner ear and lead to the tinnitus experience.
But most of these episodes are short-lived. It pops up at the height of an anxiety attack and then goes away quickly. That doesnt explain why so many people suffer long-term tinnitus. Experts firmly agree that fear is not likely to cause tinnitus. Instead, anxiety can trigger a mentality that makes us more likely to develop tinnitus.
What Are The General Symptoms Of Stress
We can all face stress at some point in our lives. Today, especially intense work tempo and sedentary life are among the biggest causes of stress. Stress is unfortunately the main source of all diseases. The same is true for tinnitus. Tinnitus, which cannot be attributed to any cause, is thought to be caused by stress. Stress symptoms are not the same for everyone. However, if you have one of the following symptoms, it means that you are stressed.
- Feeling tense all the time,
- Intermittent or constant rapid heartbeat,
- Shortness of breath, yawning or sighing,
- Persistent stomach cramps or nausea,
- Sleep disorder,
- Unwillingness to meet friends, participate in activities, or participate in other organizations you love,
- Persistent desire to use alcohol or cigarettes or similar.
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Crafting A Preventative Coping Routine
The specific coping tools and techniques that you choose to use for each preventative coping routine matter less than being consistent, once you figure out what works best.
Its important to understand that each specific pattern of vulnerability that you identify may require a different preventative coping routine comprised of a different combination of coping tools. Luckily, you have a lot of options at your disposal.
Any coping tools or techniques that normally help you find relief from your tinnitus in the middle of a moment of suffering can work as part of your preventative coping routine.
In some situations, a single coping tool used preventatively might be all you need. But more often than not, a combination of tools and techniques will work best.
Learning relaxationtechniques is criticalwhen you have tinnitus.
Just to give you an idea, here are a few ideas for coping tools to consider, though anything that helps to relax you, distract you, or masks the tinnitus in some way can be effective:
- Background noise/sound masking: Music, podcasts/radio shows, nature sounds, and broadband noise can all work well
- Brainwave entrainment relaxation audio
You will likely have to experiment a bit to figure out what combination of tools works best for you in any given preventative coping situation.
Now lets take a look at some specific examples of how preventative coping in action.