If you’ve ever had a song stuck in your head or your ears won’t stop ringing, then you have an understanding of how tinnitus can affect your mental wellbeing.
These temporary issues are troubling, but tinnitus is more than a temporary nuisance.
Instead, tinnitus does not go away, and it interferes with daily activities.
People who suffer from tinnitus can have issues with panic, anxiety, and depression.
With the constant noise, people with tinnitus struggle with sleep. So many tinnitus sufferers also struggle with sleep deprivation.
Sadly, there is not a cure for tinnitus; therefore, sufferers need to figure out alternative ways to live with tinnitus.
Many tinnitus sufferers turn to hearing aids for tinnitus relief.
These can amplify sounds that can cover up the tinnitus noise. Some digital hearing aids are designed specifically for tinnitus.
To mask the sounds, the hearing aids play white noise like ocean waves or nature sounds.
Your audiologist can help you find the perfect tinnitus hearing aids for your situation.
If having sounds directly in your ears does not work for you, an external sound machine can help.
When you use a sound machine, the noise is designed to distract from the noise in your brain.
These are affordable machines that can make a difference, as they give you something in the outside world that you can focus on when tinnitus becomes unbearable.
Another way to make a positive impact on your wellbeing is to distract your other senses.
Hearing is one of the five, so you have four others that can give your brain a break from the phantom noises that come with tinnitus.
When you are distracting senses, you find things that your other senses appreciate, like beautiful scenery or a delicious morsel of food.
The idea is that the other senses overwhelm sound, so you can relax.
When you have tinnitus, you have to train your brain to stop focusing on the problem.
Fortunately, there are apps that are designed to help people who have issues with hearing. These apps are available for iOS and Android devices.
Some of those apps involve games that retrain the brain so it can focus elsewhere and relax without being distracted and frustrated with tinnitus sounds.
Some people have also found that brain training helps them live with tinnitus.
There are some things you can do at home to help yourself, including practicing sitting in silence, working on meditation, and engaging in conversations.
When you practice sitting in silence, you learn to look for the silence, beyond the noise of the tinnitus.
It is good to know that silence exists in the outside world, away from the perceived noise in your head. You can do the same during meditation.
When you practice conversations, you learn to listen to the other person over the tinnitus.
As you train your brain, your mental wellbeing will improve.
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