Living with tinnitus can be frustrating, and while there’s no known cure for the symptom, you can significantly reduce its severity with a combination of home and professional tools. Let’s look at a couple below.
Sound Masking
Sound masking is the practice of covering the internal ringing of tinnitus with a soothing external sound. There are a few different tools you can use to sound mask:
- Hearing aids. Many modern hearing aids have a tinnitus masking feature. Simply enable it on your hearing aid companion app and soothe the ringing on the go. If your hearing aids don’t have a built-in tinnitus feature, you can connect them to your phone via Bluetooth® and download a tinnitus masking app to mimic the feature.
- A noise machine. A noise machine can play anything from white noise to calming ocean waves. They’re a great tool to use at night when you’re trying to sleep.
- A fan. A fan is a simple, cheap and effective tool to drown out tinnitus at home. They even have the added perk of keeping you cool in the Alabama heat.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), conducted by a hearing expert, combines counseling with sound masking to help you get used to the presence of tinnitus. The end goal of TRT is for you to tune out the ringing.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), conducted by a mental health professional, helps redirect your negative responses to tinnitus. With effective therapy, you can limit tinnitus’s impact on your life.
Stress Relief
A 2023 study found that psychosocial stress carries the same likelihood of developing and worsening tinnitus as occupational noise exposure.1 Additionally, the study found that emotional stress not only worsens preexisting tinnitus, but it can also be an indicator of the severity of the symptom.
Do your best to limit stress in your life. You could take up journaling, go for daily walks around the park, read at night or even join a weekly class at Kindred Yoga.
Seek Professional Help
Tinnitus is a highly personal symptom; what helps one person may not necessarily help another. We’re here to help you find the right combination of management tools to alleviate your tinnitus. Contact Premier Medical Group to schedule your appointment.
Sources
1 Patil, J. D., Alrashid, M. A., Eltabbakh, A., & Fredericks, S. (2023). The association between stress, emotional states, and tinnitus: a mini-review. Frontiers in aging neuroscience, 15, 1131979. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2023.1131979