Three Life Hacks for Tinnitus Patients

If you are experiencing a ringing sensation in your ears, you’re not alone.

Roughly 20 percent of people in Blue Bell have tinnitus.

Everybody’s experience is different, but for many, tinnitus impacts many aspects of their daily lives.

The lack of a cure does not mean there aren’t options to improve your quality of life.

How Tinnitus Affects Health & Well-Being

When you first develop tinnitus, it may be intermittent and barely noticeable. It often progresses over time, becoming a constant distraction that impacts your physical and mental health.

People with tinnitus in Blue Bell often experience stress, anxiety and irritability – all of which can actually make symptoms worse.

When your ears are ringing at night, sleep can prove elusive; this leads to daytime fatigue and problems with memory and concentration.

Job performance can suffer, and relationships are at risk.

Ways to Cope with Tinnitus

Fortunately, there are ways to cope with tinnitus so it is less of a distraction.

Try the following “life hacks” if tinnitus is proving to be bothersome.

1. High-fidelity earplugs. Because tinnitus often grows worse, every effort should be made to preserve what good hearing you have left. Earplugs are important in protecting your ears from damaging sounds. Cheap, disposable earplugs are better than nothing, but they tend to muffle and distort sounds, making it hard to converse with others or listen to music. High-fidelity earplugs use attenuators that reduce volume levels evenly across the hearing spectrum, enabling you to enjoy music at lower decibel levels and follow conversations more easily. You can find a pair of universal-fit high-fidelity earplugs in some retailers or online, but for the best protection, have your Blue Bell audiologist take impressions of your ear canals and order custom plugs. They’ll cost a little more money, but the tradeoff is a more comfortable and secure fit.
2. White noise therapy. Masking techniques are one of the most effective ways of dealing with tinnitus. By using background sound to cover up the ringing in your ears, your brain is less distracted and you won’t notice your tinnitus as much.White noise therapy is the go-to solution for many. White noise is a random assortment of sounds with flat spectral density across the entire audible frequency range; because it contains an assortment of frequencies, it is great at masking distracting noise such as tinnitus. You can invest in a white noise machine or download a smartphone app, but an air conditioner or fan will also provide the same result. If you’re a hearing aid user, turning up the volume on your aids will also help. White noise therapy is most effective if you set the volume a little bit lower than the ringing in your ears. This is known as partial masking and helps to lower the perceived volume of your tinnitus, making it less of a distraction and helping you to habituate better – a technique known as tinnitus retraining therapy.
3. Pack a bag of supplies. Tinnitus is often intermittent, making it impossible to predict when it will be most bothersome. Create a “tinnitus kit” by packing a bag with supplies that will help you cope when your symptoms flare up. Your kit should contain items that help you overcome tinnitus-related challenges and might include things such as medications, earplugs, hearing aids, headphones, earbuds (if you use a white noise app on your phone) and a list of emergency contacts, including your Blue Bell hearing specialist.

Your Blue Bell audiologist is happy to share additional tips to help you manage your tinnitus symptoms so they aren’t as distracting.

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North Philadelphia Audiologists Office Locations

Blue Bell
1777 Sentry Parkway West, VEVA 11, Suite 100
Blue Bell, PA 19422
(610) 275-6153
Abington
1245 Highland Ave, #502
Abington, PA 19001
(215) 886-1482
Spring House
909 Sumneytown Pike, #103
Spring House, PA 19477
(215) 646-2118