4 Lifestyle Changes to Make if You Have Tinnitus

When it comes to hearing, it’s important to protect your ears to ensure this ability continues to perform its regular duties. When exposed to loud noises or consistently noisy environments, your hearing can become damaged. In addition to the impacts on your hearing, damaging noise levels can also cause you to develop tinnitus. This problem is most commonly associated with a ringing, buzzing or hissing that you hear – even with no sound source around. If you have developed this unwanted noise in your ears, consider the following ways you can slightly alter your lifestyle to assist in tinnitus relief.

Reduce Alcohol Consumption

The majority of medical studies say that low to moderate alcohol consumption may not cause problems for people with tinnitus, but partaking in this habit more frequently can increase your odds of developing this frustrating issue. In fact, many experts believe drinking and tinnitus can add unnecessary amounts of stress and anxiety on the body.

This increases the rate at which blood circulates in the body. While this may sound like good news, it can be concerning. Increased blood flow can intensify tinnitus symptoms. Suddenly quitting your alcohol intake can be a difficult thing to do. Therefore, a gradual reduction over a period can help your body adjust until you can put a complete stop to alcohol.

Sleep Better

Did you know that insomnia increases anxiety in the body? People who struggle to sleep at night often have a higher perception of ringing sounds in their ears. This shows that good sleep has a positive impact on how tinnitus manifests. The audiologist may suggest hearing aids with masking features to improve your ability to rest – and stay that way – overnight. You can also play soothing and pleasant sounds at night to improve your quality of sleep. If these coping mechanisms fail, a physician may consider other options.

Stress Reduction

How do you cope with stress in different situations? Work, school, parenting and other life situations require effective stress management skills. The more you practice, the better you will be at keeping stress at bay. For people unable to adopt stress management techniques, tinnitus symptoms can be more. Because of this, there is a chance of gaining some relief when you treat the underlying issue of too much stress. The sooner you do this, the better your tinnitus symptoms can be.

Avoid Noisy Areas and Protect Your Ears

Tinnitus symptoms get worse after exposure to loud sounds. The solution to this is clear as day. Avoiding noisy areas will protect your ears from such unhealthy exposure. On the contrary, in places where you cannot, the solution is to protect your ears. Earplugs, earmuffs and other protective elements can save your inner ear.

Many times, tinnitus will resolve as quickly as it came on. However, if you’ve been battling with this condition for a significant period of time, consider scheduling an appointment with an audiologist to get to the bottom of your symptoms.