Tossing and turning all night, trying your hardest to fall asleep with little success, is nobody’s favorite pastime. There are a lot of factors that can keep you up at night. Some are easier to alter, like cutting back on caffeine during the day or turning off the TV at night. Others, like tinnitus, take a little more maneuvering to work around.
Let’s look at a few tips you can employ if that pesky ringing is keeping you up past your bedtime.
Use Sound Masking
It seems counterintuitive to introduce more noise when you already have a sound keeping you up, but sound masking is actually an incredibly effective tinnitus management tool. The tool works by covering your internal ringing with a soothing external sound. Many hearing aids offer a tinnitus masking feature to help you manage the symptom during the day, but a small fan, sound machine or phone app are excellent options for bedtime.
Try Stress Relief
Researchers have found that psychosocial stress shares the same likelihood of developing tinnitus as occupational noise exposure.[1] Unfortunately, tinnitus can also cause stress, creating a cycle that’s hard to escape. Try a few of the following relaxation tips during your day and leading up to bedtime to limit stress-induced tinnitus:
- Read your favorite book
- Take a long bath
- Go for a run around El Alamo Park
- Take a yoga class
- Do a guided meditation with an online video
- Journal
- Listen to some calming music
If you have other things that help you relax, try to make time for them every day. Even if you’re just reading a book for ten minutes, a stress-relieving activity may calm you down enough to minimize tinnitus ringing.
Create a Sleep-Friendly Bedroom
It’s easier to fall asleep, even with tinnitus, when you don’t have added distractions trying to keep you awake. Set your bedroom to a cool temperature, turn off electronics an hour before bed and block out light as much as possible to help you sleep.
Tinnitus can be frustrating, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. Contact Amarillo Hearing Clinic today to schedule a tinnitus evaluation with one of our specialists.
[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
