There are few things worse than not being able to get good sleep. Not only can it leave you feeling exhausted and stressed the next day, but regular poor sleep can lead to more serious health issues. If your tinnitus is keeping you up, try some of these tips to improve your sleep.
What is Tinnitus, and How Can It Affect Sleep?
Tinnitus is described as a ringing in the ears. However, some people experience it as a hissing, buzzing, roaring, clicking or other noise as well. According to the Hearing Health Foundation, 16 million people seek medical attention for tinnitus annually.
Some people only experience mild symptoms or tinnitus that resolves within a couple of days. However, other people experience chronic tinnitus that lasts for months or even years and significantly impacts their quality of life, including sleep.
The noise in your ears from tinnitus can become even more distracting at night because of the quiet, which can make it difficult to fall asleep. You may also start to feel anxiety about your tinnitus interfering with sleep, which can make it even harder to get rest.
How To Get Better Sleep with Tinnitus
Here are a few strategies you can try to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer with tinnitus:
- Use sound masking. Playing background noise at a level just under the volume of your tinnitus can help you ignore the ringing in your ear and make it easier to sleep. You can use a desk fan, sound machine or even an app on your phone that plays nature sounds or white noise. Experiment to see what works best for you.
- Relax before bedtime. Establishing a relaxation routine before bed can get your body ready for sleep and lessen anxiety. Anxiety can make your tinnitus worse. Try things like meditation, listening to relaxing music, taking a hot shower or bath or drinking a cup of herbal tea.
- Limit your screen time. It’s easy to fall into the trap of scrolling through your phone late at night, but it doesn’t help your sleep. Ideally, you should put away your phone and avoid screens 90 minutes before bed. Instead, consider picking up a few calming reads at Rancho Santa Fe Book Cellar.
- Reduce your caffeine intake. Not only can too much caffeine keep you from falling asleep, but caffeine can also trigger tinnitus symptoms. Try reducing or cutting out caffeine if your tinnitus symptoms are flaring up to see if you experience improvement.
- Visit a hearing specialist. A hearing specialist can help you manage your tinnitus with treatments like acoustic therapy, tinnitus retraining therapy, hearing aids, counseling or other methods depending on the cause.
For more information or to schedule an appointment to have your tinnitus symptoms evaluated, contact Rancho Santa Fe Audiology today.
