Tinnitus: Stress Management

If you have chronic severe tinnitus you may experience that your tinnitus gets louder and more annoying when you are stressed, particularly if you have pulsing tinnitus. Some stress is unavoidable. Other stress is optional.

Setting unrealistic goals, over promising and under delivering, poor diet, lack of sleep, loud or repeated noise, lack of exercise and even other people can be stress inducers.

1. Be realistic. Your capabilities have changed. You likely sleep less because of the tinnitus. Don't set goals based on what you used to be able to do. Set goals based on where you are at presently and where you will be at if and when the tinnitus gets worse. 

You may be experiencing varying energy levels throughout the day. Tinnitus can be exhausting. Don't place yourself in harmful situations whereby grogginess can lead to personal injury for you or anyone else. 

2. If you are not on a normal sleep pattern then it is difficult to stick to any plan that involves arriving early in the morning. I make all of my appointments for the afternoon (after the grogginess has worn off). I absolutely do not drive when I'm groggy.

3. Don't eat salt. Don't drink coffee. Don't drink alcohol. Don't smoke. Salt and caffeine directly affect your cochlear hair cells. Salt is like taking a saw to the base of your cochlear cells. Alcohol affects your auditory system in the brain and in the cochlea by being carried through the blood stream to those areas and disrupting normal function of the cells. Smoke can reduce the oxygen levels in your blood stream and deprive your auditory system. You may have developed habits. A habit starts with a mindset. Change your mindset. If you are on a sleep med, you absolutely don't want to mix alcohol into your system. 

4. Lunesta is my preferred sleep aid. I don't sleep at all without it. When I use it, I sleep for about four hours per night on average. The rest I make up at varying times throughout the day when I can. Some days my tinnitus is so loud that I cannot make up the sleep.  

5. It is important to exercise regularly. Don't overdo it though. Too much cardio can raise your blood pressure and make your tinnitus worse. I highly recommend a personal trainer. Explain to your personal trainer that you have tinnitus and that you don't want it to get worse.

6. Reduce loud and long-term repeated noise, flee from it or r stop the noise if you can. If it aggravates your tinnitus don't just sit there and take it. 

7. People who intentionally stress you out have no place in your life from now on. You have to confront these people and give them an opportunity to stop. If the person continues to stress you out, doesn't believe you, ridicules you just keep in mind that may be a normal response due to a lack of tinnitus awareness. But, you don't have much time and you may have to end the relationship to preserve your own health.  Your cochlear cells may fall like trees and once gone they will never grow back.

I have always been a forgiving person. My cochlea are not as forgiving as I am. The preservation of my ears forces me to point out the elephant in the room.