Tinnitus – that annoying ringing or buzzing sound that plagues you everywhere you go. It’s an invisible illness in the sense that no-one else knows you’re suffering unless you tell them. But that doesn’t make it any less real. Here are some tips for coping with tinnitus.
1. Watch your diet
Diet affects us in different ways but not just by making us fatter or slimmer. Eating the right food positively affects your whole body whilst eating the wrong food does the opposite. If you’re like most people, the strength of your tinnitus waxes and wanes. Pay attention to how it changes according to what you’ve eaten the previous 24 hours or so. And make adjustments as you find some foods help decrease those noises in your ears whilst others seem to turn up the volume.
2. Investigate herbal remedies
These have been around a lot longer than modern medicine and they’ve had hundreds or even thousands of years of real testing on actual people. OK, you may not find them backed up a fancy advertising budget but that’s because it’s not possible to patent things such as Ginkgo Biloba. It doesn’t mean that it’s less effective than some fancy sounding drug with an equally fancy price.
3. Turn down the volume
If you’re always wearing headphones, be acutely aware of the volume you’re playing through your ears. It’s way too easy to turn up the volume – maybe because you like a particular track or maybe to drown out the din that’s in the outside world – but turn it up too high and there’s a very real risk of damage to your ears. Especially with today’s extra bass options and other gizmos that are built in to these seemingly innocent devices.
4. Take time out to relax
Sometimes tinnitus is just your body’s way of telling you that you’re stressed out. It’s easy done – racing round, getting the kids to school, making sure work is kept happy, running a family, looking after relatives, keeping the house up together. Individually, not an issue. Combine them all together and it’s a recipe for stress. You can’t avoid that but you can take steps to actively make sure you relax once in a while, whether it’s a walk in the park, yoga, meditation, swimming or anything else that lets you unwind in your own space. Even just making sure your breathing is calm and relaxed will help.