Suggestions for Living with Tinnitus

QUESTION: You have to do something to help me. I have this constant, high
pitched noise in my ear that's driving me crazy, and my doctor tells me there
is nothing that can be done for it. What do you say?
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ANSWER: The name of this condition is "tinnitus", a persistent ringing or
buzzing in one or both ears. My doctor tells me the same thing, that there is
no real treatment for you, me or the other 36 million people estimated to
suffer from this problem.
Of course there are a lot of causes for ringing in the ears, from wax in
the ear to allergies or low and high blood pressure. And you should have a
thorough examination to be sure that all the possible causes have been sought
out and corrected. However, if the cause is damage to the nerve that carries
sound from the ear to the brain, for the time being we are going to have to
learn how to live with it. I am happy to share with you some of the things
that I do to cope with my constant ringing companion.
First: I no longer fear it, or that I will lose my mind. I direct my
attention to other things and activities, which seem to make the sound less
intense.
Second: I keep music on, in the background, wherever and whenever
possible. This includes my clock radio, which plays for an hour while I am
falling asleep, and then turns itself off.
Third: I have been advised to cut back on caffeine, nicotine and
chocolate. I do pretty well with the chocolate advice, don't smoke, but still
haven't been able to cut out the coffee. Maybe you can.
Fourth: I know that fatigue is a stress that can increase the intensity
of my problem, so I try to avoid overfatigue, and rest when the opportunity
presents itself. I'm not overly successful with this either, but perhaps you
can do better than I do.
I will make you one sincere promise. If research provides a better
answer to our problem, you can bet it will appear in this column as soon as I
find out about it.