And talking with fellow sufferers and sharing strategies and feelings help as well. And when you isolate yourself from the world, you tend to focus on the problem. That makes it huge. Thus, a crucial part of tinnitus treatment is to help the sufferer put his complaint in perspective, to realize that while the noise is aggravating, it is not life-threatening, says Robert Folmer, a neurophysiologist and tinnitus expert at the Portland clinic. Anti-anxiety drugs can also help, as can antidepressants in combination with counseling, since tinnitus appears to be more severe in people who are depressed.
Night is often the hardest time for tinnitus sufferers, and lack of sleep just adds to the stress.
Changing one's lifestyle to help lower stress can also make a difference, though the nature of that change will be highly individual. Others try biofeedback, meditation, yoga or other forms of exercise. Music, tapes of environmental sounds such as waterfalls and even special devices that fit onto one's ears like hearing aids can generate soothing, distracting sounds that bring relief. So can hearing aids, if the person with tinnitus has some hearing loss. Some doctors, meanwhile, recommend a special program known as tinnitus retraining therapy, in which a patient listens to white noise for hours a day over many months.