Friday 30 September 2011

Stress Reduction Techniques Are An Effective tinnitus Treatment

A regular relaxation routine is a very helpful part of tinnitus treatment and can help you manage the stress that is often associated with tinnitus.

What has stress got to do with tinnitus relief?

Many people notice their tinnitus more when they are worried or tired, and this in turn increases their levels of anxiety and stress. This becomes a vicious circle. Many of the natural tinnitus remedies described in the tinnitus miracle report include some form of stress relief and relaxation techniques. It is now widely accepted that stress plays a key part in the way people react to their tinnitus. A certain amount of stress is vital to maintain the systems that alert us to possible dangers - for instance, those signals that tell us to leap out of the way of an oncoming car. However, in today's busy lifestyles there is a build up of 'stressors' - things that cause you intense pressure, tension or anxiety - which put both your body and mind on constant alert. You probably do not have enough time to relax and feel calm, so allowing your body and mind to rest. People react differently to different 'stressors', but your reactions to stress will happen whether you think about them or not.

What can be done about stress?

You can learn to control your responses to stress by using relaxation techniques. These are taught in many tinnitus clinics and audiology departments. You will also find local adult education classes teaching relaxation techniques, or you could try classes in meditation or yoga, for example, which can help you learn to relax. You can also buy guided relaxation cassettes and CDs from the RNID Tinnitus Helpline, or your local library may have some you can borrow.

Relaxation techniques can vary widely. They can include brief, 'time-out' exercises, which you can use if you are faced with a stressful event or as part of your everyday routine, or extended body and mind exercises, which create a sense of deep and total relaxation. These are usually practiced lying down, in quiet, peaceful surroundings.

Exercises can be physical, for example, tensing and releasing your muscles, or psychological - where you use your imagination to help you relax. Some form of breathing exercise is usually a key part of a relaxation routine.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

How To Cure tinnitus By Understanding What Causes It

Tinnitus can be an extremely stressful condition - which you are no doubt already well aware of if you have it. Unfortunately there are no known medical cures, but there is still a lot you can do, and several natural tinnitus remedies, to eliminate tinnitus from your life, or at worst, get it to a state where it is virtually unnoticeable so you can easily live with it.

Is It Going To Get Any Worse?


Well, if in the long run I can assure you that it will get less noticeable and become less of a problem, how can I help you to bring the day closer to hand when you no longer consider the tinnitus to be a significant worry? First of all, I would advise you not to do what I did - namely pester a whole variety of doctors and look for 'alternative' cures - like hypnosis and acupuncture. Although I did it myself and understand people's reasons for doing it, I think in the long run it may be counter-productive and just increase the significance of the tinnitus for you. Complementary therapies are another altogether, and some are definitely worth you while. Take a look at the TinnitusMiracleSystemx.com report for more info on natural remedies for tinnitus.

Another thing you need to do is to stop worrying about it. Easier said than done, of course, but since the likely cause of the tinnitus is not serious, you needn't worry about that. Although you might worry about how you will cope with the ringing in the ears noises, try to take comfort from the fact that I and thousands of others like myself have got to a position where it no longer concerns or bothers us.

A lot of people are likely to find the tinnitus worse or more noticeable when they have time on their hands, or they are feeling a bit bored and have nothing particularly absorbing to do. There is also quite a bit of evidence to suggest that feeling stressed, depressed or tired will make the tinnitus more noticeable. When you are stressed and depressed there is probably an increased tendency to 'body-monitor', to sensitise yourself and to ponder upon your bodily state. We shall mention later what you might do about this.

Many people with tinnitus find it is more noticeable in quiet environments. On the other hand, some people with tinnitus may find that a noisy environment seems to make the tinnitus worse or more noticeable.

Some people who have tinnitus find themselves struggling to hear people speaking. Sometimes they put that down to the tinnitus interfering with their ability to hear speech properly, or distracting their attention from what is being said. But in many cases people with tinnitus may also have some form of hearing loss which they are not usually aware of. If you are finding it a struggle to hear speech clearly, it is possible that this will seem to make the tinnitus more noticeable; a hearing aid could do a lot to help the tinnitus too.

Don't Focus On your Tinnitus


Feeling alone or isolated, thinking that you alone know what you are going through or that no one else really has the problem like you do, is also likely to highlight the significance of the tinnitus and hence its apparent noticeability for you. It is possible that medicines you are taking, or some foods or drinks with drugs like caffeine in them, or cigarettes may also seem to be making the tinnitus worse.

Feeling guilty because you are irritable and hard to live with due to your tinnitus can make you try and concentrate on not letting the tinnitus affect you. But such efforts, although well-intended, may actually keep tinnitus on your mind. Deliberate efforts not to pay attention to it or let it affect you may actually exacerbate the problem. This also applies to thinking it is not fair that you should have tinnitus. Life isn't fair in all kinds of ways and dwelling on its unfairness will not help you, or make the tinnitus go away.