Falling asleep can be such a trouble for tinnitus sufferers like me. The tinnitus noise can be too overwhelming to allow a good night sleep. I often wondered if there were possible helpful ways to put myself to sleep even with the ringing sounds in my ear.

Ear ringing is such a frustrating, annoying, and disabling condition. The noise inside the head does not seem to go away. It used to steal my quiet moments. It used to wake me up from my sleep. How do you think are you supposed to sleep when there is some sort of grinding, hissing noise inside your ears? It was just really disturbing.

Sleeplessness becomes a problem for tinnitus patients as the ear noises do not let them sleep. The effects of sleep debt are anxiety, weakness, irritability, and stress, and these factors aggravate the symptoms one already is suffering due to ear ringing.

What I learned over a few years of coping with the ringing in my ear has led me to sleep better recently.

You have to be physically tired when you are about to go to bed. Keep yourself busy during daytime. Exercise may help, but do not do exercises shortly before going to bed as this may raise your adrenalin levels to rise. If you live an inactive lifestyle and you have tinnitus, chances are you will find more difficulty going to sleep.

Watch your diet. Avoid foods that may trigger your tinnitus to get worse. Avoid caffeine containing drinks, alcohol, and foods high in sodium (salty foods). These elevate the blood pressure and causes congestion of blood vessels near the ears thereby worsening an existing tinnitus and may cause more sleepless nights.

Relax your body. Free your mind. This is not the time to think about your problems at work or an argument with your husband. Learn meditation and other relaxation techniques. These may help lower stress levels. Being stressful aggravates the sounds heard in tinnitus. It benefits you well if you can manage your stress through relaxation. Try deep breathing exercises.

Be in a quiet room. Turn off your television. Turn off your lights. Make sure the room is dark. If you can still hear the ringing in your ears, place a clock near you. The ticking can serve to mask the sounds you hear inside your head. Playing your favorite music at very low volume can also do the trick. It did the trick for me.

The ringing sounds in my ear never went away. Tinnitus is a part of my being, but I don’t feel dreadful about it. I wake up with it, live with it, and sleep with it.