“The inability to fall asleep leads to frustration, irritation, even aggression.”
It’s an unpleasant feeling. It’s time to go to bed but a static noise inside the ear prevents you from sleeping. Ringing, crackling, hissing… Tinnitus can appear in one or both ears. “They can cause a lot of fatigue, stress, isolation, difficulty socializing and concentrating. And this has repercussions in everyday life: sleep, work, family relationships, social circle. social” observes sophrologist Sylvie Sarzaud. When they occur at bedtime, it is very difficult not to focus on them. “The inability to fall asleep then leads to frustration, irritation and even aggression.”
Tinnitus can occur due to bruxism (grinding your teeth at night), jaw problems, eardrum problems, inner ear problems, earplugs, Ménière’s disease, listening to loud music or even emotional difficulties. “Studies have made the connection between emotions and the perception of tinnitus. This is an important avenue” according to the expert. Emotional shock, trauma, stress or intense fatigue could lead to tinnitus. “Emotional dysregulation will lead to dysregulation in the perception of sound. It is not always easy to make a connection between tinnitus and a death that occurred a few months earlier, but tinnitus can be a sign that there is has a discomfort somewhere.”
The specialist recommends first going to see the treating doctor to establish a diagnosis and consider taking medication to reduce tinnitus. It is also necessary to check that all the conditions are met for good sleep, in particular a healthy lifestyle including a balanced diet, regular physical activity and avoiding screens before sleeping. If despite these reflexes, tinnitus persists, our sophrologist shares some solutions with us.
“The work is to defocus attention from tinnitus.” To do this, she suggests testing commercially available noise generators or listening to playlists of white noise or nature sounds (waves, forest, etc.). “The idea is to drown out the tinnitus with soft, pleasant and relaxing noises.” You can also use meditation, relaxation and breathing techniques at bedtime to reduce stress. Sylvie Sarzaud recommends the “autogenic training” technique.
It consists of calming down and concentrating on parts of the body and sensations, repeating sentences like: “My right arm is heavy. My left leg is heavy. My legs are hot…” while focusing on slow, steady breathing. Finally, we can try visualizing pleasant sensations. Lying in bed, in peace, we close our eyes and imagine ourselves in a place that makes us feel good: in the forest, lying in the sun, by the sea…
Thanks to Sylvie Sarzaud, sophrologist and author of the book “Ending the stress of tinnitus”, published by Eyrolles.