Tinnitus Relief: How Can I Support a Family Member?

Someone who has never experienced tinnitus can be at a loss when it comes to dealing with a friend or loved one who has it.

The first step in being able to help a friend or family member who has tinnitus is trying to understand how they might be feeling. It can be tempting to simply dismiss the sufferer’s complaints, assuming that he or she is imagining things. However, for the person experiencing tinnitus, it’s no laughing matter.

Signs for Look for in a Family Member or Friend

can be enormously frustrating, tiring, and anxiety-producing, all of which can add to the stress, which can worsen tinnitus symptoms. 

If you have a friend or family member that seems to be getting easily annoyed or seems to be avoiding social situations regularly, it may be due to tinnitus. The constant ringing in the ears creates an increasingly frustrating situation for the sufferer who may become irritable or short-tempered and, due to lack of restful sleep, can become worse as time goes on.

In the worst cases, which luckily are rare, tinnitus is debilitating, with a person feeling desperate for tinnitus relief at any cost. However, in most cases, people with tinnitus are dealing with a persistent nuisance that can be hard to describe and that most of us can’t entirely understand.

What Can I Do to Help?

• Be the person who knows what they are going through so that when they feel out-of-sorts because of tinnitus, they can count on your understanding.

• When you’re going out together or arranging a meeting, ask if there is a place they prefer. They may have a preference for a location or venue that has good sound quality.
• Should they start showing signs of fear or anxiety about their tinnitus, be patient and listen.
• Offer to help remember circumstances in which their tinnitus gets worse and then help them remember situations to avoid.
• If the person with tinnitus is your spouse or significant other, the tinnitus has the potential of becoming an issue in your relationship. Establish a policy of straightforward honesty about how dealing with the situation is making each of you feel.
• Encourage them to have their tinnitus professionally evaluated by a doctor or a certified hearing specialist. Understanding the source of tinnitus is the first step in managing it effectively.

Video: Your Pulsatile Tinnitus Questions, Answered

Can Lifestyle Changes Bring Tinnitus Relief for a Family Member?

Lifestyle changes can certainly bring tinnitus relief but, unfortunately, eliminating it entirely is difficult. 

Tinnitus, in most cases, is caused by inner ear damage that cannot be reversed. The great thing about lifestyle changes is that they can draw attention away from the sound your loved one thinks they’re hearing and/or relieve certain stressors that tend to increase the intensity of tinnitus.

Does someone you love have tinnitus? Let us know about your experience in the comments section!