When ringing in your ears keeps you from sleeping

What follows combines several people's visits into one reconstructed account. It is not any one person's story, and anything that could identify someone has been removed.

⚠️ Where should you go first?

If you suddenly lost hearing in one ear or a sound suddenly appeared, see an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor first. In that case, a few days can change the outcome.

Sound in only one ear, sound that comes with dizziness, and sound that beats like a pulse also need that care first. People come to us after those checks are done.

How do people describe it when they come in?

They say it's bearable during the day, but the sound gets louder when things go quiet at night. So it's hard to fall asleep, and not sleeping makes the sound even more bothersome.

It's hard to tell whether the tinnitus keeps them from sleeping, or not sleeping makes the sound seem louder. Usually it's both.

What do we look at?

We check how stiff the neck and shoulders are, especially the area just below the back of the head. We also check how the jaw opens and closes and whether you grind your teeth.

Many people have one shoulder raised and the neck turned toward that side. When tension in the upper neck persists, discomfort around the head tends to come with it.

How do we treat it?

We loosen the area below the back of the head and the neck, and work on the twisted shoulders and neck. For sleep, we set a separate direction.

Getting rid of the sound is not our goal. The goal is to get you to a state where you can fall asleep even with the sound. We say this clearly at the start.

Rather than a silent room at night, many people do better with a very soft sound playing — something like a fan or rain.

How did people do?

"It bothers me less" comes up before any change in how loud the sound is. Once sleep starts to settle, the distress about the sound eases after that.

For some, the sound eases as much as the neck does. For others, the neck gets better but the sound stays the same.

What are the limits of this approach?

The cause of tinnitus often isn't clearly identified, and there's still no reliable way to make it go away. We're no exception.

One more thing: we won't tell you "we treat tinnitus." What we work on is tension in the neck and jaw, and sleep.

If you have the same symptoms

1. If you suddenly can't hear or a sound suddenly appeared, see an ENT doctor first.
2. Sound getting louder when it's quiet at night is a common pattern.
3. The goal is not to get rid of the sound but to fall asleep even with it.
4. A very soft sound playing may be better than a completely silent room.
5. We don't say "we treat tinnitus."

We start by sorting out what kind of insomnia it is. Not being able to fall asleep and waking up during the night point to different places to look.

If poor sleep is wearing down your days, come and see us. We'll start by sorting out whether you can't fall asleep or keep waking up. Each points to a different place to look.

Because there are many possible causes, progress differs from person to person, even with the same care.