If you’ve had a tinnitus spike, you know how unsettling it can feel. If you haven’t, it is worth preparing because spikes are a normal part of the journey.
Tinnitus spikes are periods where your tinnitus feels more intrusive. It may feel louder or the pitch may shift. Spikes are subjective, so any period where you feel your tinnitus has worsened can be considered a spike.
They may last minutes, days or longer.
Sometimes we know the trigger and often we do not.
Why do we dread spikes?
They feel horrible. They affect sleep, mood and concentration.
The real fear is not the spike itself. It is the fear of your own thoughts and feelings.
Thoughts shape actions, so you try to avoid thoughts that may lead you somewhere painful. Deep down, you worry that your actions might impact you or those you love.
You want to know how long the spike will last, when it will ease and whether it will get worse.
You think that if you knew the answers, you could prevent it or at least prepare yourself.
The hardest part of dealing with spikes is the uncertainty.
Life is full of uncertainty. Even the end of life carries uncertainty because we never know when or how it will happen.
How do we handle tinnitus spikes?
- Get comfortable with discomfort
Humans move toward pleasure and away from pain. We avoid discomfort.
Stress, illness and fatigue can affect the limbic system, which increases your perception of tinnitus. Spikes are inevitable.
They become a bigger problem when you believe you should not experience them.
The moment you think “I should not be experiencing this”, suffering doubles.
- Allow the emotion first
Common feelings during a spike include sadness, frustration and despair.
These are not pleasant, but you do not need to fix the feeling straight away.
The first step is allowing it to be there. Allowing does not mean approval. You do not need to like it.
Notice what you feel without judgement or commentary such as “this frustration is bad” or “I cannot handle this despair”.
Acknowledge the feeling with something simple like “I feel frustrated”.
Give the feeling space instead of fighting the fact that it is present.
- Challenge the urge to know
You may think “If I knew how long it would last or what caused it, I would be okay”.
This is a trap. You might believe that if a spike lasts two weeks, you only need to feel weighed down for two weeks.
Ask yourself whether you could choose to keep living your life without knowing the timeline or the trigger. You could wait for it to pass or you could continue with life in spite of the spike.
You may think “If I knew the cause, I could prevent it next time”.
Often this leads to self blame, such as “I knew I should not have gone out last night”. Hindsight is always clearer than the present. No one can predict the future.
Self blame does not protect you. It fuels guilt and regret and keeps you stuck replaying the past. It magnifies suffering. It tricks you into believing you had full control when spikes often happen for reasons outside your choice.
- Manage your mind
Needing certainty leaves you at the mercy of unmanaged thoughts and feelings.
The truth is:
We have never known tomorrow.
You do not need to know the outcome to be okay.
What you can know for sure is that you are capable of managing your mind, whatever comes.
If managing thoughts feels difficult, it may be time to seek support. Thought work, informed by cognitive behavioural therapy, can help you notice unhelpful patterns, challenge them and choose more balanced responses.
Once you trust your ability to manage your mind, the need for certainty becomes less powerful.
When a spike arises and the uncertainty feels overwhelming, remind yourself:
“I do not need certainty. I just need to manage my mind in this moment.”
If you would like help building these skills, support is available.
Reach out to arrange a consultation where we can recommend how you can develop practical, evidence based strategies to help you feel calmer, more resilient and more in control during spikes.
