SHOW NOTES

Tinnitus During the Holidays: Do You Hear the Bells?

The holiday season is filled with meaningful sounds—music, laughter, conversations, and yes, sleigh bells. But for many people, tinnitus or untreated hearing loss can make those moments frustrating or overwhelming. In this episode of the Hearing Wellness Journey Podcast, Lindsey Doherty and audiologist Dr. Emily Johnson explore how tinnitus often becomes more noticeable during stressful seasons and what you can do about it.

What Is Tinnitus and Why Does It Feel Worse Right Now?

Tinnitus is commonly described as ringing, buzzing, or humming in the ears when no external sound is present. During the holidays, stress, fatigue, disrupted routines, and noisy environments can make tinnitus feel louder or more intrusive. Dr. Johnson explains that this doesn’t mean tinnitus is “getting worse” permanently—it often reflects heightened stress levels and sensory overload.

The Sounds You’ve Been Missing

Beyond tinnitus, hearing loss can quietly steal everyday sounds: turn signals, smoke alarms, microwave beeps, or soft-spoken loved ones. Many patients don’t realize what they’ve been missing until those “life bells” return with properly adjusted hearing devices. The holidays highlight this gap because social connection depends so heavily on communication.
Stress Reduction and Mindfulness for Ringing in the Ears
One of the most effective tools for managing tinnitus is stress reduction. Dr. Johnson recommends starting small—just 10–15 minutes a day of quiet time, guided meditation, or simple organization can lower your body’s stress response. When stress goes down, tinnitus often fades into the background.

Reframing Tinnitus: A Powerful Mindset Shift

A standout strategy discussed in this episode is reframing tinnitus. Instead of viewing the sound as threatening or irritating, patients are encouraged to imagine it differently—like gentle bells, fairy dust, or background music. This imaginative approach, while playful, can significantly reduce how bothersome tinnitus feels.

Hearing Strategies for Holiday Gatherings

If you’re not ready for hearing aids—or can’t fit appointments in before the holidays—simple accommodations help:
- Reduce background noise when possible
- Improve lighting to support lip reading
- Speak face-to-face rather than from another room
- Advocate for yourself without apology
These strategies benefit everyone, not just those with hearing loss.

Give Yourself (and Others) the Gift of Hearing

Avoiding gatherings because of hearing challenges can be isolating. This episode reminds listeners that caring for your hearing isn’t selfish—it’s a gift to family, friends, and yourself. Even a quick hearing aid clean-and-check or consultation can make a meaningful difference.

To see the video edition of this episode with closed captioning, please go to Hearing Wellness Journey Podcast: https://hearingwellnessjourney.com/podcast/

TRANSCRIPT

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Lindsey Doherty: [00:00:00] So for those who aren't even being treated or maybe who have devices, and they're like, "I'm not doing well." You don't have to not attend, not participate, not share in the magic of the season.

Narrator: Welcome to the Hearing Wellness Journey podcast, an exploration of determination, hope, self-discovery, and triumph. We'll share the personal experiences of those that are living with hearing loss and provide a haven for their stories to show others that they are not alone in this journey. Please welcome your hosts.

Lindsey Doherty: Hi! Welcome to the Hearing Wellness Journey podcast. I'm Lindsey Doherty.

Dr. Emily Johnson: And I'm Dr. Emily Johnson.

Lindsey Doherty: And today I wanna ask, "Do you hear the bells?" This is in reference to actually Dr. Johnson's [00:01:00] favorite Christmas movie.

Dr. Emily Johnson: The Polar Express, and I will not be taking any other opinions at this time.

Lindsey Doherty: I think Dr. Heiman is also completely on board with that. It's a fun movie if you haven't seen it.

Where the challenge is: you can't hear Santa's sleigh bell if you don't believe. And in that journey of believing and relearning to believe, you're practicing kindness, and you're listening, and you're being a good leader and a good human.

So... can you hear the bells?

Dr. Emily Johnson: But in an audiology version.

Lindsey Doherty: Right.

Dr. Emily Johnson: So, do you hear the bells, and there are no bells? Or do you not hear the bells when you should be hearing the bells?

Lindsey Doherty: Or the beeps of the microwave? Or the oven timer going off?

Dr. Emily Johnson: Smoke alarm. [00:02:00] Your blinker in the car.

That is such a common one. Most of our patients are adults. We've been driving for so long that, if you stop hearing your turn signal, you don't really pay attention to it 'cause most of the time we all filter it out.

Lindsey Doherty: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Emily Johnson: But it's there. If you're on a Zoom call or a phone call with somebody and they have their blinker going 'cause they're waiting to turn, that's all you hear on the phone call is: *dink dink, dink dink, dink*. Like, oh my gosh, I wish they would just go through this intersection.

But when you get hearing aids for the first time or updated ones, and you can actually hear it, so common to have them go, "There's this awful sound in my car that happens every time I go to turn." I'm like, "It's been there. We just haven't heard it for a while."

And so it's some of those 'life bells' that return [00:03:00] that have maybe been missing for a little bit.

Lindsey Doherty: Sure. And what better season to talk about it than right now? During the holiday season when we're looking for Santa's sleigh bells or ringing in the new year. What that can look like if you've been missing it. Or if you're hearing it all the time. Or your stress levels are high, and you're hearing it more. Yeah, let's dive into that today.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Because the holiday season is wonderful, right? It's usually filled with family, friends, get togethers, fun lights, good music. Depending on where you are in the world: cold or warmer weather, snow, things like that. But there's also this level of stress that can happen around the holidays as we prepare for all of these different gatherings, which can bring our internal bells or tinnitus, that ringing in your [00:04:00] ear sensation, to the forefront. And that's not necessarily the bells that you wanna hear around the holiday time.

Lindsey Doherty: Right.

So what can we do to address that? Especially when it doesn't seem like there's really time. I feel like there's a six to eight week period at the end of each year where it's like, "Oh my gosh. It's nonstop."

Dr. Emily Johnson: Yeah.

Lindsey Doherty: So what are ways that we can help address that at home and making an appointment, if needed?

Dr. Emily Johnson: Yeah. The number one thing, which I know is the most challenging as well, is stress reduction. Making sure that you are taking 15 minutes a day.

It does not need to be this extensive, multiple hour relaxation session, but just taking some time for yourself, listening to a guided meditation, and trying to [00:05:00] reduce your stress as much as possible. Write out to-do lists, get things organized and prepped for the holiday season, so it becomes overall a little bit less stressful.

So hopefully we can reign it in there. If that is not quite cutting it, then you're gonna wanna look at some mindfulness or reframing techniques for your tinnitus.

I actually had a tinnitus patient where he reframed his tinnitus to it being a really positive sound and visualized that his tinnitus was like crystals, and it was this very positive sensation that he got to experience.

And like if you're a Harry Potter fan, doing the charm that takes a dementor into something ridiculous and having that mindset shift from: "This is stressful and scary, and I don't [00:06:00] like it," to, "How can I reframe this, so that this is a lot less intimidating and seems way more manageable."

It's like, "Oh, there's that fairy dust that I get to listen to. There's Santa's Bells. There's my favorite Christmas song," and just reframing the way that you view your tinnitus can actually be a very powerful and helpful tool that might seem a little silly as adults, but imaginative reworking is still an excellent skill to have, even though we're not children anymore.

Lindsey Doherty: This [episode] is: "Do You Hear The Bells 2.0?" I think this is taking Dr. Heiman's recommendation in our tinnitus seminar to the next level where it is taking Fred the Tiger and reworking it like, "Oh, Fred's not going to eat me. Fred's my pet. You know, I love him." [00:07:00] And reframing it that way. But I never really thought about it like you said: Harry Potter, 'Riddikulus' and you turn it into this crazy thing and reimagine it. That's fun.

Dr. Emily Johnson: I do it for things in my life. You're like, "You know what? This is now something totally different, and that's a lot more manageable than a sound that I find really annoying in my head."

And it takes time and practice to mindset shift this, but it does work. It really does. And it can be helpful for these transient times where your tinnitus, 95% of the year is non bothersome, but 5%, around the holiday season, ramps up.

And we don't need to go down a route of appointments and intensive treatment and looking at all of that for our more bothersome cases, but like how can we reframe this just for the next few weeks? [00:08:00] Just until we get past that family party. Just until we get past something stressful coming up.

Lindsey Doherty: Right. Because I feel like if you're thinking, "Oh my gosh, now I have to make an appointment for this and an appointment for that, and how am I gonna squeeze it in?" That is then creating more stress. Not to say that isn't something that should happen, because I think for some, maybe you wanna make that appointment and that will de-stress a little bit. And you wanna get your tinnitus addressed with a provider sooner than later.

But yeah, being able to work on some of those things at home, when time might not be overflowing with availability, that could be reassuring as well. Like there are things that I can do at home.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Absolutely. And if you are listening to this and you're a current patient, or you're listening to this and you're not local: if you're interested in watching the [00:09:00] tinnitus seminar, just send us an email or reach out via our website, and we'd be happy to send you our prerecorded version.

So that you can have it on hand, and you can always reference those techniques. It can be easy to forget what we need to do in a stressful situation. We know what we need to do, but sometimes that doesn't always come to the forefront of our minds.

Lindsey Doherty: Right.

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Dr. Emily Johnson: So then if we think about: "Can you hear the bells?" And it's the external bells of the sounds of the season. Can you hear at your holiday gatherings? Can you hear your children, grandchildren, neighbors, family members? Maybe you have a family member who talks really soft.

Lindsey Doherty: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Emily Johnson: And you wanna spend time with that person. You only see them a few times a year. And you wanna make sure that is good quality time well spent.

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Lindsey Doherty: Absolutely. As punny as we're being [00:10:00] with this and, "Can you hear these bells?" It is more or less such a social time of the year.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Yes.

Lindsey Doherty: Right? And it's one where it's in every listening environment. It's at home. You're being festive. And you're at work parties and friend parties, and then those family gatherings.

And it could be from a couple of people to a whole lot of people.

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Lindsey Doherty: I know we've been talking to patients and they're saying, "I'm not looking forward to it. I don't wanna go in these environments." And we just got a letter from a patient, a thank you note, saying, "Oh my gosh. I was ready to just cancel all of my plans because I was struggling so much."

HOOK START
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Lindsey Doherty: So for those who aren't even being treated or maybe who have devices, and they're like, "I'm not doing well." You don't have to not attend, not participate, not share in the magic of the [00:11:00] season.

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Dr. Emily Johnson: Right.

Lindsey Doherty: There are things that we can do.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Things that we can do. So if you are a current patient, we are getting close to the holidays of where your schedule is busy, your provider's schedule is busy, but always call. Maybe we can fit you in for a quick cleaning. Address some of those concerns. It might really be something simple that can be done and doesn't have to be a whole stressful situation.

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Dr. Emily Johnson: Or if you're listening to this and you're like, "I haven't had my hearing tested. I can't hear in noisy situations, or when the beeper goes off, when the Christmas cookies are done, but I don't have time to get in and get fitted with hearing aids before the holidays."

You're gonna be looking at: what different accommodations can you do in your house right now? And number one is going to be: reducing background noise and utilizing really good listening strategies. Which, [00:12:00] spoiler alert, we all should be. Even with normal hearing. Even with a mild hearing loss or a significant amount of hearing loss.

Having lights turned up, so you can see visual cues on people's faces. Talking face to face and not yelling from the basement about something that needs to be brought up for decorations. And reframing the way that we all converse with each other is something that we all, as a society, need to improve on.

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Lindsey Doherty: Absolutely. And I know I'm guilty of doing some of these...

Dr. Emily Johnson: We all do it!

Lindsey Doherty: We do it. We're the offender and also the one being offended. It is a difficult thing, for sure. But also, it's not too late to do something yet before holidays. It's never too late. And I know that this is a season of giving.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Mm-hmm.

Lindsey Doherty: Right? We're more focused on giving to other people. I'm [00:13:00] saving my money. I'm gonna spend it on this. I'm gonna spend it on that. And then you don't spend the time or even financially on yourself to help take care of these problems, where even though you spend all of this money on gifts, you're not gonna enjoy giving them.

You're going to drop it off on their doorstep and not participate because you feel like you can't.

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Lindsey Doherty: So, though it's a season of giving, giving yourself the gift of hearing is a gift to your friends, family, coworkers, loved ones; because they want you to be there.

Dr. Emily Johnson: And they wanna talk to you!

Lindsey Doherty: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Emily Johnson: They notice it, just like you do, that if you are not participating in conversations, they see you shying away. They see you not wanting to participate. And that's not what they want either. They want to talk to you and spend time with you. That's why they're coming to visit.

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Dr. Emily Johnson: And [00:14:00] it can often be challenging to put yourself first, especially in a holiday season.

Do I have 30 minutes sometime this week just to go in, get my hearing aids cleaned and checked to make sure that they are really ready to go for the family gatherings? And odds are: 30 minutes, somewhere in there, you can prioritize yourself to make sure that you too are enjoying the holiday season, because bells are all around us, and they are wonderful to listen to, and you deserve it as well. You deserve to have a good holiday season too.

Lindsey Doherty: Absolutely. Like we said, it's a gift to everybody else, because they really do want you to be involved. Your presence makes them happy. And if you're bummed out in the corner of a room, not talking to anybody, then they're bummed out too. [00:15:00] No 'bah humbug's.

Dr. Emily Johnson: No 'bah humbug's. No Scrooges this year. Put on your favorite holiday music. Listen to things that make you happy in the holiday season to reduce your stress and hype yourself up and get excited for the potential family and friend gatherings that you have coming up. If there's immediate needs, we are always here to help.

We are flexible in squeezing people in here and there, as always, but definitely around the holiday season, 'cause we know how much this all matters to you. If you are local to us, if you are a patient, or even if you just need a quick clean and check, and your audiologist isn't available, give us a call.

We're always happy to help, and we want you to hear the positive holiday sounds of the season.

Lindsey Doherty: Yep. So sleigh bells or ringing in the new year. They're yours.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Embrace it. We hope you have a wonderful holiday [00:16:00] season, and we thank you for listening and wish you the best in 2026.

Lindsey Doherty: Remember to like the episode and subscribe too, so that you find out what we've got coming for you in the new year.

Dr. Emily Johnson: Thanks so much for listening. Have a great day.

All Speakers: Bye!

Narrator: Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Hearing Wellness Journey podcast. For more information about what we do and the services we provide, please visit our website at HearingWellnessJourney.com/podcast where you can find more resources based on today's discussion, as well as request to be a member of our Hearing Wellness Journey community on Facebook. That's available for our listeners exclusively on HearingWellnessJourney.com/podcast.

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