What actually helps
Most people cannot make tinnitus disappear, but most can make it matter less. That is the realistic goal, and a good one: tinnitus you stop noticing is, for daily life, close to tinnitus that is gone. Here is what helps, roughly in order of importance.
You can find your tinnitus frequency here, free, in about a minute. It runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and you get the number whether or not you ever install anything.
Plays sound / headphones help / no sign-up
Get it checked promptly if your tinnitus:
Most tinnitus is not dangerous, but these are the cases where a cause can be found and sometimes addressed. Earwax and some medicines are also common, correctable contributors. A hearing test is worth having either way.
Tinnitus is loudest against silence. A steady background sound (rain, a fan, soft noise) gives your hearing something else to settle on. Set it just under your tinnitus, not loud enough to bury it. Details in tinnitus sleep sounds.
Poor sleep makes tinnitus feel louder and more upsetting, and tinnitus makes sleep harder. Use a sound that plays all night or fades out slowly, keep the room dark and cool, and keep a regular wake time. If you wake at 3 a.m., have the sound already there.
Worry makes tinnitus more noticeable, and noticing it causes more worry. Slow breathing, relaxation exercises and regular movement all help break the loop. Talking therapy, especially CBT for tinnitus, has the best research behind it for reducing how much tinnitus bothers people; ask your doctor or audiologist.
Loud noise can make tinnitus worse. Use earplugs at concerts, with power tools and at loud events, and keep headphone volume moderate. Protect your ears, but don't aim for total quiet either.
Some people notice a link with caffeine, alcohol, smoking or certain medicines. Keep a short diary for a few weeks and see whether anything repeats. Never stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor.
Over weeks and months the brain often learns to treat tinnitus as unimportant background. This is called habituation. It is gradual, and regular gentle practice beats occasional intense effort.
Sylence helps with points 2, 3, 4 and 6. You match the pitch of your ringing in about a minute; every sound is then generated on your phone with a notch at that pitch. It has sleep timers and all-night playback, guided breathing (coherent, box and 4-7-8) over the sound, a body scan, and a diary for your triggers. Masking is free, with no ads and no account.
It is a relief and habituation-support tool. It does not treat or cure tinnitus, and the evidence for notched sound specifically is mixed. Try the pitch match in your browser: frequency matcher.
Sometimes, especially when it follows loud noise, an ear infection or earwax. If it has lasted more than a few weeks, get your hearing checked.
Silence, poor sleep, stress, loud noise, and for some people caffeine or alcohol.
No supplement has been shown to reliably help tinnitus. Ask your doctor before paying for one.
Yes, at a comfortable level: below your tinnitus, not loud. If it tires your ears, turn it down.
See is there a cure for tinnitus? for the red-flag list, or see a doctor the same day if tinnitus appears suddenly with hearing loss or weakness.
Find my frequency — free, in the browser
Then, if it helps: Try the masking, free on Google Play.
Sylence is a sound-therapy and relief tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, or cure tinnitus. If your tinnitus is new, sudden, changing, or in one ear only, see an audiologist or a doctor first — sudden one-sided tinnitus in particular is worth urgent attention.