Tinnitus Treatment

Tinnitus is commonly referred to as ringing in the ears. This ringing sound is quite unique in every individual case. Those who experience it, describe it in many different ways. Usually, they call it as buzzing or humming or a whistling sound inside the ear. Some people experience musical hallucinations and they hear a particular musical tune again and again. The sound can be heard in one ear or both the ears. The intensity of the sound varies from mild to severe. Most people complain that the sound is most annoying when there is no external source of sound around. Some feel that it gets aggravated when they are tired and often find it difficult to fall asleep.

Causes

Tinnitus can be triggered by a number of ear problems. It could be a symptom of some kind of underlying health problem too. Some common causes are as follows:

• Loss of hearing ability
• Sudden exposure to loud sound
• Middle ear infections
• Ruptured eardrum
• Excessive earwax build up
• Side effects of medicines
• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Traumatic injury to head, neck or ear
• High blood pressure
• Excessive intake of alcohol
• Nerve problem
• Problems in temporomandibular joint which is located just in front of the ears
• Acoustic neuroma which is characterized by growth of benign tumor on the hearing nerve

Treatment

Some experience this problem once in a while and it subsides on its own without any treatment. However, if it recurs again and again or refuses to go, then you must visit an ENT specialist for proper treatment. They conduct a series of tests that include hearing test, ear x-rays and imaging test for diagnosing the problem.

When tinnitus is triggered by an underlying cause, doctors treat that particular problem to get rid of the tinnitus. For instance, if there is earwax build up, then it is removed with the help of ear drops or ear irrigation. Antibiotics are prescribed for the treatment of a bacterial ear infection. If any of the medicines that you are taking is triggering it, then your doctor may change the medicines or reduce its dosage. When it is found that loss of hearing ability due to aging is the real cause of tinnitus, hearing aids are given to patients. This improves their hearing ability.

Many a time, the exact cause cannot be identified at all. Now, there is no medicine that can cure tinnitus. Therefore, doctors use various devices and therapies which can help the patient to cope up with the problem in a much better manner. As we have already mentioned that tinnitus becomes bothersome in a quiet environment. Therefore, the bothersome ringing sound of tinnitus can be suppressed with a white noise which is a constant, gentle sound and is more pleasant to the ears. Masking devices are being used for this purpose which patients have to wear in the ear like a hearing aid. It will continuously produce a white noise that has a soothing effect on the ears. Those who cannot fall asleep because of tinnitus can use special white noise machines with pillow speakers. Such machines produce sounds that are quite similar to the sounds of natural environment such as falling rain or ocean waves. This simulated sound overpowers the tinnitus and helps the patient to fall asleep

Those who are using devices for noise suppression have to undergo tinnitus retraining. During this training, a counselor helps the patient to understand tinnitus and its effect on the daily life. They also provide instructions on retraining the brain so that it gets accustomed to the constant sound. For this, the level of volume of the white noise device has to be adjusted according to the level of the tinnitus sound in such a way that the patient does not have to focus on the condition. Such patients often get stressed out because of the problem. Therefore, stress management is an integral part of treatment. Those people who suffer from anxiety and depression due to tinnitus have to undergo cognitive behavioral therapy to alleviate the symptoms of stress and anxiety. Sometimes medicines like antidepressants are prescribed to keep the severity of anxiety symptoms in check.

Many a time, tinnitus is not curable. In such cases, treatment mainly involves covering up the annoying sound by various artificial sounds and it has to be continued throughout a patient's life. Such patients should always try to avoid exposure to loud sounds as it can aggravate their problem further.