Approximately 45 million Americans suffer from tinnitus, which is the perception of sound where no outside sound source exists. This phantom sound is commonly identified as a ringing sound, but can also materialize as a buzzing, hissing, whistling, swooshing, or clicking.
First it is important to understand about tinnitus is that it’s a symptom, not a disease. As a result, tinnitus may indicate an underlying medical condition that, once cured, cures the tinnitus. Earwax buildup or other obstructions, blood vessel conditions, specified medications, and other underlying disorders can all bring on tinnitus, so the first step is ruling out any ailments that would demand medical or surgical treatment.
In most instances of tinnitus, however, no specific cause is discovered. In these instances, tinnitus is assumed to be caused by destruction of the nerve cells of hearing in the inner ear. Age-related hearing loss, noise-induced hearing loss, and one-time exposure to very loud sounds can all cause tinnitus.
When tinnitus is induced by nerve cell damage, or is connected with hearing loss, tinnitus often cannot be cured—but that doesn’t mean people must suffer without assistance. Although there is no conclusive cure for most cases of chronic tinnitus, numerous tinnitus treatment options are available that help patients live better, more comfortable, and more productive lives, even if the perception of tinnitus remains.
Below are some of the treatment options for tinnitus:
Hearing Aids
Most cases of tinnitus are linked with some form of hearing loss. In patients with hearing loss, a reduced amount of sound stimulation reaches the brain, and in response, researchers believe that the brain changes physically and chemically to accommodate the insufficiency of stimulation. It is this maladaptive reaction to sound deprivation that results in tinnitus.
Tinnitus is aggravated with hearing loss because when surrounding sound is muffled, the sounds identified with tinnitus become more perceptible. But when hearing aids are worn, the amplified sound signals cause the sounds of tinnitus to blend into the richer background sounds. Hearing aids for tinnitus patients can then offer multiple benefits, among them improved hearing, enhanced auditory stimulation, and a “masking effect” for tinnitus.
Sound Therapy
Sound therapy is a broad phrase used to identify a number of methods to making use of external sound to “mask” the tinnitus. In time, the brain can learn to recognize the sounds of tinnitus as insignificant relative to the competing sound, thereby lessening the intensity level of tinnitus.
Sound therapy can be delivered through masking devices but can also be delivered through specific hearing aid models that can stream sound wirelessly by means of Bluetooth technology. Some hearing aid models even connect with compatible Apple devices, including iPhones, so that any masking sounds set up on the Apple devices can be transmitted wirelessly to the hearing aids.
The types of masking sounds used differs, including white noise, pink noise, nature sounds, and music. Sounds can also be specially designed to match the sound frequency of the patient’s tinnitus, supplying customized masking relief. Provided that each patient will respond differently to different masking sounds, it’s vital that you work with a experienced hearing professional.
Behavioral Therapies
Numerous behavioral therapies exist to help the patient manage the psychological and emotional elements of tinnitus. One example is mindfulness-based stress reduction, whereby the individual learns to accept the ailment while developing beneficial coping methods.
You may have also heard the term Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), which incorporates cognitive-behavioral therapy with sound masking therapy. With Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, people learn to develop healthy cognitive and emotional reactions to tinnitus while using sound therapy to teach their brains to reclassify tinnitus as unimportant, so that it can be deliberately ignored.
General Wellness
In conjunction with the more specific sound and behavioral therapies, patients can participate in general wellness activities that have a tendency to lessen the severity of tinnitus. These activities include healthy diets, regular exercise, social activity, leisure activities, and any other activities that contribute to enhanced health and lowered stress.
Drug Therapies
There are presently no FDA-approved medications that have been demonstrated to cure or relieve tinnitus directly, but there are medications that can treat stress, anxiety, and depression, all of which can render tinnitus worse or are caused by tinnitus itself. In fact, some antidepressant and antianxiety medicines have been shown to grant some alleviation to patients with severe tinnitus.
Experimental Therapies
A flurry of encouraging research is being performed in labs and universities worldwide, as researchers continue to seek out the underlying neurological cause of tinnitus and its ultimate cure. While several of these experimental therapies have shown some promise, remember that they are not yet readily available, and that there’s no guarantee that they ever will be. People suffering from tinnitus are encouraged to seek out established treatments rather than holding out for any experimental treatment to hit the market.
Here are a few of the experimental therapies presently being evaluated:
- Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) delivers electromagnetic pulses into the affected brain tissue to lessen the hyperactivity that is believed to cause tinnitus.
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is another method of delivering electromagnetic pulses into the hyperactive brain tissue that is thought to cause tinnitus.
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is comparable to the preceding therapies in its use of electromagnetic energy, the difference being that DBS is an invasive procedure requiring surgery and the placing of electrodes in the brain tissue.
Other medical, surgical, and pharmacological therapies exist, but the results have been mixed and the risks of invasive procedures in many cases overshadow the benefits.
The Optimal Treatment For Your Tinnitus
The best tinnitus treatment for you is dependent on several factors, and is best determined by a qualified hearing specialist. As your local hearing care experts, we’ll do everything we can to help you find relief from your tinnitus. Set up your appointment today and we’ll find the personalized solution that works best for you.