Tinnitus Retraining Therapy And Other Treatment Options

Many who suffer from tinnitus have heard of tinnitus retraining therapy. Tinnitus is a condition which is defined as ringing in the ears when there is no noise from the outside that is causing the sound. Ringing seems to be the most common sound that suffers of tinnitus report. However, some hear beeping, whistling, buzzing, rustling or other sounds rather than ringing. Although there is no cure for the condition, there are several methods of treatment.

How you go about treating your diagnosed tinnitus will depend on what the cause of your condition is. Sometimes the cause is a very evident one like having too much wax in your ear, strong allergies, high blood pressure, etc. Other times, there may seem to be no physical cause and, in that case, the possible causes are really endless. It could be stress, over-exposure to loud noises, mental illness, and other more intangible factors. The hearing system is extremely sensitive and can be thrown off when other things in the body are imbalanced as well. So, there are many strategies that have worked for different types of tinnitus suffers.

Tinnitus retraining therapy is one of these methods and it is a relatively new approach. It involves masking the noise with a "masker" that you wear on your ear to block out the disturbing noise and, at the same time, trying to focus on other noises than those that are inside their ears. The goal is to start the patient out with a masker to help them focus on other sounds and, by the end of the training, have them remove the masker and be able to do so without it.

Antibiotics is another possible "cure". If your ear ringing is causes by an infection, this is all you will need to get rid of the problem. If you get to your doctor in the early stages of the infection, it will not progress to tinnitus. As with all antibiotics, you must take the full course of the medication so that your infection doesn't come back stronger than the first time.

Maskers by themselves, without the therapy that goes with it, can drown out the ringing with another noise. These tend to work better for milder cases of tinnitus and they are worn just like a hearing aid. If you can stand by the water faucet with the water turned all the way on, and if you hear only the water, you will likely benefit from using a masker.

Tinnitus is a disorder that, in mild forms, is very disturbing, and in more severe forms can be debilitating and lead to permanent hearing loss.  Tinnitus retraining therapy, masking and antibiotics are just some of the ways that tinnitus suffers are dealing with the condition.

This article is not meant to substitute the advice of a medical professional.

Tinnitus – Causes and Treatment

What is Tinnitus:

Tinnitus is a symptom and not a condition in itself.  Tinnitus describes the symptom of being able to hear things which nobody else can, although in a rare number of cases, this isn’t true.  Tinnitus is a very common condition with approximately 10% of the population suffering from Tinnitus to one degree or another.  It is most commonly found in elderly people although it is becoming much more widespread in the younger population.  Also, Tinnitus can be found in one or both ears or sometimes it feels like it is coming from the middle of your head.

The Symptoms of Tinnitus:

Tinnitus is most commonly found in elderly people although possibly due to the different lifestyles it is becoming much more common in younger people now.  Maybe this is due to the fact that people are living in noisier environments today.

The sounds which are heard vary from patient to patient.  Some patients hear a musical tone, although most patients hear something which sounds more like a hissing or whistling or a buzzing or a ringing noise.  For a lot of patients, it is more of an inconvenience and doesn’t affect their daily lives although for a number of patients, it is so bad that they need some kind of treatment to relieve the symptoms.

The Causes of Tinnitus:

Tinnitus is caused by damage to the nerves in the inner ear (cochlea).  These nerves transmit electrical impulses to the brain which the brain then interprets as sounds.  When these nerves are damaged, the signal becomes distorted.  When this distorted signal gets to the brain, the brain interprets it as a noise which is Tinnitus.

In elderly people, it is seen as part of growing older and is called presbyacusis.  However, in younger people medical professionals believe it is due to be exposed to loud noises.

There are other causes of Tinnitus as well which include Anemia – where the thin blood rushes around the body so quickly that it can cause a sound.  Excessive wax in the ear can also cause tinnitus.  Menieres Disease which is a condition affecting balance can also have a side effect of Tinnitus.  Some drugs both legal and illegal can cause Tinnitus as the body reacts to them.

The Treatment of Tinnitus:

For most patients, there is no cure for Tinnitus.  Most treatments simply relieve the symptoms by masking the cause of Tinnitus.

Tinnitus is sometimes strongly related to the patients level of stress.  By managing this level of stress via the use of sedatives, tranquilizers or anti-depressants, the symptoms of tinnitus can be relieved.

Some drugs which affect the conduction of electrical impulses in the affected nerves have been found to relieve the symptoms of stress.

There are a number of self help measures which patients can employ either on their own or in tandem with any assistance that a doctor can prescribe.  These include listening to soothing music on a personal stereo before the patient goes to sleep.  There are white noise generators which can mask the noise inside your head.  This means that you can’t hear the noise generated by tinnitus.