Over the last 40 years of treating patients suffering from tinnitus, there’s been one over the counter medication that has shown the greatest promise. While it doesn’t provide relief for everyone, I continue to see an 87% efficacy rate in my patients. The treatment, which does not require a prescription, is known as Tinnitus Control and is available online at http://www.tinnituscontrol.com
Tinnitus that's continuous, steady, and high-pitched (the most common type) generally indicates a problem in the auditory system and requires hearing tests conducted by an audiologist. Pulsatile tinnitus calls for a medical evaluation, especially if the noise is frequent or constant. MRI or CT imaging may be needed to check for a tumor or blood vessel abnormality.
Prolonged exposure to loud sounds is the most common cause of tinnitus. Up to 90% of people with tinnitus have some level of noise-induced hearing loss. The noise causes permanent damage to the sound-sensitive cells of the cochlea, a spiral-shaped organ in the inner ear. Carpenters, pilots, rock musicians, street-repair workers, and landscapers are among those whose jobs put them at risk, as are people who work with chain saws, guns, or other loud devices or who repeatedly listen to loud music. A single exposure to a sudden extremely loud noise can also cause tinnitus.
Therefore, the Department of Defense and Congress have taken an interest in furthering tinnitus research, adding it to a list of researchable conditions that impact the military. Both American Tinnitus Association and the Department of Defense fund tinnitus research. New research developments are reported in journals such as Tinnitus Today and the International Tinnitus Journal.
Paquette et al (2017) reported a prospective study of 166 patients who had brain surgery involving removal of the medial temporal lobe. The prevalence of tinnitus increased from approximately from 10 to 20% post surgery. This study did not include a control -- a natural question would be -- suppose a different part of the brain were removed. One would also think that drilling of the skull from any source might increase tinnitus. We are presently dubious that the medial temporal lobe suppresses tinnitus.
Dr. Julie Prutsman’s team of audiologists offer a higher standard of expertise. She has been deeply involved with tinnitus for more than 15 years, long before effective treatments had been developed beyond hearing aids and maskers. Dr. Julie also studied under one of the industry’s most respected and leading medical experts, Dr. Pawel Jastreboff, and she has personally trained each and every one of her doctors.
Tinnitus (pronounced ti-ni-tis), or ringing in the ears, is the sensation of hearing ringing, buzzing, hissing, chirping, whistling, or other sounds. The noise can be intermittent or continuous, and can vary in loudness. It is often worse when background noise is low, so you may be most aware of it at night when you're trying to fall asleep in a quiet room. In rare cases, the sound beats in sync with your heart (pulsatile tinnitus).
Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Removing Excess Earwax. There is a small chance that your tinnitus is being caused by an excess build up of ear wax that is blocking the ear canal. This is especially common in older patients who have a lot of ear hair that ear wax has been building up on over the years. By removing both the excess hair and ear wax, especially if it’s in contact with your ear drum, your tinnitus can improve.
Even with all of these associated conditions and causes, some people develop tinnitus for no obvious reason. Most of the time, tinnitus isn’t a sign of a serious health problem, although if it’s loud or doesn’t go away, it can cause fatigue, depression, anxiety, and problems with memory and concentration. For some, tinnitus can be a source of real mental and emotional anguish.
Pulsatile tinnitus: This problem usually is related to blood flow, either through normal or abnormal blood vessels near the ear. Causes of pulsatile tinnitus include pregnancy, anemia (lack of blood cells), overactive thyroid, or tumors involving blood vessels near the ear. Pulsatile tinnitus also can be caused by a condition known as benign intracranial hypertension (an increase in the pressure of the fluid surrounding the brain).
It is important to note that existing hearing loss is sometimes not directly observable by the patient, who may not perceive any lost frequencies. But this this does not mean that hearing damage has not been done. A trained audiologist or other hearing health professional can perform sensitive audiometric tests to precisely measure the true extent of hearing loss.
Age-Related Hearing Loss: Also known as presbycusis, age-related hearing loss results from the cumulative effect of aging on hearing. This permanent, progressive, and sensorineural condition is most pronounced at higher frequencies. It commonly impacts people over the age of 50, as all people begin to lose approximately 0.5% of the inner ear’s hair cells annually starting at age 40.
The treatment group (245 patients) received some elements of standard care (such as a masking device and hearing aid if needed), but also received CBT. The CBT included an extensive educational session, sessions with a clinical psychologist and group treatments involving “psychological education” explaining their condition, cognitive restructuring, exposure techniques, stress relief, applied relaxation and movement therapy.
Tinnitus also could be the result of neural circuits thrown out of balance when damage in the inner ear changes signaling activity in the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound. Or it could be the result of abnormal interactions between neural circuits. The neural circuits involved in hearing aren’t solely dedicated to processing sound. They also communicate with other parts of the brain, such as the limbic region, which regulates mood and emotion.
But it’s still a significant improvement. And Kilgard says he and others are working to make the treatment even more effective. He suspects this type of therapy is not too far off from being available to patients outside of research studies. “It’s in the late stages of development,” he says. “It could be available to the public in as little as a year or two.”
We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigating the effects of the customized music-based sound therapy for reducing tinnitus. Participants (N = 50) who suffered from tinnitus were randomly allocated (with 1:1 ratio) to the treatment and placebo groups with assessments at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months. The primary outcome was the differences in mean scores of the THI compared at four time intervals. Independent and paired samples t-tests were conducted to compare THI scores between and within groups, respectively.
Loud noise is the leading cause of damage to the inner ear. Most patients with noise trauma describe a whistling tinnitus (Nicholas-Puel et al,. 2002). In a large study of tinnitus, avoidance of occupational noise was one of two factors most important in preventing tinnitus (Sindhusake et al. 2003). The other important factor was the rapidity of treating ear infections.
Sound Options Tinnitus Treatments Inc. addresses the need for an effective tinnitus treatment by offering a clinically validated, individually customized sound therapy. The sound therapy is based on leading neuroscience and tinnitus research that has been built into our software to produce a treatment that can be conveniently delivered via any music playing device. Sound Options is also heavily invested in community engagement. This includes educating and reaching out to seniors, veteran's groups, and police and firefighter associations, as these segments of our population are most affected by tinnitus. Sound Options is relentless about innovation and we are constantly seeking novel ways to help tinnitus sufferers. Our treatment has been designed with the tinnitus sufferer in mind: it is pleasantly effective, affordable, and individually customized.
MRI (or magnetic resonance imaging) scan is a radiology technique which uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer to produce images of body structures. MRI scanning is painless and does not involve X-ray radiation. Patients with heart pacemakers, metal implants, or metal chips or clips in or around the eyes cannot be scanned with MRI because of the effect of the magnet.
Persistent tinnitus may cause anxiety and depression.[14][15] Tinnitus annoyance is more strongly associated with psychological condition than loudness or frequency range.[16][17] Psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances and concentration difficulties are common in those with strongly annoying tinnitus.[18][19] 45% of people with tinnitus have an anxiety disorder at some time in their life.[20]
However, the multidisciplinary approach based on CBT is not a “cure for tinnitus”, as implied in some papers, but rather a system for managing its symptoms and effects on people’s lives. The differences in outcomes between the treatment and usual care groups were quite small, with the multidisciplinary approach giving a small improvement in quality of life compared with usual care, and moderate improvements in tinnitus severity and impairment. Also, less than 70% of participants completed the trial to 12 months, and this could have affected the reliability of the study’s overall results. Furthermore, as the patients in the study were only followed for 12 months, it is uncertain whether this approach can help in the longer term.
Static noise is designed to distract you from your tinnitus. By mixing a static sound with the tinnitus noise, this can help to divert your attention away from the tinnitus. Miracle-Ear hearing aids have five different types of pre-set static noise sounds so that together, with your hearing care specialist, you can customize this program to your needs to help you relax without the annoyance of tinnitus.
It is important to follow the doctor's directions in obtaining further evaluations and tests for your tinnitus. You may need an appointment with an ear, nose, and throat specialist (otolaryngologist) or an audiologist for further testing. It is important to follow up on these recommendations when they are made to confirm that your tinnitus is not caused by another illness.
This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Josh Axe and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Axe nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.
If you experience tinnitus, don’t suffer in silence. The ringing, roaring, buzzing, or hissing in your ears may be interfering with your sleep, your relaxation, and your enjoyment of life. Why let tinnitus control your life? Many effective treatments for tinnitus exist these days – treatments based on solid research that have proven effective and benefited many people. With help from a tinnitus treatment expert, you could finally silence the tinnitus that has perturbed you for years.
Tinnitus Control contains both a spray that is administered under the tongue three times a day and a gelatin capsule that is to be taken twice a day. Each package comes with a one month’s supply of the spray (1 fluid ounce) and capsules (60 capsules). Tinnitus Control is not currently available in local stores such as CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, but it is available directly from the manufacturer’s website at http://www.tinnituscontrol.com
Tinnitus can arise anywhere along the auditory pathway, from the outer ear through the middle and inner ear to the brain's auditory cortex, where it's thought to be encoded (in a sense, imprinted). One of the most common causes of tinnitus is damage to the hair cells in the cochlea (see "Auditory pathways and tinnitus"). These cells help transform sound waves into nerve signals. If the auditory pathways or circuits in the brain don't receive the signals they're expecting from the cochlea, the brain in effect "turns up the gain" on those pathways in an effort to detect the signal — in much the same way that you turn up the volume on a car radio when you're trying to find a station's signal. The resulting electrical noise takes the form of tinnitus — a sound that is high-pitched if hearing loss is in the high-frequency range and low-pitched if it's in the low-frequency range. This kind of tinnitus resembles phantom limb pain in an amputee — the brain is producing abnormal nerve signals to compensate for missing input.
