Medications, Prescription Drugs and Food Additives. Other external irritants that can cause tinnitus are over the counter medications and prescriptions. Even something as simple as aspirin can generate tinnitus. I have experienced this throughout my lifetime. I take aspirin only when I absolutely need it. Certain antibiotics and other prescription drugs are also known to cause tinnitus. Two very common ones that have shown to cause tinnitus are quinine and chloroquine which are in malaria medications. Certain diuretics and cancer medications can also cause tinnitus. Although not a drug, NutraSweet has been linked to tinnitus and a whole host of side effects in clinical studies.
Overdosing on certain prescription drugs, recreational drugs or alcohol. This can sometimes cause permanent damage to nerves that affect hearing. In some cases when a pregnant women uses drugs during pregnancy, this can cause tinnitus to develop in her child. Common drugs that might contribute to tinnitus include ototoxics, psychotropic drugs, aminoglycosides, certain antibiotics and vancomycin.
Unfortunately that means tinnitus is a very complicated condition that involves several systems of the body. The good news, though, is that as doctors and researchers have developed a better understanding of the mechanisms behind tinnitus, they’ve also been able to develop new and promising treatments that target the brain rather than the ear — and have more of a chance of actually reversing the problem.
Hearing loss often accompanies tinnitus, so a hearing aid can hit two birds with one stone. In addition to amplifying sound, the device can camouflage the ringing in your ears by boosting other soft sounds in your environment. If you experience hearing loss in addition to your tinnitus, discuss the potential benefits of a hearing aid that may assist with both conditions at the same time.
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome is a disorder that causes symptoms like pain, clicking, and popping of the jaw. TMJ is caused by injury to the temporomandibular joint. Stress, poor posture, jaw trauma, genetic predisposition, and inflammatory disorders are risk factors for the condition. A variety of self-care measures (application of ice, use of over-the-counter pain medication, massage, relaxation techniques) and medical treatment options (dental splint, Botox, prescription medications, surgery) are available to manage TMJ. The prognosis of TMJ is good with proper treatment.
A number of vital tasks carried out during sleep help maintain good health and enable people to function at their best. Sleep needs vary from individual to individual and change throughout your life. The National Institutes of Health recommend about 7-9 hours of sleep each night for older, school-aged children, teens, and most average adults; 10-12 for preschool-aged children; and 16-18 hours for newborns. There are two stages of sleep; 1) REM sleep (rapid-eye movement), and 2) NREM sleep (non-rapid-eye movement). The side effects of lack of sleep or insomnia include:
Some patients question the value of treatments that fall short of an absolute cure. ATA believes patients should do everything possible to lessen the burden of tinnitus until a definitive cure is found. An appropriate analogy may be the use of ibuprofen for a headache. Ibuprofen itself does not cure the underlying cause of most headaches, but it does reduce the pain that makes headaches feel so awful. Likewise, the most effective tinnitus treatment tools address the aspects of tinnitus that so often make the condition feel burdensome: anxiety, stress, social isolation, sound sensitivity, hearing difficulties, and perceived volume.
Steven Doerr, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Doerr received his undergraduate degree in Spanish from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He graduated with his Medical Degree from the University Of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado in 1998 and completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine from Denver Health Medical Center in Denver, Colorado in 2002, where he also served as Chief Resident.
A wealth of research has gone into understanding the mechanisms of tinnitus due to the increased concern in our ageing and noise exposed society through the support of organizations such as the Tinnitus Research Institute, the American Tinnitus Association and even the US Department of Defense. This research has helped us to understand not only why and how this phantom percept can develop, but also sheds light on why it may sound like a hiss for one person and a high pitched tone for another.7 In addition, neuroscientists have shown connections between the limbic system (where emotions are processed) and the auditory system; it is not uncommon for tinnitus to increase during times of stress or negative emotions.5 As such, the effective tinnitus treatment strategies should be enjoyable and positive, and should account for the variability in what tinnitus sounds like for each patient.
White noise machines. These devices, which produce simulated environmental sounds such as falling rain or ocean waves, are often an effective treatment for tinnitus. You may want to try a white noise machine with pillow speakers to help you sleep. Fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers and air conditioners in the bedroom also may help cover the internal noise at night.
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).
Treatment of the underlying primary disorder may help to improve or cure rhythmic tinnitus. For example, the treatment of blood vessel disorders (e.g. dural arteriovenous shunts) can include certain medications or surgery. A surgical procedure known as sinus wall reconstruction can successfully treat pulsatile tinnitus due to sigmoid sinus diverticulum and dehiscence. In fact, most individuals have experienced complete resolution of their tinnitus following this surgery. Surgery may also be necessary for rare cases of pulsatile tinnitus caused by a tumor.
Most tinnitus is "sensorineural," meaning that it's due to hearing loss at the cochlea or cochlear nerve level. But tinnitus may originate in other places. Our bodies normally produce sounds (called somatic sounds) that we usually don't notice because we are listening to external sounds. Anything that blocks normal hearing can bring somatic sounds to our attention. For example, you may get head noise when earwax blocks the outer ear.
Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no actual external noise is present. While it is commonly referred to as “ringing in the ears,” tinnitus can manifest many different perceptions of sound, including buzzing, hissing, whistling, swooshing, and clicking. In some rare cases, tinnitus patients report hearing music. Tinnitus can be both an acute (temporary) condition or a chronic (ongoing) health malady.
