Can Tinnitus be Treated?

Tinnitus is known as being the condition that creates ringing or buzzing in the ears. If you ever experience a low-level screech, you could be dealing with tinnitus. It’s not a disease in itself but a symptom of a problem in your ears – it can even be a problem with the nerves that feed into your hearing center. When you suspect tinnitus, you should think about getting hold of a hearing health professional who can help you to ascertain the reason for the tinnitus you’re experiencing.

Around 10% of people across the US experience tinnitus each year and even if it’s for a few minutes or something that lasts longer. Those who are experiencing severe tinnitus may have issues sleeping, working, hearing regular conversations or generally having issues with day to day living. Something as simple as a buildup of earwax can cause tinnitus, but there are other things that can be behind it, including:

• Ear infections
• Heart disease
• Noise levels causing hearing loss
• Circulatory system diseases
• Brain tumors
• Meniere’s disease

The first step to treating tinnitus is speaking to your hearing health professional to find out whether it can be treated. Tinnitus can be treated – but it cannot be cured. The majority of people don’t ever find out the cause of their tinnitus; and there is no cure for it. However, there are remedies out there that can reduce how intensely you notice it. We’re going to talk through some of the things that you can do to reduce the intensity of the noise you are hearing.

Sound-Based Therapy

One of the most popular ways to treat tinnitus is to get to the root cause. If you know what’s causing the hearing loss you are experiencing, you can use sound-based therapies to treat the tinnitus.

Hearing Aids

Given that tinnitus is a symptom of hearing loss, hearing aids can often help. When sound is amplified using a hearing aid, the noise of the tinnitus can be reduced and your brain changes the way that the sound is processed. The better you can hear, the less you notice the tinnitus.

Sound-Masking Devices

There are a range of devices out there that provide a pleasant sound that can help to drown out the tinnitus that you are experiencing. There are masking machines that exist for the tabletop or for small machines that play directly into the ear. From white noise machines to pink noise machines, music and other natural sounds, these external sounds can help you to fall asleep and go about your day.

Other noise masking devices include using headphones for music and podcasts, television, music and even a free-standing fan. Not all noises can work, but white noise machines are usually far more effective than natural sounds.

Behavioral Therapies

Sometimes, treatment is not an option as it’s not a cure. However, behavioral therapies can help, and these can help you to learn to live with it. These reduce the distress or upset you feel day to day, and these include:

Cognitive Therapy

As tinnitus is usually occurring due to high levels of emotional stress, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help people to learn to live with the condition. CBT can teach you how to accept it and the goal is to improve your quality of life. Tinnitus doesn’t have to be your focus, not when you can find other ways of managing it.

Progressive Management

The next option for behavioral therapy is progressive tinnitus management. Given that tinnitus is a condition seen by veterans much of the time, it’s a program offered to help them to cope.

Medications

One of the things to note here is that no medication can cure tinnitus. However, different medications can be used to make the symptoms easier to cope with. From anti-anxiety drugs to antidepressants, medications like these can help to reduce the symptoms of tinnitus. Your family doctor will be able to better assess these needs.

Lifestyle Changes

There are certain behaviors that can help your symptoms of tinnitus. These include reducing your stress, changing the way you eat and making sure that you reduce the volume of your music. Managing your exposure to too much loud noise will also help you to reduce the tinnitus you experience. Tinnitus can also be a symptom of conditions such as temporomandibular joint dysfunction, and usually a dental procedure to realign the jaw can help this problem.

The best thing to do is seek the help of a hearing health professional! Call Hear More Medical Centers of America today:

• Ocala: (352) 877-9243
• Summerfield: (352) 877-9243
• The Villages: (352) 877-9243