Even though it’s true that there is currently no scientifically-proven method to cure tinnitus, researchers are hard at work to identify one. In the meantime, several tinnitus therapy options are available that can supply significant relief.
Think of it in this way. When you have a headache, you take Tylenol in spite of the fact that it doesn’t “cure” your headache. Pain relievers only make the pain fade into the background to ensure that it doesn’t interfere with your day. Likewise, tinnitus therapies can help lower the degree of symptoms so that your tinnitus has little impact on your daily life.
Seeing that everyone reacts to tinnitus differently, there’s no one-size-fits-all treatment. You’ll have to work with your provider to find the option that works best for you.
Here are some of those options.
Tinnitus Treatment Methods
If you suffer from tinnitus, you’ll want to explore the following treatment options with your hearing care or healthcare professional.
Treatment of the underlying problem
Whereas most instances of tinnitus are not curable—and result from hearing loss or other non-reversible injury—certain cases are the result of an underlying physical ailment. You’ll want to rule these out prior to seeking other treatment modalities.
Potential physical causes of tinnitus include jaw joint problems (temporomandibular joint, or TMJ dysfunction), excessive earwax or other obstructions in the ear canal, head and neck injuries, and side effects to select medications.
General Health And Wellness
The intensity of tinnitus symptoms can vary depending on overall health. Taking actions to boost general wellness is, consequently, something tinnitus sufferers can get started on right away to ease the severity of symptoms.
Each individual is unique, and what works out for someone else may not work for you. The idea is to try out various activities to learn what works best.
Strategies that have shown promise include instituting a healthy diet, achieving plenty of physical exercise, meditating, and partaking in activities like cycling, which can cover up the sounds of tinnitus.
Hearing Aids
Tinnitus is frequently linked to hearing loss and hearing injury. In response to decreased stimulation from outside sound, the brain goes through maladaptive changes that bring on the perception of tinnitus.
By enhancing the amount of environmental sound, hearing aids can help mask the tinnitus, making the sounds of tinnitus less detectable. Hearing aids additionally supply elevated sound stimulation to the brain, which is presumed to be neurologically beneficial.
Sound Therapies
Sound therapy is essentially the delivery of sound in the form of white noise, pink noise, or nature sounds to minimize the perceived burden or intensity of tinnitus.
Sound therapy operates by covering up the tinnitus and also by teaching the brain to reclassify the sounds of tinnitus as unimportant. This joint effect can minimize the short and long-term degree of tinnitus.
Sound therapy can be supplied through special tabletop gadgets, but also through portable multimedia devices and even through hearing aids. Medical-quality sound therapy makes use of custom sounds that match the pitch of the individual’s tinnitus for optimal outcomes.
Behavioral Therapies
Recall that tinnitus is the perception of sound in the brain when no outside sound is present. The affliction is, for that reason, very personal, and each person reacts a unique way.
In fact, whether or not the individual perceives tinnitus as life-altering or as no-big-deal is largely due to psychological tendencies and not to the intensity or pitch of the tinnitus. That’s why cognitive/behavioral solutions to tinnitus therapy have been proven to be exceptionally effective.
Several techniques are available, including Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction (MBSR) and Tinnitus-Retraining-Therapy (TRT), which blends cognitive-behavioral-therapy with sound therapy.
Drug Therapy
Even though there are no current FDA-approved medications for tinnitus, antianxiety and antidepressant prescriptions are regularly used to treat the behavioral responses to tinnitus. These medications do not appear to impact tinnitus itself, but may supply much-needed relief if deemed appropriate by your physician.
Experimental Therapies
The search for a tinnitus cure is continuous. Many experimental therapies are in development or evaluation and new techniques become available each year. If your tinnitus is severe, and you’ve realized very little benefit from existing therapies, you could be a candidate for one of these innovative treatment options.
Check out the Experimental Therapies webpage at the American Tinnitus Association website for additional information.
Find Relief For Your Tinnitus
Tinnitus is currently being aggressively investigated, with new findings and potential treatment options reported every year. Even today, you can find several promising treatments that, while not providing a cure, can offer appreciable relief. You owe it to yourself to consider these options, stay positive and persistent in your tinnitus care, and work together with your provider to adjust your treatment plan for the best results.