4 Effective Treatments for Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a condition of the inner ear characterized by the perception of sound when no noise is in the environment. While tinnitus has no cure, several treatment methods are available that can reduce the severity of the condition and greatly improve your quality of life. Learn more with this overview of four effective treatments for tinnitus.

1. Hearing Aids

Tinnitus is usually most prevalent at times when the overall noise level of your surroundings is low, as nothing masks the sound that you hear due to the condition. Unfortunately, this means that people with some degree of hearing loss are more susceptible to tinnitus, as they are less able to pick up sounds around them that could mask the ringing.

Hearing aids are one of the most effective methods for treatment of tinnitus in patients who are hearing impaired. Increasing the amount of external stimuli helps distract your mind from the internal sound of tinnitus, and in one survey of hearing health professionals, 60% of patientsgained relief from tinnitus by receiving hearing aids.

2. Ear Canal Blockage Removal

In some cases, a buildup of earwax or a foreign object in the ear canal can lead to tinnitus symptoms. This is more likely to be the case if you notice that the ringing is more severe or only present in one ear. Obstructions in direct contact with the eardrum can lead to irritation and the ringing sound characteristic of tinnitus.

If your tinnitus symptoms are from a blockage in the ear, the good news is that, in most cases, the symptoms will disappear if the blockage is removed. To reduce your risk of problematic blockages, never insert small objects like cotton swabs into the ear canal for cleaning, as these objects can press ear wax up against the eardrum and create a blockage. Visit an ENT for professional blockage removal and ear cleaning.

3. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Tinnitus is not typically accompanied by pain, so much of the distress from this condition is a result of the patient's emotional reaction to it. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of individual or group counseling that can be effective for changing patients' behavioral response to tinnitus, thereby reducing the negative impact of the condition.

During a CBT session for tinnitus, your therapist will talk to you about coping strategies for the stress and anxiety from tinnitus. He or she can help you come up with behaviors to distract yourself from the condition and help you assess whether your feelings about your tinnitus have a factual basis. Relaxation techniques are often recommended to replace negative thought patterns.

4. Sound Therapy

Sound therapy for tinnitus falls under two general categories: static noise generation and customized sound generation or Notch therapy. Static noise generators are useful for masking the ringing of tinnitus and are most useful in low-noise environments, such as your bedroom when you sleep. Static noise generators provide temporary relief but no long-term remediation of tinnitus.

Customized sound generation uses a tone complementary to the tone of your tinnitus to unobtrusively mask it. Over time, listening to customized tones can train your brain to ignore the sound of tinnitus, reducing the severity of your symptoms. This concept is known as Notch therapy and is gradually being incorporated into more devices, such as hearing aids.

Although no cure for tinnitus exists, many options for treatment are safe and effective. Visit Wilmington Ear Nose & Throat Associates, P.A. , where we can provide personalized treatment for your tinnitus so you can get started on the road to a better quality of life! Please get in touch today.