Many people wonder what tinnitus means and if there is a treatment for tinnitus. Simply stated, tinnitus is a ringing in the ears. In most cases, it can be any type of sound that comes from within the head and not the outside world.

When someone suffers from tinnitus, the most frequently heard sound is ringing. However, people who suffer from this can also hear buzzing, humming, hissing, and whistling.

Tinnitus is not, however, voices in the head. If you are hearing voices in the head, this is most likely due to a mental disorder or sometimes due to temporal lobe epilepsy.

Tinnitus treatments are very common in the US and the UK. It is becoming more common especially as people start to age. It has been reported that in the UK, one in ten individuals suffer from tinnitus. In the United States, one in seven suffer from this illness.

There are two types of tinnitus, objective and subjective. The objective form of the condition occurs when there are structures in the head causing noises to be picked up by the ear from the inside rather than the outside. These sounds can be heard by other people. Some examples of these sounds are:

• Movement of blood through partially blocked vessels
• Rapid blood flow through tumors
• Spasms in muscles around the ear
• Problems with the eustachian tube

The subjective form of tinnitus is when there is no stimulus to the hearing apparatus. Some examples of this are:

• Meniere’s disease
• Impacted wax in the ear
• Infections of the ear and of the brain
• Neurological: degenerative disease, head injury, acoustic neuroma
• Age related deafness
• Noise induced: in those exposed to loud noises such as gunfire, explosion and loud music
• Drugs: medicinal drugs such as salicylates and other non steroidal anti inflammatories

Tinnitus Treatments & Management

When someone is diagnosed with the objective form of tinnitus, the solution is to remove the cause. This can be by resectioning the tumour, improve the blood flow, and so on.

In some cases, the subjective form can also be dealt with and treated. Subjective tinnitus treatment would be as easy as treating the infection, quitting the drug, and removing the neuroma. However, if the tinnitus is due to ear damage, loss of hearing, or Meniere’s disease, the problem is not treatable, but can be managed.

Here are some methods that you can try out to manage your untreatable tinnitus:

• Tinnitus masking: Using masking devices to create low level constant noise can help reduce tinnitus.
• Reassurance: Doctors can explain to their patients that tinnitus is not due to anything sinister. Anxiety usually makes tinnitus worse so anything you can do to reduce your anxiety, the better.
• Retraining therapy: Teaching a patient how to get use to the tinnitus and adapt to it is a great way to overcome the problem. It can be very effective, but might take some time.
• Drugs: Some antidepressants and antianxiety medications have been found to help some people with their tinnitus.
• Alternative therapy: Some people have reported that an increase in vitamin A and C has been helpful in reducing their tinnitus symptoms.

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