Cure for Tinnitus

It is important to keep in mind that tinnitus is a symptom, not a disease. As such, the optimal treatment strategy should be directed toward eliminating the disease, rather than simply alleviating the symptom. Also, because tinnitus may be symptomatic of a more serious disorder, it is important to try to find the medical cause before deciding on treatment.

Preventing and Minimizing Tinnitus

Here are some things patients can do to help prevent and minimize tinnitus:

• Reduce exposure to extremely loud noise
• Avoid total silence
• Decrease salt intake
• Monitor one's blood pressure
• Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine
• Reduce fatigue
• Manage stress
• Educate yourself

While there is no known cure for most forms of tinnitus, there are many management options available and most tinnitus sufferers can find varying degrees of relief from one or a combination of the following.

Medications

There is no single medication that works on all tinnitus patients. Some of the antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications available are helpful for certain tinnitus patients, however more research is needed in this area.

Auditory Habituation or Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

These techniques consist of two main components -- directive counseling and low level sound generators.

• Directive counseling provides intensive, individualized education regarding the causes and effects of tinnitus on the ear, the brain, and the coping mechanism.
• Low-level sound generators produce broadband noise via hearing aid type devices at a soft enough level so that the brain perceives both the noise and the tinnitus. Eventually, the brain may relearn a pattern that will de-emphasize the importance of the tinnitus. These devices also may be helpful in desensitizing patients who are overly sensitive to sound.