While tinnitus doesn’t have a universal cure, effective treatments can significantly reduce its impact. Identifying the underlying condition often associated with tinnitus may lead to medical or surgical solutions that can alleviate tinnitus symptoms, especially for pulsatile tinnitus, where cure rates are typically high once the issue is identified. However, in cases where the exact cause of tinnitus is unknown or treatment options are limited, our specialists at Hearing Concepts utilize various strategies to successfully manage symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Addressing the Cause of Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a condition that’s usually caused by an underlying condition. We try to identify and, when possible, treat that underlying condition as part of our care process. This can include:
- Hearing loss
- Prolonged exposure to loud noises
- Earwax blockages
- Aging
- Medication
- Vascular disorders
- Stress or depression
- Head or neck injuries
What Treatments Are Available?
Once we’ve identified the root cause of your tinnitus, we can begin addressing it with targeted care. There are several forms of treatment available, including each of the following.
Before reviewing these, it’s important to note that there is no known cure for tinnitus. Treatments can reduce symptoms greatly and make it much easier to live with the condition, but may not solve it entirely.
- Sound therapy: One of the most common treatments for tinnitus is sound therapy. As the name implies, this uses sounds to train the brain to stop focusing on tinnitus. This has the impact of reducing symptoms and diminishing the emotional challenges of the condition.
- Sound machines: Sound machines are valuable tools for managing tinnitus, offering relief by masking the ringing or buzzing sounds with soothing background noises such as white noise, nature sounds or gentle music. These devices work by providing a constant, low-level sound that helps distract from the perception of tinnitus, making it less noticeable and easier to ignore during quiet moments.
- Hearing aids: Modern hearing aids now include a variety of tinnitus-masking features. These block tinnitus sounds to provide much-needed relief. We may recommend hearing aids for your tinnitus whether you have co-occurring hearing loss or not. It’ll depend on the type and severity of your condition, among other factors.
- Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT): Finally, we may recommend tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT). This is a form of therapy that attempts to retrain the brain so it perceives your tinnitus differently. A typical plan may also include behavioral therapy to help you deal with emotional difficulties like depression, stress or anger.
Whatever form of care we use, tinnitus treatment can be an important step toward overcoming this health obstacle and living a better life. As part of this, you may need to improve your management of associated health problems. Our hearing specialists can help make recommendations when appropriate.