Treatment
Treatment of
tinnitus depends on the cause. If the ringing in
your ears is due to age-related hearing loss or damage to your ears by
exposure to excessive noise, no treatment can reduce the noise.
Treatment consists mostly of managing the problem. Your doctor can
discuss with you steps you can take every day to reduce the severity of
the noise or to better cope with the noise.
If the ringing in
your ears is due to another health condition, your doctor may be able to
take steps that could reduce the noise, such as removing impacted
earwax. Tinnitus resulting from a vascular condition often can be
corrected by fixing the underlying problem. If a medication you're
taking appears to be the cause of tinnitus, your doctor may recommend
discontinuing the drug or switching to a different medication.
Coping skills
Sometimes symptoms
of tinnitus improve with time. Improvement is not the result of physical
changes, because any damage that has occurred to your ears is permanent
and irreversible. Instead, many people learn to make adjustments to
lessen the symptoms.
Try these
techniques for reducing the severity of the noise and increasing your
tolerance to it:
-
Avoid
possible irritants.
Tinnitus may be aggravated by loud noises, nicotine, caffeine, tonic
water, which contains quinine (the same substance as the medication
used to treat malaria), alcohol and excessive doses of aspirin.
Nicotine and caffeine constrict your blood vessels, increasing the
speed of blood flow through your veins and arteries. Alcohol
increases the force of your blood by dilating your blood vessels,
causing greater blood flow, especially in the inner ear area.
-
Cover up
the noise.
In a quiet setting, a fan, soft music or low-volume radio static may
help mask the noise from tinnitus. For some people, tinnitus maskers
— devices similar in appearance to hearing aids that produce a
pleasant noise — may help.
-
Wear a
hearing aid.
If tinnitus is accompanied by hearing loss, hearing aids can amplify
outside sounds, possibly making the tinnitus noise less obvious.
-
Manage
stress.
Stress can make tinnitus worse. Stress management, whether through
relaxation therapy, biofeedback or exercise, may provide some
relief.
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