Tinnitus Sucks!

Have you tried it? How did it work for you?

Non-invasive tinnitus treatment? Sounds good to us!!! What do you think?

Many clinics are now using a team approach for tinnitus treatment. The team members work closely together to ensure the best treatment program and the highest standard of care for the patient.

Meet The Tinnitus Treatment Team

The physician conducts the initial consultation, which is centered on gaining an in-depth understanding of the patient’s tinnitus symptoms, history, and determining the underlying cause. During this appointment, the physician performs a comprehensive review of the patient’s medical, family, and psychosocial history and their current medication regimen, plus a thorough physical examination.  Additional tests also may be indicated such as vestibular testing, brainstem auditory evoked response testing, and a CT or MRI scan. These tests contribute to creating a comprehensive tinnitus treatment plan that addresses all of the patient’s issues.

The audiologist will perform an array of tests that will provide information about the individual’s tinnitus, hearing, and hyperacusis. Some of these tests are specific to the individual’s tinnitus symptoms. In the US, audiologists have a bachelor’s and masters degree which trains them to treat, diagnose, and monitor ear disorders.

Lastly, the psychologist can be consulted to assist in the treatment of patients with severe tinnitus disturbance that is really effecting the patient’s life. An important member of any tinnitus treatment team, the psychologist focuses on addressing cognitive distortions relating to tinnitus and identifying significant anxiety or depression. Psychologists can help patients learn how to accept the tinnitus if it is chronic and address any issues that the patient has in their life that can contribute to the tinnitus getting worse.

The physician and audiologist will discuss the results of the exam and testing and formulate a tinnitus treatment plan designed specifically for each patient. Patients will be offered a counseling session at which concerns and questions will be addressed, information about tinnitus will be provided, the causes of tinnitus will be discussed and a treatment plan will be proposed.

Have you seen a tinnitus treatment team? If so, how was it? Did you find it better than seeing just one doctor?

There are many tinnitus causes, but here are nine causes you may not know about:

Allergies
Allergies can trigger tinnitus. Many people don’t connect what they have eaten with the level of their tinnitus, they don’t notice the mold that may be lurking inside their homes, or the pollen they are surrounded by when outside.

Ear Problems
There are some ear conditions that may also trigger tinnitus. Many experience tinnitus when they have a middle ear infection, or a sinus infection. If this is the case, the tinnitus usually lessens and gradually fades away when the infection subsides. Buildup of excess wax in your ears can also trigger it.

Hearing Loss
In many cases hearing loss and tinnitus go hand in hand. The tinnitus does not cause hearing loss, it is actually the other way around. Often times the tinnitus fades away when wearing a hearing aid to correct the hearing loss. However, it can come back when you remove the hearing aid at night to sleep.

Foods
Red wine, grain-based spirits, cheese, high sodium diets, high fat intake, MSG, caffeine and even some spices can all make tinnitus worse in some people.

Stress
While stress, anxiety and tension is not a direct cause of tinnitus, it can make your tinnitus worse.

Exposure to Loud Noise
Exposure to loud noise and hearing loss generally go together. Exposure to harmful sounds causes damage to the hair cells as well as the auditory, or hearing, nerve. Impulse sound can result in immediate hearing loss that may be permanent. This kind of hearing loss may be accompanied by tinnitus—a ringing, buzzing, or roaring in the ears or head—which may subside over time. Hearing loss and tinnitus may be experienced in one or both ears, and tinnitus may continue constantly or occasionally throughout a lifetime.

Medications
Many medications also can cause tinnitus (see list below). Generally this is thought to arise from their effect on the cochlea (inner ear).
NSAIDS (motrin, naproxen, relafen, etc)
Aspirin and other salicylates
Lasix and other “loop” diuretics
“Mycin” antibiotics such as vancomycin
Quinine and related drugs
Chemotherapy such as cis-platin

Other Tinnitus Causes

TMJ Disorder
For unknown reasons, approximately 33% of patients with a TMJ disorder experience noise or ringing in the ears (tinnitus). Of those patients, it is estimated that approximately half will have resolution of their tinnitus after successful treatment of their TMJ disorder.

Other Causes
Meniere’s disease includes dizziness, tinnitus, and fullness in the ear or hearing loss that can last for hours, but then goes away. This disease is actually caused by a problem in the ear itself. The tinnitus is merely a symptom.
Acoustic Neuroma (brain tumor) is a rare cause of tinnitus The tumors grow on the nerve that supplies hearing and can cause tinnitus. This type of tinnitus is usually only noticed in one ear, unlike the more common sort caused by hearing loss usually seen in both ears.
Injury involving neck or head such as whiplash.

Did you learn any tinnitus causes that you didn’t know? What is the cause of your tinnitus?