Is There a Treatment for Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is a surprisingly common condition; it is estimated that 15 percent of all Americans will experience some form of tinnitus at some point in their lives. However, while the condition is commonplace, treating it is far from simple.

There are a number of reasons why treating tinnitus can be problematic:

• Tinnitus is a variable condition for the individual. Symptoms may come and go, or be worse at certain times of the day, which can make it hard to establish a baseline from which to judge improvement.
• Tracing the cause of tinnitus is very difficult and, for the majority of individuals, the cause will never specifically be established. Tinnitus is a condition that can just happen, seemingly even when someone is in otherwise perfect health.
• Tinnitus also varies considerably between people, both in terms of severity and even the types of noises they are hearing. As a result, treatment for tinnitus tends to need to be highly individualized, with a treatment plan that is designed specifically for each user.

Reading through the above, it may seem that all hope is lost and that anyone who experiences tinnitus will just have to find a way to live with it. Thankfully, this isn’t the case; there are treatment options for tinnitus, which we will discuss in more detail below.

Tinnitus retraining therapy

Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is a long process that seeks to “retrain” a person to not hear the noises caused by their tinnitus. While this may sound strange, there are plenty of noises we’ve all been conditioned to effectively not hear; the whir of a fan, for example, is unlikely to distract us from what we are doing. TRT works on the same principle and has been shown to be very effective.

Hearing aids with noise-masking features

Even if a person is not experiencing hearing loss, they may find that a hearing aid is the best choice when trying to resolve issues with tinnitus. Many hearing aids are equipped with a noise-masking capability, which continually plays sounds directly into the user’s ear. This may sound like it would make tinnitus worse, but it actually works as a kind of distraction, meaning that the sounds created by the tinnitus are far less noticeable and thus less bothersome.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a stress-reducing technique that some people may find beneficial for tinnitus, though success varies from person to person.

Solving the underlying cause

Above, we mentioned that tinnitus could occur for no obvious reason, even in people who appear to be entirely healthy. While this is true, it is not always the case. Tinnitus can have underlying causes, such as illnesses that cause problems with blood vessels; if those issues can be treated, then the tinnitus should resolve on its own.

Medications

Some medications have shown to be effective for tinnitus, though these are often prescribed more in hope than expectation of success. For most people, medication is not part of their tinnitus management strategy; noise-masking hearing aids are far more popular, and far more likely to produce lasting results.

Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy does not treat tinnitus itself but seeks to modify the way a person reacts to experiencing tinnitus. This type of treatment has varying degrees of success and is usually best combined with other measures, such as those listed above.

Tinnitus can undeniably be difficult to treat; however, as the above options show, it is far from impossible to gain some relief from the condition.