Prevention and Treatment of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a good news/bad news condition. The good news is tinnitus is rarely serious, but the bad news is it can impact significantly your mood, concentration, or sleep patterns.

Suffering from tinnitus is like constantly listening to a radio station that isn’t tuned in, where everything you say, do or hear is set against the background of static noise. This might not matter too much during the day when there is a lot of competing background noise to distract you, but it can be intrusive at night when you are trying to sleep and aware of a constant high-pitched whining in your ear.

Prevention of Tinnitus

Your chances of suffering from tinnitus increase with age, and the majority of sufferers are aged 65 or over. However, there are definite risk factors which you can try to control, which decrease the chances of developing this annoying condition.

Keeping yourself in good shape by eating a healthy diet is an excellent start. This is because atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) increases the risk, as does high blood pressure. But if you already eat well and exercise regularly what else can you do?

One preventative measure is to be careful how you clean your ears. Avoid using cotton tips to remove ear wax, as these can push wax deeper into the ear. A buildup of wax against the ear drum can induce tinnitus.

Also, take care when exposing yourself to loud noises, including seemingly innocuous things like using a hair dryer. It is best to protect your hearing with the use of ear plugs or defenders when using noisy devices (including hair dryers) such as leaf blowers, lawn mowers, riding a motor bike, or attending musical events.

Treatment of Tinnitus

In cases where there is an underlying health problem, such as arterial disease or high blood pressure, the doctor with target treatment against those inciting conditions as an indirect (but important) way of treating the tinnitus.  

Also, know that your doctor or audiologist can remove ear wax accumulations in a safe and effective way, so you don’t need to use cotton tips.

When no underlying cause is found for the tinnitus, while there is no direct treatment, there are a number of strategies that alleviate the annoyance of a constant whistling in the ear. If you suffer from hearing loss, getting fitted with a hearing device prevents you from straining to hear, which can exaggerate the tinnitus.

Many people find sound therapy beneficial. This involves listening to quiet background sounds of neutral noise or soft music, which shifts the focus from the internal ringing. This is especially helpful at night, when there are fewer distractions from the tinnitus.

A great person with which to speak about tinnitus is your audiologist. He or she can advise you on coping strategies, such as sound-generators that fit in your pillow, or tiny in-ear devices to generate white noise, so you can have a better quality of life.