What To Do With Tinnitus?
Tinnitus can severely limit the lives of those affected. Learn what tinnitus is, how it happens, and what you can do.
With tinnitus, those affected hear noises in the ears that do not really exist and can vary in volume and severity. How does it come about and what can you do?
Find out more about the annoying noises in your ears!
Tinnitus: noises in the ear
With tinnitus , those affected perceive noises that no one else can hear because they don’t really exist in the outside world. Patients can hear these sounds in one ear or in both ears. The hearing ability itself does not deteriorate as a result.
The sounds heard in tinnitus are very different and sometimes difficult to describe.
It can be a hissing, throbbing, knocking, beeping, humming, cracking, hissing or other noise that does not always occur in the real world and therefore cannot really be put into words.
Statistics say that around 15% of all Germans suffer from tinnitus, but estimates assume that the number of unreported cases is higher and significantly more people, up to 25%, perceive such noises in their ears.
What causes tinnitus?
Just as every tinnitus patient hears a different sound, the causes and triggers are also very different. Not everyone can – or wants to – attribute their noises to a specific cause, so that therapy is often impossible.
Possible causes and triggers are:
- Pop trauma
- Acoustic trauma
- Sudden hearing loss
- Diving accident
- decompression sickness
- Barotrauma
- high blood pressure
- stress
- Earwax plugs or other foreign bodies
- Inflammation
- Otitis media
- Middle ear diseases (e.g. otosclerosis)
- Infections (e.g. Lyme disease)
- Autoimmune diseases
- Tumors
- Hearing loss
- Medicines (e.g. loratadine)
The following can also lead to tinnitus: Meniere’s disease, Costen’s syndrome, hydrops cochleae, endolymphatic fluctuations, ototoxic substances, semicircular canal dysfunction, craniomandibular dysfunction (CMD), vascular malformations, soft palate nystagmus, tubal dysfunction.
Noise in the ear does not arise in the ear itself
Research into tinnitus has not yet been completed, but one thing is certain: the noises in the ears persist even if the auditory nerve is cut and there is actually no more hearing !
So a noise is heard without actually being able to hear it. It is therefore clear that the noise in the ear does not arise in the ear itself, but in the brain.
This also explains why people who do not suffer from any of the symptoms mentioned in the previous paragraph can get tinnitus. In such cases it is difficult to find a solution to the problem, therapy or an improvement in the condition.
What to do with tinnitus What helps?
Given the multitude of possible causes and triggers, it becomes clear that there is no one single recipe !
Therefore, it is especially important that the doctor first make the correct diagnosis, rule out possible causes, and thoroughly examine the patient to find out the cause. The better the diagnosis, the better the therapy!
The list of possible therapies seems endless, because until today there are hardly any scientifically proven therapies that guarantee that the noises in the ears will disappear and the tinnitus will say goodbye.
An incomplete list of possible therapeutic approaches is this one:
- Vitamin E supplements
- magnesium
- Glucocorticoids (e.g. cortisone)
- Local anesthetics
- active ingredients that promote blood circulation
- Substances that interfere with the neurotransmitter household
- Antidepressants
- Brain pacemaker
- cognitive behavioral therapy
- psychotherapy
- Hearing aids
- Relaxation exercises
- autogenic training
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- frequency filtered music / broadband noise
- Oxygen therapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Jaw correction
- Correction of the atlas vertebra
- Laser therapy
Most of these therapies have no greater effect than placebo therapies, which means that a positive basic attitude towards the form of therapy chosen by the patient promises much success.
How to live with it?
A possible consequence of tinnitus can be depression, which is why it is important to learn how to deal with noises in the ear at an early stage.
Methods for coping with stress not only help against excessive perception of noises, relaxation exercises also have other positive effects on health.
It helps a lot to develop strategies that prevent people from focusing on the noises in their ears and not attaching too much importance to them.
With this strategy alone, a good quality of life can be achieved in the long term. There are self-help groups and therapy offers that effectively support this strategy.
What can you do preventively?
Since the cause is not the same in all patients, there is no generally applicable preventive measure.
Statistically speaking, more people get noises in their ears if they are regularly exposed to high noise levels above 70 decibels, for example at work or during hobbies and leisure activities.
Noise protection is not only a good prevention of noises in the ears, but also generally healthy, because our hearing also suffers from noise.
Avoid exposing your ears to excessive noise levels and use hearing protection, such as good earplugs made of sound-absorbing foam, specially made hearing protection from an acoustician or soundproof headphones, depending on the purpose.
Note that there is usually increased noise exposure during leisure time, for example when going to concerts, discos or riding a motorcycle. Protect your hearing, not just to prevent tinnitus!
