Family Physician: A Friend to Depend On

Posted on: 22 June 2016

When the ringing just doesn't stop in your ears, you may be facing a condition called tinnitus. Some people hear ringing while others hear a "whooshing" sound. This condition rarely gets better on its own and often becomes worse. There are treatments for tinnitus and ways to help you cope with the sound so it doesn't impact your day. Here is what you need to know about this condition and how it is diagnosed and treated.

The Two Forms of Tinnitus

The ringing in your ears are due to the bones and blood vessels creating a vibration which your ear registers as a sound. Your doctor will begin by doing a physical examination of your ears, followed by a hearing test. They will classify your tinnitus one of two ways:

• Subjective - This is when only you can hear the sound.
• Objective - The sound can be heard by other people around you. This is the less common form of the two.

Another classification used is pulsatile tinnitus. With this condition, the sound is synchronize with your heartbeat.

The Causes of Tinnitus

Subjective tinnitus can appear as you age and the bones and tissues in your inner ear become rigid. They can't vibrate as freely and cause the ringing. Other reasons for subjective tinnitus include:

• inner ear infections
• bony growths in the middle ear
• ruptured ear drum
• nervous system issues

The objective form of tinnitus is related more to the bones, muscles and nerves in the ear and can be caused by:

• muscle spasms
• blocked eustachian tubes
• tumors in the middle ear
• fractured bones in or around the ear
• hypertension

Treating Tinnitus

The treatment of tinnitus is two-fold:

• treat the physical elements of the disease
• treat the psychological complications that result from the disease

Treatment of the physical elements include:

• removal of tumors or abnormal bone growths from inside of the ear
• medication to decrease inflammation and irritation of nerves and muscles
• treatment of the hypertension to lower blood pressure
• long-term antibiotics to stop ear infections from recurring

Treatment of the psychological elements include:

• white noise generating machines that make it difficult for the brain to focus on the ringing in the ears
• noise canceling hearing aids that emit frequencies that mingle with the ringing in the ear so the brain ignores both
• Tinnitus Retraining Therapy to make the brain less aware of the noises in the ear
• mindfulness meditation which allows a person to feel detached from the ringing so they can effectively ignore it
• hypnosis to teach the brain to respond to the ringing in less anxious ways

Some cases of tinnitus are incurable. Treating the psychological elements of the disease in people with persistent tinnitus allows then to lead normal lives and not be distracted by the ringing in the ears. Contact a business, such as Hearing Specialists of DuPage, for more information.