Tinnitus Help - Stop the Ringing in Your Ears

A reader at the USA Today Health column asked if there's a hearing aid that can filter out the miserable ringing/buzzing in his ears due to heavy tinnitus.  The answer given was thorough: first make sure you see a doctor to check for treatable problems (which range from allergies to ear wax ).  If you have hearing loss, then the sounds in your head might well be a side effect of that condition. It seems that our brains compensate for the loss of sound inputs by creating sounds of their own .  The use of a sound-amplifying hearing aid can not only help you hear better, but it might also reduce your brain's need to make its own noise.  The balance of the column talks about distraction techniques and alternative therapies and notes that although tinnitus varies from case to case, it usually does fade with time and/or becomes "less bothersome." For example, some get relief by incorporating ambient sounds such as wind chimes into their daily routine. These sounds are

Are there  home remedies for tinnitus that are worth a try?  In his book "The Green Pharmacy," Dr. James A. Duke, suggests  ginkgo biloba at a "50:1 ratio" helps reduce tinnitus.  However, this may only be true if your tinnitus is caused by restricted blood and oxygen flow. "Studies show that Ginkgo biloba, which is a monoamine-oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) can effectively improve patients with tinnitus caused by ischemia due to having myricetin and quercetin flavonoids and ginkgolide and bilobalide terpenoids," according to a review paper in The International Tinnitus Journal . "Ginkgo biloba has antiplatelet and vascular modulator effects. In other words, it improves blood flow and appropriately regulates vascular tone." In the "Roots of Healing" by herbalist Deb Soule, there's a recommendation for something called a black cohosh tincture while in "The Herbal Handbook" (by the British herbalist David Hoffmann) goldenseal

Did you know that  Barbra Streisand has tinnitus?  Apparently she's had it since childhood. She's not the only celebrity with the condition; in fact, many famous people do. While not all famous people with tinnitus are musicians, they do turn up in greater proportion than celebrities who are not musicians, and include Phil Collins, Sting and Eric Clapton .  But non-musicians like actors and talk show hosts are among the sufferers too. They include William Shatner, Cher, David Letterman and Steve Martin to name just a few.  Garrison Keillor (the American writer and former radio personality) wrote about his tinnitus, saying: Some people consider cicadas pests but I found them comforting. I suffer from tinnitus, the ringing in the ears, and the cicadas chitter in the same frequency range as my inner ear and mask the ringing very nicely . I stood in the park where they were whirring around and I felt relief. Medicine has no remedy for tinnitus. I've tried acupuncture and that

People with tinnitus often find that physical exercise helps their condition -- both physically and mentally.  For instance, when your heart rate speeds up during a work-out, the blood flow to your inner ears increases too. Some tinnitus suffers find this decreases the noise in their heads.  Exercise can be a safety-valve as well, used to relieve depression, frustration and rage often associated with tinnitus.  And it's not just cardio exercise that helps: The meditative and self-disciplinary aspects of yoga can alleviate stress and help you focus past the noise. Reflexology (like  massage ) is another practice that if it doesn't actually help, can't hurt to try.  With tinnitus, a normal social life can sometimes become hard to manage.  If you join a gym or exercise club, it provides you with a place to go where it's easy not to be "social". In other words, the focus is not on chatting but rather on exercising. You still get to be with a group of like-mind

The short answer here is yes, your job can give you tinnitus. Exposure to noise at work is a significant occupational hazard.  A study done in the UK shows that during a typical year, almost five per cent of food manufacture workers suffer from ill health caused by or made worse by work. That's more than twice the number that suffer from a reportable injury at work. One of the main causes? Hearing loss. In order to maintain your hearing, protection is necessary when working with noise levels measuring over 80 decibels. Some typical noise levels associated with common tasks in the food industry include:  - Wrapping, cutting wrap, bagging, etc: 85-95dB - Milling operations: 85-100dB - Blast chillers/freezers: 85-107dB - Packaging machinery: 85-95dB Occupational noise-induced hearing loss including tinnitus is a totally preventable condition ; however, once the damage has been done there is no way of reversing the effects.  If your company does not attempt to control noise at the so

For many suffering from tinnitus, this won't come as any surprise, but research published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing shows that " not enough is being done to support patients " even though "as many as one in seven people will experience tinnitus, or ringing in their ears, at some time of their life."  We also know that young people suffer temporary hearing loss after attending concerts or nightclubs, but it's also " t he most common injury arising from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq ." Even so, and "despite the fact that it is a very distressing condition and can affect people's lifestyle and quality of life, around 94% of patients are simply told that nothing can be done to alleviate the condition ."  Professor Susan Holmes of the Canterbury Christ Church University at Kent, in the UK, goes on to say: Tinnitus is a widespread condition that affects millions of people across the world and there is considerable debate