Tinnitus Help - Stop the Ringing in Your Ears

Teens develop a 60-second cure for noise-induced tinnitus. Two Irish physics students have invented sound therapy for temporary tinnitus. Awarded runner-up prizes at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition this year, their project for the exhibition was to test their sound therapy (a 60-second low frequency tone administered through head phones) on 250 subjects who were experiencing temporary tinnitus. The therapy had a 99 percent success rate. Temporary noise-induced tinnitus is a type of tinnitus that is caused by exposure to loud noises. It usually goes away on its own within a few hours or days. The loud noise causes damage to the inner ear and causes a ringing, buzzing, or hissing sound in the ear. Since it goes away anyway by itself, what's the big deal about this sound therapy? It takes a much shorter time to alleviate symptoms -- and it may point to a "cure" for long-term sufferers. One of the inventors says: "After coming out of discos or listenin

Australian researchers think that some forms of tinnitus can be successfully treated if action is taken immediately upon diagnosis. Basically, if the overactive nerve activity associated with tinnitus is calmed before the pattern becomes established, the condition can be corrected.  Professor Don Robertson of the University of Western Australia says the nerve activity can be dampened in three ways: by surgery on the inner ear; by "cooling down" the ear; and by use of nerve-impulse blocking drugs. From the onset of increased nerve activity, it takes only about six weeks for the brain to begin making the whistling and roaring noises on its own, "independent of input from the ears." Researchers say further work was needed to find ways to exploit this potential window of opportunity. Robertson adds that "although a lot more research needs to be done at this stage, it is a very exciting prospect." Read the full article here . Try Quietum Plus

If you answer YES to 3 or more of the following questions, it may mean that you have hearing loss and should be evaluated by an audiologist : - Does your family complain that you turn the TV volume up too high? - Do you have a problem hearing on the phone? - Do you often have to ask people to repeat themselves? - Do you hear better on one ear than the other when you are on the telephone? - Do you have trouble following conversations that involve two or more people talking at the same time? - Do you have trouble understanding women and children are saying? - Do you have to strain to understand a conversation? - Does it seem to you that a lot of people mumble (or don't speak clearly)? - Do you have trouble hearing when the background is noisy? - Do you have trouble hearing in restaurants?  - Do family members or colleagues often make remarks about the fact that you missed what's just been said? - Do you ever have dizziness, pain, or ringing in your ears? - Do people get annoyed

An article summary called " Haemodynamic profile of young subjects with transient tinnitus" from Audiological Medicine (dated December 8, 2009) says a study shows that people (between the ages of 18 and 40) with a history of transient tinnitus seem to have smaller cardiac structural characteristics than normal,  even though their ultrasounds were normal.  It makes sense that a smaller heart or valves can't pump or circulate blood quite as forcefully as a normal sized heart can.  And this comparatively poor blood circulation affects organs adversely -- including the cochlear in the inner ear -- with its adverse effect showing up as tinnitus .  The summary concludes that the observation indirectly supports the theory of a cochlear origin of tinnitus in a number of cases and is reminiscent of what happens in hypertension and heart failure. You can read an abstract of the report  or the summary .   Try Quietum Plus

Meniere's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that tends to affect middle-aged people (between the ages 40-50), with some 600,000 people in the U.S. alone being diagnosed with the condition.  In addition to ringing in one or both ears ( tinnitus ), people with Meniere's disease also experience dizziness (vertigo), hearing loss and pressure in the affected ear(s).  If you experience any of the following symptoms , together or separately, ask your doctor if you have Meniere's disease: Sudden and repeated dizziness with loss of balance. Loss of hearing (even if it's not permanent loss). Tinnitus (sounds in your head that no one else can hear). A feeling of fullness or pressure in either ear or both ears. UPDATE: "A very-low-salt diet improves symptoms for many patients. Diuretics - water pills - also help. Surgery that shunts fluid from the inner ear is another possibility.  For more on Menieres diseases, visit the Mayo Clinic .   Try Quietum Plus

Why are noises in your head so often linked to hearing loss?  Dr. Paul Donohue in The Herald Review reminds us that although hearing loss isn't the only cause of tinnitus (trauma to the ear or ear infections and even ear wax being other oft-noted culprits), it is one condition that does prompt the onset of tinnitus .   This is because the everyday assault of background noises to which we are accustomed and which " dampens noises generated by the brain and heard as tinnitus" is lost when hearing acuity diminishes. Without that auditory input, the inner noise becomes noticeable, and a person has tinnitus. This is why it is so important for people with tinnitus to have their hearing evaluated and to try different kinds of hearing aids. If the hearing loss is corrected, then the accompanying tinnitus -- caused by the loss of hearing the dampening background noises -- will also be corrected .  Read the full article here . Try Quietum Plus

A 2009 Norwegian study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reveals that of 1,402 men treated for testicular cancer, 29 percent reported hearing impairment and 22 percent reported tinnitus.  These were reported  as major symptoms troubling them either quite a bit or very much from between 4 to 21 years after such cancer treatment.  Long-term issues with hearing loss and tinnitus seemed to affect those men who had received high-dose cisplatin-based chemotherapy.  Those who smoked on a daily basis were also more likely to be affected than men in the study who had never smoked.  Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, November 25, 2009. Reported by Reuters Try Quietum Plus

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