Embarrassing Illnesses

Tinnitus can be caused by a wide variety of different health conditions. Therefore, the treatment that is recommended for you will depend on whether your tinnitus has an underlying cause.

For example, if your tinnitus is caused by a severe or long-term ear infection, antibiotics may be prescribed. If it is caused by a build up of earwax, then eardrops or ear irrigation (where a pressurised flow of water is used to remove the earwax) may be recommended.

However, in most cases of tinnitus, there is no cure and so treatment is aimed at managing the symptom on a day-to-day basis. Staff at specialist tinnitus clinics can give you information about tinnitus, and help you develop a strategy to manage it more effectively.

Some of the treatments that may be recommended are described below.

Sound therapy

Tinnitus is often most noticeable in quiet environments. Therefore, the idea behind sound therapy is to fill the silence with sounds that you find pleasant in order to distract you from the sound of tinnitus.

Some people find that having the radio or television on provides enough background noise to mask the sound of tinnitus. Others prefer to listen to more natural, relaxing sounds, such as the sound of the sea.

A sound generator may be useful if you do not have any hearing loss. It produces a constant, gentle sound (often described as white noise), and can help you to retrain your brain to ignore tinnitus. To do this, the volume should be positioned at just below the level of your tinnitus.

Counselling

Understanding tinnitus is an important part in learning how to manage it more effectively. Counselling is a talking therapy that helps you to learn more about your tinnitus and to find ways of coping with it.

A counsellor is someone who is trained to listen, talk through problems with you and help you to develop possible solutions. Talking about your tinnitus, and how it affects your everyday life, may help you to understand the condition better and perhaps lessen its effects.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

CBT is the term used to describe a number of therapies designed to help treat problems such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

CBT is based on the idea that a person’s thoughts affect the way that they behave. Treatment is therefore aimed at retraining the way a person thinks in order to change their behaviour.

If you have tinnitus, and your knowledge about it is limited, you may have certain ideas about it that make you anxious and distressed. However, if these beliefs are untrue, changing them may help to reduce your stress and anxiety.

Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT)

The tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) technique uses a combination of sound therapy and counselling to help people to cope better with their tinnitus.

TRT involves retraining the way that your brain responds to tinnitus sound so that you start to tune out of it and become less aware of it.

TRT should only be carried out by someone who has been trained in the technique. The number of recommended sessions of TRT can vary. Some people may only need to have a few sessions, whereas others may need to have several.

Self help

Some people are able to manage their tinnitus using a number of self-help techniques. Some self-help techniques that you may find useful are outlined below.

• Relaxation. Stress can make your tinnitus worse. Regular exercise, such as yoga, may help you relax.
• Listening to music. Calming music and sounds may also help you to relax and fall sleep at bedtime.
• Sound generators. These are also known as white noise generators or tinnitus maskers. They may be useful for drowning out the sound of tinnitus (see Sound therapy above).
• Hearing aids. If you have hearing loss, using a hearing aid may help with your tinnitus. This is because hearing sounds that you would not otherwise be able to hear may help override the tinnitus noise.
• Support groups. Sharing your experiences with other people who have tinnitus may help you to cope better with the symptom. For details of the nearest tinnitus support group in your area, contact the Royal National Institute for Deaf People’s (RNID) tinnitus helpline on 0808 808 6666.

Medication

There is currently no specific medication to treat tinnitus. However, as tinnitus can sometimes cause anxiety and depression, medication such as antidepressants may sometimes be prescribed in combination with other forms of treatment, such as counselling.