Tinnitus is the phenomenon of ringing in the ears or the sensation of other noises when there is no external noise source present. Up to 20% of the population experiences tinnitus to some degree. There are two classifications of tinnitus: subjective tinnitus and objective tinnitus, but if you have this problem, chances are that you don’t care where the noises come from, you just want to stop tinnitus period.
Subjective tinnitus occurs at any point in the auditory system, from ear to brain, and it is not understood that well. Causes can be many, and there is debate about different causes. Tinnitus sounds like anything from a metal “ringing” sound, to blowing, buzzing, roaring, popping, or nonrhythmic pounding. Sometimes it is accompanied by audiometric data indicating hearing loss, whether the hearing loss is conductive (having to do with the ear structures) or sensorineural (having to do with nerve d amage). Conditions like Meniere’s disease, otosclerosis, auditory nerve lesions, and temporomandibular (TMJ) syndrome are associated with tinnitus. Because it is such a widespread phenomenon with so many causes, it is not that easy to stop tinnitus.
Objective tinnitus is a rare form of the condition. It consists of noises in the head that are actually audible to other people as well as the person with the condition. This type of tinnitus is caused by vascular (circulatory) anomalies, though it can also be caused by inner ear defects, or repetitive muscle contractions. With this form of tinnitus, the clinician examining the person with tinnitus can sometimes hear the sound that the patient hears by using a stethescope.
While objective tinnitus can be totally benign, it can also come from more dangerous conditions, such as increased intracranial pressure or turbulent flow through compressed vascular structures at the base of the brain . People with objective tinnitus may hear a whooshing sound that is actually caused by their own pulse, and this form of tinnitus is called pulsatile tinnitus. People with objective tinnitus who need help to stop tinnitus may have to use different techniques than people with other types of tinnitus.
Many people with tinnitus say that it sounds like a high-pitched squeal that is sometimes emitted by television sets and computer monitors, while other say that it sounds like hissing steam, crickets, bells, breaking glass, whooshing water, or even power tools. Sudden head motions, like during dancing or jogging can make the perceived volume of the sound go up.
Some 80% of tinnitus sufferers report that the sound is tonal and has a loudness of 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the loudest. The remaining tinnitus patients report the sound to be atonal noise with an average volume of 5.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. Nearly 70% of people with tinnitus are able to have the noise masked by sounds that are 14 decibels above threshold hearing volume. Over half of people with tinnitus perceive the sound to be in both ears, with nearly a quarter reporting that the noise comes from “somewhere inside the head.” The rest of the people who want to stop tinnitus report the sound as coming from one ear or the other.
Over 40% of people with tinnitus never know the cause of it. Nearly 25% of people affected have experienced excessive noise exposure. However, for those who want help to stop tinnitus, there are a number of approaches that are easy to try. For one thing, certain foods may trigger tinnitus. Some of the foods most commonly reported to increase tinnitus are chocolate, cheese, and red wine. Coincidentally, these are some of the same foods that are blamed for triggering migraine headaches. Foods rich in salicylates and foods that contain the no-calorie sweetener Aspartame are often blamed for inducing tinnitus. Marijuana is often reported to worsen existing cases of tinnitus.
Lyme disease can cause tinnitus, as can benign tumors on the auditory nerves. People with tinnitus in one ear only should have it evaluated by a physician to rule out this possibility. It may take an MRI scan for a definitive diagnosis. Acoustic neuromas can be removed by surgery, but the surgery itself can cause hearing loss. Glomous tumors are benign tumors of a glomus body that can cause the sensation of pulsatile roaring. (Glomus bodies are part of the dermis layer of skin whose job it is to route blood away from the skin surface when it is exposed to cold and allow maximum heat flow to the skin when it is exposed to heat.) Glomous tumors can be removed surgically. While the idea of even benign tumors is frightening, surgical removal is one way to stop tinnitus.
Otosclerosis is a skeletal growth of tissue around the middle ear bone called the stapes. Since this particular bone forms the seal separating the middle ear from the inner ear, the calcification does not allow vibrations to pass into the inner ear, and the result is hearing loss and often tinnitus. Ototoxic antibiotics, vascular abnormalities, stress, and intracranial hypertension are other causes of tinnitus. Traumatic head injury and dental surgery have also been associated with tinnitus. Various other drugs are linked with tinnitus, such as aspirin, naproxen sodium, ibuprofen, and other similar drugs. Halting use of the drugs may or may not stop tinnitus. Certain antidepressants, oral contraceptives, and chemo therapy drugs can result in tinnitus.
While it isn’t always easy to stop tinnitus, there are things that a person with tinnitus can do to minimize it. For one thing, lowering cholesterol can help, as can avoidance of many of the guilty pleasures of life such as alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, high fat foods, and high sodium foods.
There are many other measures you can try to stop tinnitus. The problem is, no one technique works in all cases, so there is bound to be some trial and error involved. Avoiding exposure to excessive noise is advisable even for people who don’t have tinnitus. You should use ear protection in any environment where you have to raise your voice to be heard over ambient noise. While this won’t help any hearing loss you already have, it can keep hearing from being damaged further.
Plain old healthy living is one tried and at least sometimes true approach to stop tinnitus. Regular exercise, a healthy diet, and adequate sleep are important. Some people believe that practicing yoga is great for people who need help to stop tinnitus. Yoga keeps the body in healthy condition and is a great way to lower stress, which can aggravate tinnitus. Since tinnitus is more a symptom than a disease, it is important to find out to the best of your ability what causes or caused your tinnitus in order to address the problem directly. This may not stop tinnitus, but it may prevent it from worsening.
Fortunately, many of the techniques that people use to stop tinnitus do not involve seeing a physician. Of course, worsening tinnitus, especially on one side of the head, should be checked out by a physician, but the common tinnitus that results from excessive noise exposure and the effects of age may be addressed non-medically. If you suspect that you can stop tinnitus by having your ear purged of earwax, don’t try to do this yourself, or you can seriously damage your ears. An ear, nose, and throat specialist knows how to clean wax out of your ears without hurting them.
One technique that some tinnitus sufferers swear by is a drumming technique on the back of the skull. With palms over the ears, and middle fingers resting on the base of the skull, you lift the index fingers up onto the middle fingers, then snap them off the middle fingers to make a drumming sound. It may be very loud, but it should not hurt. After 40 to 50 thumps, stop. It is safe to do this several times a day. Whether it diminishes perceived tinnitus because of its own loudness, or whether it actually does something to stop tinnitus is the subject of debate.
Even if you are unable to stop tinnitus, it is important to protect your hearing because the more incidental hearing damage you experience, the more intractable the tinnitus will become. This means protecting your ears with noise blocking ear plugs when you are in noisy environments, particularly very noisy environments like industrial areas and rock concerts. Earplugs may not be hip, but you’ll be glad you used them as you get older.