The Latest Buzz on Tinnitus

The hidden medical issue. Tinnitus. I have a couple of friends who have casually mentioned they suffer from this. I also have a friend whose husband thinks he's going to go crazy due to tinnitus. Apparently each person bears this disease individually and differently.

Tinnitus is often described as "ringing in the ears." The Latin, tinnire, means "to ring." But it isn't necessarily ringing. It could be buzzing, humming, whistling, hissing, and even roaring.

According to the American Tinnitus Association, 12 million people, most of them over 60, experience symptoms severe enough to seek medical advice. But, so far, there is no cure.

There's a great article in this month's John Hopkins Medical Letter: Health After 50 (July 2009) on tinnitus.

Since the cause of tinnitus is frequently in the inner ear, so the article suggests anyone who complains of these symptoms get an audiogram (hearing test), which will indicate how much hearing has been lost. It will also help determine if "centrally located tinnitus" is the more likely cause.

Be advised that there are medical conditions or medication which could be contributing to the effect, including thyroid disorders and high blood pressure, as well as 200 possible medications, including common pain relievers. Many patients are also given an MRI scan, which can detect tumors, enlarged blood vessels, or other abnormalities.

The article suggests that the first step in treatment is to cut out caffeine. "Many people who give up caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, and soda and foods like chocolate find that their tinnitus symptoms improve," says Dr. Lloyd Minor, M.D., Director of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at John Hopkins.

Another treatment is "to mask the internal noise with external noise." You might find relief from the noise of a fan or humidifier. Headphones can also help mask tinnitus with sounds, music or white noise. In-ear masking devices are available, but they're rather expensive (around $1,400). There's also such a thing as a Tinnitus Retraining Device (TRT), which combines ear devices that emit low-volume sounds with active counseling about tinnitus. The idea is that you retrain your brain to turn tinnitus into background noise. Treatment can be rather expensive, and can take up to two years.

Since those who suffer from tinnitus can suffer from anxiety and depression, and it's not surprising that they do, it's important that those who do get tested and then try some of these treatments to see if they can relieve the pain.