Tinnitus can’t be cured, but there are treatments

MOSES LAKE — Some people say “tin-IT-us,” some say “TIN-it-us,” but however you pronounce it, it won’t go away and it can be maddening.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about tinnitus is that people often think of it as just ringing in the ears,” Hearing Instrument Specialist Alicia Lundquist, with Inland Hearing Aids in Moses Lake, wrote in an email to the Columbia Basin Herald. “In reality, it becomes a cognitive and emotional burden that follows many patients all day. The issue is not only the sound itself, but the secondary effects: fatigue, sleep disruption, reduced concentration, anxiety, irritability and mental overload. Over time, those factors absolutely can impact workplace performance and quality of life.”

Anywhere from 10% to 25% of adults suffer from tinnitus, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The sound can be a buzzing, but it can also sound like ringing, roaring, whistling, clicking or hissing. It may be constant, or it may come and go. The only certainty is that the sufferer hears it and nobody else does. A study taken earlier this year in the medical journal Brain Sciences found that 11% of people with tinnitus worked fewer hours, 7% had stopped working altogether and 1% had gone on disability.

“Tinnitus can have a profound impact on a person’s ability to function effectively in the workplace, particularly when the condition becomes intrusive enough to affect concentration, sleep, communication and stress levels,” she wrote. “The findings from the recent study are very consistent with what I see clinically in Moses Lake, especially as patients are exposed to constant environmental noise, high stress levels, long commutes and demanding work expectations. From a clinical perspective, I have seen tinnitus significantly affect professionals whose jobs rely heavily on concentration, communication and sustained cognitive processing.”

There doesn’t seem to be a single cause for the condition, according to the NIDCD, but it’s been linked to noise exposure, whether in the workplace or at a rock concert or explosions and gunfire experienced in the military. Age-related hearing loss can, but doesn’t necessarily, bring on tinnitus, and sometimes it’s a side effect from medication.

Tinnitus may be the result of damage to the inner ear, according to the NIDCD, causing the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound, to generate the phantom sounds. The noise may seem to be in the ears, but it’s literally all in the sufferer’s head.

Can anything be done about tinnitus? Well, yes and no. There’s no cure that will make it just go away, but there are coping strategies and lifestyle changes that can lessen the effect, according to Lundquist.

“Although there is no single cure for tinnitus, there are several effective strategies to manage and reduce its impact,” she wrote. “Stress management techniques and maintaining healthy sleep habits are important, as reducing overall stress levels can decrease the perceived intensity of tinnitus and improve daily functioning. I’d recommend trying meditation and try to reduce anxiety in any facet of your life. Also, tinnitus sufferers should avoid foods that cause inflammation (with a lot of salt). The Mediterranean Diet interestingly aligns well with reducing inflammation in the body – ears included.”

There are tabletop and smartphone generators that can help sufferers of mild tinnitus get some sleep. Hearing aids have had some success as well, Lundquist wrote.

“Hearing aids are often a key component of treatment, particularly for patients with hearing loss, as amplification can help mask tinnitus and improve overall sound clarity,” she wrote. “Many modern hearing devices also include sound therapy features specifically designed to provide relief and promote habituation (using) a tinnitus masker, which is an external sound designed to cover or blend with the ringing in the ears. The goal is to reduce the perception of tinnitus and help the brain focus on external sound instead of the ringing.

“I have personally had multiple patients say that they were previously told to learn to deal with their tinnitus because there is no cure,” Lundquist wrote. “While it is correct there is no magic pill, there is most certainly effective treatment, and I cannot think of a case I’ve had in Moses Lake where the tinnitus wasn’t at least reduced to a more manageable level.”

    Alicia Lundquist is a hearing instrument specialist with Inland Hearing Aids in Moses Lake.