Tinnitus trouble
Question
I have lived with a ringing sound in my ears for several months. My GP recently diagnosed it as a condition called tinnitus. Is this something I have just picked up, and will it ever go away?
Answer
The causes of tinnitus are not very well understood. What is known is that it's generally related to hearing disorders. If the tinnitus cannot be pinpointed to one specific physical cause, then often it cannot be cured. However, there are many ways that tinnitus can be controlled so the impact on your life is minimised.
One way of looking at tinnitus is as the brain's inability to filter out unimportant sensory information. Essentially this is a learned habit so you can actually re-teach yourself not to hear the ringing sound.
So, once examinations into the possible physical causes of tinnitus have been exhausted, the next step would be a referral to an audiological physician. They generally use a technique called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). The problem is that audiological physicians are very rare, and employed by few health authorities.
There are, however, many ways that you can help yourself to deal with your tinnitus. The British Tinnitus Association (BTA) state that, "it is well proven that people feel more able to get on top of their tinnitus when they are feeling otherwise well in themselves". So, it might be worth making sure that your general health has been taken care of, and that any unresolved issues such as depression or anxiety are dealt with.
The BTA also provide useful information relating to possible treatments for tinnitus. These include making sure that you avoid total silence (you may wish to listen to music as you go to sleep) and trying to build your tinnitus into a mental picture. They do stress that the most important factor is trying to remain calm; the more stressed you become the more your tinnitus will affect your quality of life.
The BTA offer advice, information and support. You can contact their helpline free phone on 0800 018 0527. They have local support groups, where you can speak to other people who have tinnitus and also provide a service that locates hospital services for tinnitus, both NHS and private, in your local area.
Updated: 06/06/2011
Question answered by bss
