Tinnitus And Its Management
What is Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a physical condition which is the experience of hearing noises or ringing in the head or ears when no such external noise is present. It is caused by a fault in the hearing system of a person and is not a disease in itself. There are many different reasons which can cause tinnitus ranging from the presence of wax, a tumour, exposure to high noise levels and others.
Millions of people suffer from tinnitus every day and can range from a severe to a mild form. Tinnitus can be reduced or removed if proper care and professional help is provided. Things which can make the tinnitus worse are loud noises, stress, fatigue, medications or toxic substances.
Tinnitus may be associated with hearing loss. It may be sometimes present with normal hearing for no apparent reason. Tinnitus must be treated as a warning signal and the physician or doctor must be contacted when tinnitus occurs. It is advisable to visit an audiologist for proper diagnosis and treatment of the problem. Sometimes visit to an ENT (ear, nose and throat) specialist or dentist may be required.
Special Branded Hearing Aids
Sometimes special hearing aids may be fitted in the ear to deal with the problem of tinnitus. Good quality hearing aids can eliminate the problem of tinnitus. Hearing aids distract from the tinnitus by taking away the strain of listening and they bring in more sounds from the environment. A therapeutic noise generator may be used which looks like a hearing aid.
Tinnitus retraining therapy aims to eliminate the tinnitus and consists of auditory therapy and counselling along with hearing aids or therapeutic noise generators. Cognitive behaviour therapy is also offered by the clinical psychologists to focus attention away from the problem. Tinnitus may disappear after some surgical procedures even though there is no particular surgical cure for the symptoms.
Tinnitus is a complicated condition and symptoms may be different in each case. It can range from mild to severe and is caused by many different reasons. Prompt action must be taken in order to deal with the condition and care must be taken to reduce stress or tiredness.