Hearing Tune

Treatment


	Medication
	Medications can occasionally be used to control tinnitus, although there is no one medication that works routinely with everyone. You may consider medical treatment for your tinnitus, although the side effects associated with these medications can sometimes be more bothersome than the tinnitus.

	Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)
	TRT is a method developed to facilitate habituation to tinnitus. It is consisted of sound enrichment therapy and directive counseling. Sound is employed to reduce the contrast between silence or ambient noise and the perception of tinnitus. This sound may be in the form of environmental sounds, amplification or broadband sound generating devices. A reduction of the perception of the tinnitus is considered essential to the process of habituation.

	Hearing aid fitting
	If you have hearing loss, environmental sounds alone may be inadequate to conceal the tinnitus. Hearing aids can amplify environmental sounds to an audible level, so not only can they enhance your listening and communication abilities, but they will also provide relief from your tinnitus.

	Tinnitus masker fitting
	If you do not have hearing loss, a tinnitus masker provides pitch-matched sound in an instrument that either partially or completely competes with or conceals the tinnitus.

	Stress management
	Stress can aggravate tinnitus and tinnitus can be very stressful, creating a cycle that can be difficult to break. There are different ways to release stress, for instance, breathing, playing sports, meeting friends, eating, taking a trip to other countries and etc. You just need to figure out which way works the best for you.

	Avoidance of noise exposure
	The prevalence of tinnitus is significantly greater for patients with extensive noise exposure. Tinnitus will get worse in the noisy environments. As a general rule of thumb, if the noise level is high enough that you must raise your voice to talk over it, then ear protection should be used.


Major factors contributing to successful tinnitus treatment

-	Tinnitus is not a disease but can be a symptom of ear problems, so the target of treatment shall not be to “cure” it. On the contrary, to figure out and treat the underlying cause(s) leading to tinnitus is the focus of treatment.

-	Tinnitus treatment shall be conducted by an audiologist with qualified tinnitus therapeutic background. (click TRT near you, then click Graduates of London UK TRT course, and refer to page 7)

-	Tinnitus therapist shall arrange sufficient time to meet patient in each consultation.

-	Tinnitus therapist shall obtain detail information from the patient. Case history as well as reports of hearing assessments and tinnitus evaluation is necessary for keep track of the patient status from time to time. Since every case is unique, treatment shall be custom-made according to the condition of patient.

-	Tinnitus therapist will explain the test findings to patient. Possible ways to improve the condition will also be discussed. If patient is required to undergo further examination by other specialties, the therapist will arrange for referrals accordingly.

-	The duration of tinnitus treatment will be depended on the condition of patient. It might last from 2 to 18 months. Patient shall follow the time table designed by the tinnitus therapist for follow-ups. Tinnitus therapists will encourage the patient to contact them whenever he has further questions on his condition.


Useful reminders to tinnitus patients

-	Keep healthy and take enough rest and sleep.

-	Avoidance of noise exposure.

-	Reduce the consumption of alcohol, caffeine and aspirin.

-	Control the diet, e.g. reduce the consumption of tea and spicy food.

-	Avoidance of herbal medication which claimed it can cure tinnitus effectively.

	**Although no medication can “cure” tinnitus at the moment, most tinnitus sufferers can improve their conditions with the assistance of audiologist with qualified tinnitus therapeutic background.


Suggested reading:

-	How stress affects tinnitus?
-	Tinnitus- a patient’s perspective.

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