Audiology for Tinnitus

The American Tinnitus Association estimates that over 50 million Americans experience tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. Although 75% of these individuals are not seriously disturbed by the ringing, 25% find the condition bothersome enough to seek medical attention. Tinnitus can affect one's life by causing sleep difficulties, fatigue, stress, irritability, difficulty in concentrating, and depression. People with severe cases of tinnitus may find it difficult to work or perform tasks essential to their day-to-day lives.

There is no routine cure for tinnitus but treatment can help quiet it. Conventional treatment includes anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, and sleep medications. This care is usually temporary, designed to help the tinnitus sufferer cope with the noise. However, these drugs can be habit-forming, and tinnitus sufferers may want to consider a different approach, such as audiological treatment.

How Audiology Can Help Tinnitus?

Audiologists take into account the whole person and are trained to evaluate, diagnose, develop management strategies, and provide treatment and rehabilitation for tinnitus. In addition to performing an audiologic exam, or hearing test, an audiologist will take a full case history of the patient to determine the onset of tinnitus, tinnitus symptoms, location of the noise, history of exposures to noise, family history of hearing loss and tinnitus, the effects tinnitus has on sleep and relationships, and what makes the tinnitus worse. The audiologist will use this information to determine the best treatment option. Oftentimes an audiologist will collaborate with an ear, nose, and throat doctor (otolaryngologist) to develop the best course of therapy.

Audiology Treatment Options for Tinnitus

The most effective treatment is to eliminate any underlying cause. Sometimes all it takes to relieve tinnitus is to clean the ear canal of wax build-up. Often just avoiding the triggers that make it worse (exposure to loud noises, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, some medications, eating certain foods, stress, and fatigue) will quiet the tinnitus. When a specific cause cannot be identified, the following are the most common treatment options available for tinnitus that are administered by an audiologist or physician:

• Biofeedback – An alternative treatment that by monitoring a patient’s bodily functions the patient has the ability to control his or her bodily reactions that were once believed to be unconscious. Biofeedback can help alleviate the bodily stress caused by tinnitus.

• Cochlear Implant - In this treatment, an electrode array is threaded into the cochlea of the ear and a receiver is implanted beneath the skin behind the ear. The electrode sends an electrical sound signal from the ear to the brain to mask the tinnitus sounds. This treatment is usually prescribed only to deaf or near deaf persons.

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy - A type of counseling used to help persons learn new ways of responding to their tinnitus. It is designed to minimize negative thoughts and behaviors toward tinnitus.

• Hearing Aids - Most persons with tinnitus also have a hearing loss. These persons can experience partial or total relief with a hearing aid as it amplifies their hearing and lessens their awareness of tinnitus noise.

• Stress Management - Tinnitus can be greatly relieved by reducing stress. Audiologists may recommend relaxation therapies such as yoga, meditation, or Biofeedback to alleviate stress.

• Support Groups - Audiologists often lead or recommend that their patients attend tinnitus support groups in which the latest tinnitus information is shared. Some people find these groups helpful because they can talk with others that have a similar problem.

• Tinnitus Masker - A masker is a device that makes the tinnitus less noticeable by covering up the sounds with other noise. This device is worn like a hearing aid and produces an external sound. A bedside masker is placed beside the bed instead of behind the ear.

• Tinnitus Retraining Therapy - A therapy designed to help the patient learn to stop thinking about the tinnitus noise. This treatment uses white noise or environmental sounds to block out the tinnitus noise, thereby training the brain to ignore it.

What is Audiology?

Audiology is the science of treating individuals with hearing loss or balance problems. An audiologist is a healthcare professional trained to identify hearing loss and other auditory, balance, and sensory and neural problems. An audiologist assesses the extent of the problem and helps the individual manage the problem. Some activities that audiologists are involved in include performing and evaluating hearing tests in persons of all ages, fitting hearing aids, helping individuals adjust to hearing loss through counseling, developing and implementing hearing treatment programs, and performing hearing-related research.

What is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound in one or both ears not caused by an external noise. It can be a symptom of a condition that causes hearing loss or it can occur without hearing loss.

Persons that have tinnitus often describe the sound they hear to have one or more of the following properties:

• Hissing, roaring, ringing, whistling, chirping, clicking, or humming noise
• Multiple tones
• High or low pitch
• Constant, pulsing, or intermittent sound
• Low or high volume
• Comes on suddenly or gradually

The most common type of tinnitus is subjective tinnitus, which is when a person hears a sound in his ear that others can't hear. Pulsatile tinnitus is a type of tinnitus in which the noise has a pulsation that accompanies the heartbeat. Objective tinnitus is not very common and is diagnosed when the doctor can also hear the sound when listening carefully. Tinnitus is caused by damage to the ears brought on by loud noises or music, ear or sinus infections, the inner ear disorder Ménière's disease, certain medications, head and neck trauma, circulatory problems, jaw misalignment, and wax build-up in the ear canal.

Additional Resources

American Academy of Audiology
American Tinnitus Association
American Speech-Language-Hearing