Q: I have been diagnosed with Tinnitus, is there anything that will cure it?
A: The word cure scares me, there are very few real CURES available for anything. There are treatments, there are therapies, but cures are in short supply. Certain bacteria can be said to be cured, but mostly you just kill enough of them that the immune system can keep them in check. If they ever evolve to the point that they become resistant to the anti-biotic, then another course of treatment has to be taken.
Tinnitus is no different, and is, in many ways, more complicated; we don’t know what causes it. At least not the absolute root cause, although we know many conditions for which tinnitus is a symptom. We do know, for example that damage to the nerve endings in the cochlea can cause tinnitus; we don’t know why, though. We know that having a tumor on the facial or cranial nerves can cause tinnitus; we don’t know why it does. Research is uncovering new information all the time, and research into a cure is constant, but more importantly for right now, there are therapies that have been studied and have proven effective in the lowering of the problems associated with tinnitus.
Let me start by saying that I have tinnitus, and have had it since I was about 12 or 13 years old. I don’t know for certain what caused it, but my guess was that it had something to do with being close to a loud, high pitched low level combustible while on vacation in the US; yes, a firecracker. One that was tossed toward me, but exploded about 2 feet from my nose. The noise itself hurt my ears, physically hurt. The long term effect was a constant low intensity, high pitch “ring” in both ears. I was young, however, and while it did no permanent, measureable hearing damage, it took many years for me to get accustomed to this new sound that followed me everywhere I went. But I did, in fact most times I hardly notice it. As I type here, the sound is basically drowned out by the sounds that surround me – the fan on the computer, the tapping of the keyboard, the sound of a distant television being watched upstairs. However, at night, when I’m trying to sleep, it often seems like I’m at a rock concert that’s playing a single note, non-stop with no end in sight. It’s not that it actually gets louder, but with nothing around to compare it to, I perceive it as louder, and sometimes it’s hard for me to fall asleep.
But I have it easy – I have treated people whose tinnitus is almost all they can hear. It has had deep emotional implications that are often brought on by sleep deprivation and inabilities to communicate with family, friends and co-workers. They are often brought to tears because of it, it has caused divorces and family grievances; some people have attempted suicide, (sadly, some have succeeded), and others just throw their hands up in despair. The worst part is, it’s difficult to describe what it does to you. Cuts, bruises, bone breaks, head injuries, heart problems, these all have physical manifestations, scars you can show people and help them understand what you’re going through. Tinnitus has none of these, and can be hard for someone who doesn’t suffer from it to understand.
But there are treatments, and a new one developed by Widex, a Danish hearing aid manufacturer, was released after 10 years of research by a team of Ph. D. Audiologists, has proven to be a great weapon in the fight against tinnitus. Again, it’s not a cure, but rather an therapy that works in two ways: The first is to mask the sound itself. The Zen therapy, (I love the name, but there is a very good reason for it), by uses one of several sounds, tuned to a primary frequency that surrounds that of the tinnitus, and plays a series of chimes, literally Zen chimes, like those in a Buddhist temple. Those same sounds, aside from masking the tinnitus also encourage the user to go into a more relaxed state, which allows for lowering of the heart rate and blood pressure, often enough to ease the intensity of the internal sound perception.
Secondly; long term many clients have noticed that the tinnitus actually does dissipate somewhat. It doesn’t disappear, but lowers to a point where it is no longer debilitating and lowers frustration, and often desperation, levels in the users. Success rates are very good with this product, over 60% of people who use it have reported that it has made them more effective with their family and at work, and more likely to engage in social activity, compared to the time before they started using Zen.
It’s not 100%, but it is a very big stride and may help you if you suffer from Tinnitus.