From 1975, until his passing in 2010, Jack A. Vernon, Ph.D., generously shared excellent and reassuring tinnitus information with our readers. We will continue our Q&A column in Jack’s memory.
The advice and opinions of outside health professionals do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the American Tinnitus Association. Their advice is for informational purposes only and should not take the place of a full medical evaluation by your own tinnitus health professional. If you have a question that you would like to be considered for this column, please write to the Tinnitus Today team at
editor@ata.org, or Editor, Tinnitus Today, American Tinnitus Association, PO Box 5, Portland, OR 97207.
Questions and Answers Guest Health Professional Amit Gosalia, Au.D., FAAA, Audiology Clinic, Inc., Owner, Audiology Clinic, Inc.
Q
Tinnitus is generally described as the perception of sound in the absence of an external sound. When tinnitus is perceived, the reports of the sound vary tremendously from ringing to whooshing to puls- ing to even chirping, and the location of the tinnitus can vary from the head to the ears. Some of these sounds are easier to diagnose than others. For exam- ple, tinnitus accompanied by a pulsing feeling in your ear(s) could be from an arterial blockage, and unilateral whooshing/roaring (along with unilateral hearing loss and vertigo) could lead us to certain diseases as the underlying cause of types of tinnitus. However, there are numerous areas where the tinnitus can arise from. Without looking extensively at your medical history, it would be difficult to attribute a specific cause to your chirping. I would highly recommend finding a tinnitus professional nearby and getting evaluated.
A
Q A
Are there any drugs that can help me with my tinnitus?
As a tinnitus sufferer myself, I gave up trying the quick-fix, over-the-counter pills years ago. They never quite worked, nor did they even provide relief. Why not? Because most of these over-the-counter remedies have not been through the kind of rigorous clinical testing necessary to find out if they provide tinnitus relief. In fact, one brand of pills had ingredi- ents that are well known to actually cause tinnitus! Currently, the Food and Drug Administration does not approve of any of the pills available today marketed for tinnitus treatment.
However, with tinnitus research now focusing more on neuroscience and the regions of the brain involved, there is a growing body of research testing numerous
Has there been research on the types of tinnitus sounds one hears versus a possible root cause? Sometimes I hear chirping sounds that seem to be coming from my ear and not my head and I was wondering if there is a specific cause for that kind of sound?
drugs and medications, along with other treatments. So while there are not currently any approved drugs that directly treat tinnitus, there are studies underway to find out if there are existing medications that have application for tinnitus, as well as to find out if there are new compounds that may also work.
Q A
What tests are done to diagnose my tinnitus? How do I figure out what treatment I should try?
Diagnosing tinnitus is not as black and white as we would like. Professionals rely heavily on patient reporting in those with subjective tinnitus and sometimes the professional can actually hear the tinnitus in patients with objective tinnitus.
Generally speaking, when we see patients who com- plain of tinnitus, we start with an extensive medical history (including but not limited to family history, noise exposure history, current and previous medica- tions, etc.). An ear exam is performed to rule out any earwax impactions, and the overall health of the ear canal and eardrum. We complete a full diagnostic hearing evaluation, which includes: air and bone conduction, acoustic reflexes and decay – as long as hyperacusis is not reported – speech testing, oto-acoustic emissions, tinnitus frequency and pitch matching, and minimum masking levels.
Based on how patients respond to the tests, certain recommendations can be made. Is there a one-size fits all solution? No. Can we target certain procedures to provide relief? Yes. Will we try numerous options before finding relief? If necessary. I wish I could tell you that every patient with a hissing noise will benefit from Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, or patients who complain about hearing ringing should use a noise generator (by the way, my tinnitus sounds like the cicadas in the desert, and low-level white noise provides relief). There are numerous factors we must consider before focusing in on one option and some- times certain options don’t work. If you’ve chosen the right provider to help you with your tinnitus, trusting their recommendation is going to be the best advice I can give you. To find that provider, I would visit
ATA.org/members to find one near you.
Summer 2012 | Tinnitus Today 23
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