Treatment of tinnitus

Synonym

on the main topic: Tinitus ear noises, tinnitus

Tinnitus therapy

The therapy of tinnitus depends on the place of origin of the tinnitus on the one hand, and on the duration and severity of the tinnitus on the other. In the case of objective tinnitus, the identification and elimination of the physiological source of tinnitus is of primary importance. In the case of subjective tinnitus, the treatment must be adapted according to the acute, sub-acute or chronic course of the tinnitus.

If the chronic tinnitus has been present for a long time, a complete cure is almost impossible. It is important to identify the tinnitus-enhancing components and to train the patient accordingly. Autogenic training and informing the patient that a basic tone in the ear will probably always be present are also very important.

Certain habituation techniques help the patient to achieve a state of compensated chronic tinnitus without a strong influence on daily life. In case of a recent acute tinnitus, a doctor should be consulted immediately and appropriate therapy should be initiated. The top priority here is to ensure ear circulation with blood-thinning medication.

This infusion therapy should be carried out over a period of 10 days. In addition, it is also possible to administer a local anesthetic (procaine) in increasing dosages. In addition, the administration of anti-inflammatory drugs such as cortisone can be attempted.

The treatment of subacute tinnitus consists of a mixture of the two types of treatment of chronic and acute tinnitus. It should also be made clear to patients with subacute tinnitus that a basic tone is likely to remain present at all times and that certain autogenic therapy methods with habituation training can achieve a state of compensated tinnitus. Some therapeutic procedures are still being tested, for example, the so-called hyperbaric oxygen treatment.

Here, the patient is in a hyperbaric chamber and is ventilated with pure oxygen through a mask. The overpressure in the chamber leads to an increased oxygen enrichment of the blood and thus of the ear. In some cases, the tinnitus then disappears.

However, in this case, it is assumed that the cause of the tinnitus is an undersupply of blood. Similar to blood-thinning measures, hyperbaric oxygen therapy should be started as soon as possible after the onset of tinnitus. Since this therapy method is still in the trial phase, it is only offered in some specialized clinics.

The costs must be borne by the patient himself. With another therapy method, it is assumed that the cause of tinnitus is a defect in the auditory cortex in the brain. For some reason, this area does not receive a certain frequency that we pick up with our ears every second in the form of sound waves.

As a result, the part of the auditory cortex that is responsible for this one frequency begins to modulate this frequency itself. A tinnitus of this frequency begins. It has now been considered that this frequency should be permanently introduced into the patient’s ear by means of a small and almost invisible hearing aid.

The hearing area in the brain thus gets the missing hearing range and stops its own production. First investigations are very promising. Most patients only hear the tinnitus weakly and diminished while wearing the hearing aid.

When wearing the hearing aid regularly, the hearing center seems to be trained in such a way that the patients can also leave the hearing aid off and no longer perceive the tinnitus. This promising therapy is also still in the trial phase and must be financed by patients themselves. Cognitive behavioural therapy for tinnitus patients: The subacute or chronic course of tinnitus usually leaves only the therapeutic option of a psychologically guided so-called cognitive therapy.

With this form of therapy, the patient should be shown how to live with the disease. The cognitive therapy can be carried out either alone or in groups. First, the patient is usually given a short medical introduction to the physiology of hearing.

Afterwards, the patient is given various practices to direct attention away from the permanent ringing in the ears. This is usually done with concentration exercises. Today it is known that complaints includePain can be aggravated if patients pay particular attention to it or live in an expectation of pain.

If the fear can be reduced and attention can be diverted through certain maneuvers, this often has the effect of reducing symptoms. In addition to these techniques, the patient is also provided with strategies to help in the event of a tinnitus relapse.