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Tinnitus: Patients
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[I]n some cases, the perception of tinnitus is associated with a negative emotion. Patients treat tinnitus as an indicator that something is wrong with their hearing, or their brain, and as a result they start to focus their attention on the tinnitus. Quite frequently this occurs as a result of "negative counseling." All too often healthcare professionals advise patients to check for a brain tumor, or indicate that the tinnitus is basically a psychiatric condition, or tell the patient "nothing can be done with tinnitus" and that the patient has to "learn to live with it." This negative reinforcement of tinnitus perception actually enhances the initial responses of the autonomic nervous system evoked by fear. As tinnitus is commonly continuously present and evokes a strong emotional response, this results in the tuning of the neuronal networks detecting the tinnitus signal itself. Consequently, this increases the time an individual is aware of the tinnitus and further enhances the aversive emotional responses and the reaction of the autonomic nervous system... increasing annoyance.
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People with tinnitus often feel alone with their condition. The opportunity to share experiences in a group session, either with or without a counselor, is helpful. Many cities have support groups that meet on an irregular basis. These groups can be found by calling the local public library or the newspaper for meeting times. Many otolaryngologists who care for large groups of tinnitus patients have assisted a local group through its formation and development.
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A similar form of tinnitus therapy treatment is called Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment. After treatment is determined to be right for the patient, a neuromonics device is made especially for that patient. It is a small device with headphones. The sound it emits contains pleasant music. It is meant to stimulate areas of the nervous and auditory systems. At first it is just used to provide relief during normal activities. Then the tinnitus therapy begins in earnest. The sound level begins to be adjusted. Again, this method is used to allow for desensitization.
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In this paper, researchers review five randomized, placebo-controlled studies of ginkgo extract's ability to relieve the symptoms of tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Four of the studies-which included 521 patients total - showed significant decreases in the loudness, severity, and/or frequency of symptoms for patients treated with ginkgo. The fifth study, involving 20 patients, found no difference between ginkgo and placebo. The authors believe that the treatment dose in that study - 16.2 mg/day - was too small to be effective. Doses of 120 to 160 mg/day were used in the other studies. The reviewers suggest that additional studies, using rigorous and consistent methods, are needed before concluding that ginkgo is an effective treatment for tinnitus.
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Protected by U.S. and international patents, the therapy is designed to address predominant-tone tinnitus — tinnitus perceived mostly at a single pitch. About 56% of tinnitus patients describe their tinnitus as a single-pitched sound.
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Approximately 50 million Americans experience tinnitus, but not everyone experiences it to the same degree. Some people hear ringing or other noises in their ears immediately following exposure to excessive noise, like right after a concert, but the sound is temporary. Other people report hearing a slight noise all the time if they listen for it, but most of the time cannot distinguish the noise over all the other sounds in their environment. Other factors can affect the severity of the condition from patient to patient, such as different degrees of hearing loss and different kinds of noises heard. Interestingly, the loudness of the tinnitus, when measured in a laboratory setting, did not correlate to the severity of the tinnitus as rated by the patients themselves. Every person has his or her own level of tolerance to the tinnitus sounds.
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