Tinnitus is the internal perception of sound in the absence of an external sound source. Often called “ringing in the ears” or described as a rushing, whirring sound, tinnitus affects people with and without hearing loss and can be one of the most difficult conditions to treat. The most common cause of tinnitus is noise-induced hearing loss, but it can also be a side effect of medication, due to presbycusis (age-related hearing loss), congenital hearing loss, or idiopathic (unknown) causes.
Don't let tinnitus drive you crazy! Find a qualified audiologist for solutions.
Diagnosis of tinnitus is largely based on patient report. Because the sound are perceived internally without an external sound source, physicians and audiologists rely on patient perception to describe the sounds and rate their severity or impact on daily functioning. There are many interesting theories about the cause of tinnitus, linking it to otoacoustic emissions, cilia (hair cells), neural activity in the auditory brainstem, etc. While those are very interesting, for the purpose of this article, let’s discuss what you can do if you’re actually experiencing tinnitus, whatever the cause. Because there is no one “cure,” there are many, many people (professionals or not) who claim to have solutions for tinnitus. While each person’s experience is different, and different remedies may work for different people, here is a review of evidence-based treatments for this condition:
Getting cochlear implant(s) or hearing aid(s) can help people with tinnitus secondary to congenital, age-related, or noise-induced hearing loss to beat tinnitus. Accessing actual sounds in the outside environment can help to quiet the ringing in your head, and many users of hearing devices report that their tinnitus decreases when the devices are on, and increases when devices are removed. For people with tinnitus but without hearing loss, a hearing-aid like “masker” (device that looks like a hearing aid but plays “white noise” to counter tinnitus sounds) may help. See Pan, T. et. al (2009).
While many herbal and alternative medicine treatments are promoted as tinnitus cures, THIS review of the literature from an audiologist shows that there is no evidence-based support for these claims.
Many people with tinnitus have found benefit, though not a cure, from acceptance-based therapies and stress-reduction techniques. Tinnitus can be maddening, and engaging in support groups or learning how to manage the effects of stress, can be very helpful.
Some people with tinnitus find that it abates when they listen to music, and that the effects last after the music has been turned off. Music via headphones may be more effective than music from a stereo.
White noise devices (such as those commonly marketed as sleep aids) can help to provide ambient noise to combat tinnitus.
Henry, JA et. al (2008) provides THIS clear explanation of various methods of Audiologic Tinnitus Management (ATM).
What is your experience with tinnitus? What solutions have worked for you?
Here is the latest news on HB 1367, important legislation in Indiana that will provide children with hearing loss and their families ALL OPTIONS and ACCOUNTABILITY. Please read the following, then do your part to SUPPORT HB 1367!
A public hearing has been set on Thursday February 16th at 9AM. If you live in Indiana, please go to the Statehouse to show that you SUPPORT HB 1367 and let the Senators know that families in Indiana deserve ALL OPTIONS for children with hearing loss.
HB 1367 has been assigned to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Please call or email the Senators on the Appropriations Committee individually (Dear Senator Boots, Dear Senator Broden, etc.) and BCC (blind carbon copy) your letter with your family’s testimony of why families need ALL OPTIONS to hoosiers4education@gmail.com so that stories can be collected to support the cause. For a sample letter format, click HERE.
For more information about HB 1367, check out this FACT SHEET.
Families in Indiana, and everywhere, deserve ALL OPTIONS for their children with hearing loss. They deserve accountable services, and unbiased support.
If we do not ACT NOW to speak up for children with hearing loss, who will? SUPPORT HB 1367 TODAY.
Cochlear Implant Online is taking a leap and being ahead of the technological curve by being the first to start a weekly chat on Twitter for the hearing loss community.
WHAT: Cochlear Implant Talk (#CITalk) – Twitter chat with a new topic each week
WHEN: Sundays, 3 PM EST/ 8 PM London / Mondays , 7 AM Sydney
The next chat will be on February 19th and the topic will be “Relationship and Hearing Loss.” We will be doing a giveaway contest during the chat! Every person who participates in the chat will be automatically entered in a drawing for a FREE T-shirt from our shop.
For those who are new to Twitter, this is the way the chat will work:
1. Search for the hashtag #CITalk or click hereto to go to the chat page.
2. Be on the look out for 5 questions from Cochlear Implant Online’s Twitter - @CochlearImplant.
3. We will be asking 5 questions, one each about every ten minutes.
4. Answer the questions. When answering the questions, it is imperative that you include “#CITalk” in your tweet so that your tweet will show up in the chat. Also include A and the number proceeding to the question so we will know to which questions you are responding. Here are examples:
Cochlear Implant Online asks on Twitter: ”Q1. When did you first receive your cochlear implant? #CITalk”
A person responds: “A1. December 1989 #CITalk”
Cochlear Implant Online asks on Twitter: ”Q2. Do you hear with one cochlear implant or two cochlear implants? #CITalk”
A person responds: ”A2. Two cochlear implants! #CITalk”
Q means Question and A means Answer.
Feel free to respond to any tweets, in the #CITalk chat, not just the ones from Cochlear Implant Online. It will be fun and a great opportunity to spread the awareness of cochlear implants and hearing loss!
Also, we are planning to have companies, organizations, and professionals sponsor some of the chats by being co-hosts with us and picking the topics and questions! If you are a professional or part of an organization or company and would like to sponsor a chat, please contact us by clicking here!
Thanks to your phone calls and letters, HB 1367, a crucial piece of legislation that will bring ALL OPTIONS to children with hearing loss in Indiana, PASSED the House of Representatives today. Now, it heads to the Senate for another vote. Help us keep up the momentum to bring ALL OPTIONS and ACCOUNTABILITY to children with hearing loss in Indiana by contacting senators today!
I am writing to encourage your SUPPORT for HB 1367.
{INSERT YOUR PERSONAL STORY. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH ISD/OUTREACH, IF APPLICABLE. OUR REPRESENTATIVES NEED TO KNOW WHY ISD/OUTREACH IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR ALL FAMILIES. IF NOT FROM INDIANA, INCLUDE YOUR HEARING LOSS STORY ABOUT HOW ALL OPTIONS AND ACCOUNTABILITY HELPED YOU}
IMPORTANT FACTS:
95% of deaf and hard of hearing babies are born to HEARING parents.
80-90% of parents choose a Listening and Spoken Language as their communication option.
Newborn babies can wear hearing aids, and profoundly deaf babies can get a cochlear implant at age one.
99% of all profoundly deaf children are candidates for a cochlear implant, a device which allows them to listen, speak, and thrive in the hearing community
Indiana’s status quo concerning deaf and hard of hearing education is NOT working effectively for 80% of all Hoosier families. Of course, 100% of parents deserve to receive unbiased, comprehensive information about communication options, so they can make an informed decision about what is best for their family. HB 1367 will help ALL children who are deaf or hard of hearing, not just some of them. ALL parents deserve to have their communication choice(s) respected. Likewise, a family’s use (or non-use) of hearing technology should be respected and supported through appropriate services. Under the current system, Hoosier parents do NOT have equal access to all communication options or information about hearing technology. Outreach services for the entire state should not be associated with one school and ONE philosophy.
HB 1367 is NOT adding an agency, but rather, it is moving one. Unlike ISD/Outreach, which promotes ASL as the language and thinking, the new Center would be unbiased toward any particular mode of communication. It would serve ALL deaf and hard of hearing families regardless of the communication methods chosen.
HB 1367 includes tracking and monitoring of children who are deaf and hard of hearing as they are identified and enrolled in appropriate services. These activities will prevent children from falling through the cracks. As a result, the State of Indiana will spend less money in intervention down the road.
HB 1367 offers the opportunity to align our state with the best practices in early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing. I will be very disappointed if we do not take advantage of this opportunity to make our Indiana system work for all children who need it.
Every 48 hours a baby in Indiana is born with a hearing loss. We can’t wait. We must make this change NOW!
For our children’s future, please SUPPORT HB 1367.
Sincerely,
If you contact Senators, please let us know, and we’ll enter you in a drawing for FREE CI Awareness gear (tshirts, mugs, totebags, etc.). Click HERE to enter.
What is HB 1367? Watch this video or click HERE for more info from Hear Indiana.
On Friday, HB 1367 passed its first hurdle toward becoming a law and giving children with hearing loss in Indiana ALL OPTIONS by passing in the House Education Committee’s vote. This is a great success, and we are grateful to the legislators who are helping to bring accountability and excellent outcomes to children with hearing loss in their state. The battle is not over, though, and we still need your help, so ACT NOW to SUPPORT HB 1367!
Next, HB 1367 will go to the House of Representatives to be voted on by all of the legislators. The vote will be this Monday – 1/30/2012. We need your help to EMAIL or CALL legislators TODAY telling them to SUPPORT HB 1367.
Here are quick and easy ways to help SUPPORT HB 1367:
Status quo is not acceptable. Share YOUR experiences (especially if you are in IN and have experience with ISD Outreach, or if you have experience NOT receiving access to all options and how this harmed your child and your family)
This bill will help ALL the children who are deaf or hard of hearing, not just some of them.
We are NOT adding an agency. We are moving one, and making it independent and unbiased. Outreach services for the entire state should not be associated with one school and ONE philosophy.
We are making Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education more accountable.
We will spend less per pupil while achieving better outcomes.
Every 48 hours a baby in Indiana is born with a hearing loss. Our children need your help NOW!!!
Here is a video explaining HB 1367. Share it on twitter, share it on facebook, share it with legislators. Do everything you can to spread the word. Our children deserve success — if we do not speak for them, who will?
Remember, if you contact legislators to help SUPPORT HB 1367, we’d like to enter you to win FREE CI Awareness gear. Click HERE for details on how to enter.
Cochlear Implant Online is not endorsed by Cochlear, Med-El, Advanced Bionics, and AGBell. Articles and comments do not necessarily represent the views of all three companies and AGBell. This website is created by Rachel Chaikof, who is a Cochlear Nucleus bilateral cochlear implant recipient, to create an awareness about cochlear implants and listening and spoken language.
All About Tinnitus
I am writing to encourage your SUPPORT for HB 1367.
