Tinnitus-A Health & Beauty Topic by Tiease D. Deutsch RN

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When there's ringing in your ears it difficult to look good & confidently strut your stuff!

Are bells ringing in your ears the first thing that greats y0u in the morning instead of plans of what fabulous outfit you'll be wearing this day? If you answer yes then you should promptly see your health-care provider to find out if you have Tinnitus (Ringing in your ears). Tinnitus is ringing, buzzing, humming noises in your ear(s) when no actual external sounds are present. Anyone may experience a occasional buzzing in the ear as a result of trauma or ear infection but Tinnitus is a chronic disorder which occurs & endures without reason.


Begin with a look at the basic:  


Tinnitus presents with constant or come & go. It may vary in pitch & intensity or it may stay the same. Of course this gets annoying & interferes with your quality of life and over-all well being. Eventually resulting in insomnia, bags under your eyes, that washed out appearance; Affecting your work & preventing you from getting your groove on!


Basically Fashionistas afflicted with tinnitus often have abnormally strong reactions to sound referred to as Hyperacusis. Causes for tinnitus aren't always straight forward, they range from wax build up to acute (sudden) ear infections, hypertension/hypo tension, tumors, drugs, Meniere's disease, cranial (head/neck injury) and most commonly exposure to excessive noises, such as: Loud machinery, construction machines, loud music, excessive screaming etc...The list goes on.

Explanation of Meniere's Disease

Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that can affect hearing and balance to a varying degree. It is characterized by episodes of vertigo, low pitched tinnitus, and hearing loss. The hearing loss has a fluctuating then permanent nature, meaning that it comes and goes, alternating between ears for some time, then becomes permanent with no return to normal function. it can range in intensity from being a mild annoyance to a chronic, lifelong disability.

Ménière's commonly started with one symptom, which gradually progresses. But, not all symptoms must be present for your health-care provider to diagnosis disease. Several symptoms simultaneously is a conclusive indication than different symptoms at separate times. There are other conditions which present themselves with Ménière's-like symptoms, such as syphilis, Cogan's syndrome, autoimmune disease of the inner ear, dysautonomia, perilymph fistula, multiple sclerosis, acoustic neuroma, and both hypo- and hyperthyroidism

Interventions:

A new Tinnitus treatment which may be of interest to anyone suffering with Tinnitus or a family member or friend hurting.


Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) using both counseling therapy to retrain ones brain to ignore the tinnitus in combination with sound therapy.  There are other various treatments which have provided relief for some but honestly the only way to determine what works best for you is to try it. 

Interventions may include: hearing aids, sound generators, relaxation techniques, massage therapy & exercise.

Hearing Aids may help if you have hearing loss by increasing your ability to hear sounds in the environment which may decrease the perception of tinnitus.

Surgery

If symptoms do not improve with typical treatment, more permanent surgery is considered. Unfortunately, because the inner ear deals with both balance and hearing, few surgeries guarantee no hearing loss.

Nondestructive surgeries include those which do not actively remove any functionality, but rather aim to improve the way the ear works. Intratympanic steroid treatments involve injecting steroids (commonly dexamethasone) into the middle ear in order to reduce inflammation and alter inner ear circulation. 

Surgery to decompress the endolymphatic sac has shown to be effective for temporary relief from symptoms. Most patients see a decrease in vertigo occurrence, while their hearing may be unaffected. This treatment, however, does not address the long-term course of vertigo in Ménière's disease. Danish studies even link this surgery to a very strong placebo effect, and that very little difference occurred in a 9-year followup, but could not deny the efficacy of the treatment.

Conversely, destructive surgeries are irreversible and involve removing entire functionality of most, if not all, of the affected ear. The inner ear itself can be surgically removed via labyrinthectomy although hearing is always completely lost in the affected ear with this operation. 

Alternatively, a chemical labyrinthectomy, in which a drug (such as gentamicin) that "kills" the vestibular apparatus is injected into the middle ear can accomplish the same results while retaining hearing. In more serious cases surgeons can cut the nerve to the balance portion of the inner ear in a vestibular neurectomy. 

Hearing is often mostly preserved, however the surgery involves cutting open into the lining of the brain, and a hospital stay of a few days for monitoring would be required. Vertigo (and the associated nausea and vomiting) typically accompany the recovery from destructive surgeries as the brain learns to compensate.

Physiotherapy

Physiotherapists have a role in treatment of Meniere’s disease. In vestibular rehabilitation, physiotherapists use interventions aimed at stabilizing gaze, reducing dizziness and increasing postural balance within the context of activities of daily living. After a vestibular assessment is conducted, the physiotherapist tailors the treatment to the needs of the individual.

It is believed that the central nervous system (CNS) can be re-trained because of its plasticity, & its repetitious pathways. During vestibular rehabilitation, physiotherapists take advantage of this characteristic of the CNS by provoking symptoms of dizziness or unsteadiness with head movements while allowing the visual, somatosensory and vestibular systems to interpret the data. Leading to a sustained decrease in symptoms. Vestibular physiotherapy is currently accepted as part of best practices in the management of this condition

After you've been diagnosed with Tinnitus you can consider your options and if Tinnitus Restraining Therapy may help you. Ordinarily sound therapy is used in combination with counseling to assist in the retraining process. Often,hearing aids are recommended as a means to enhance awareness of external sounds. Now personally I'm not a audiologist or neuroscientist but amplifying sounds doesn't sound like the best tactic to prevent a annoying ringing in the ears but it may work if hearing loss is your real problem.

Should you consider Restraining Therapy as your choice of treatment the usual TRT session last about 90 minutes & includes an initial interviewed with the audiologist followed by hearing testing & counseling. Depending on severity of tinnitus and or hearing loss. Next there may be a fitting for the hearing aids or ear-level sound generators. Most people complete the TRT program after 18-24 months give or take a few months and some people are persuaded they are cured sooner than others.


There's a flood of interventions out there what you have to decide is what to do that best suits your needs becoming freshly empowered is very attractive indeed!


copyright 5/4/2012 by Tiease D. Deutsch RN

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© by  Tiease D. Deutsch   5-4-2012     

R.N./Author/Creative Consultant/Artist