Tinnitus is not a disease but actually a symptom that can have many different causes.  The symptom which is tinnitus is hearing sound when there is no external source for the sound.  The actual sound can be difficult to categorize and specific sounds do not necessarily point to a cause.  On top of this, because there is no external stimulation, testing to verify tinnitus is virtually impossible.  The only thing that can be done is categorize how bad the sound is based on how much it affects the person and their daily life. 

What Causes Tinnitus

Most cases of Tinnitus are subjective tinnitus, where there is no clinical test for the symptoms.  The causes of this type of tinnitus vary but the most common is noise-induced hearing loss.  For example, virtually everyone will have ringing in their ears for a few days after a loud concert.  Another common cause is actually impacted earwax in the ear canals.  Ear infections and middle effusion can also cause Tinnitus. 

Another common cause of tinnitus is the aging process.  Aging causes hearing loss and hearing loss can sometimes lead to tinnitus.  Tinnitus is also a common symptom of lead and mercury poisoning but can also be caused by a number of medications, including aspirin, some antibiotics, some diuretics, anti-depressants, quinine and other medications as well. 

The final cause of tinnitus is those that cause the much more rare objective tinnitus.  In these cases, a doctor can actually hear sound coming from the ears of the patient.  This type of tinnitus can be caused by altered blood flow around the ear that causes the person to be able to hear their pulse or blood flowing.  Occasionally, this type of tinnitus can be the symptom that leads to diagnosis of serious and dangerous conditions such as aneurysm and dissection of the carotid artery or vasculitis. 

What Does Tinnitus Sound Like?

Tinnitus sounds different from everyone, even if two people have the same cause of their tinnitus.  It can happen in just one ear or both and is most commonly described as a ringing noise.  However, it can sound like a buzz, hum, whistle, click, crickets, music and many more different sounds.  The sound can be constant or can be one that just pops up then goes away later.  Certain tinnitus suffers find they can set it off by moving part of their body, typically their head, tongue, jaw or eyes.  The intensity can vary from only noticeable in quiet surroundings to a howl that cannot be ignored. 

Ironically, the iPod is both a cause of tinnitus and potentially a way to help alleviate tinnitus sufferer’s symptoms.  For the average person with an iPod though, it is far more likely to be a cause than a way to alleviate the symptoms.  Some of the treatments that utilize an iPod to treat tinnitus are utilizing the most advanced research to help alleviate tinnitus symptoms. 

iPod’s Roles in Causing Tinnitus

The iPod and many other MP3 players cause tinnitus in two different ways.  First of all, they produce output that is the equivalent to a jet engine.  While not the blanket roar of the jet, the music piped through a set of headphones can easily hit decibel levels that can cause permanent hearing damage.  Hearing damage is the single most likely cause of tinnitus symptoms and iPods and MP3 players lack even basic protection to keep the output from exceeding the threshold for permanent hearing damage. 

The second and less talked about way that an iPod can potentially cause tinnitus is through infection.  The person who wears the ear bud style headphones, especially the most modern renditions that boast noise blocking silicone rubber ear pieces, can cause infection if left in for too long.  Bacteria love dark, moist environments and an ear sealed up with a silicon ear bud is a great environment for bacteria growth.  The bacteria begin taking hold and a middle or outer ear infection settles in which can cause tinnitus as well.  Most of the time, treating the infection will make the tinnitus go away; however, the root cause is often ignored. 

In both cases, using speakers for an iPod or MP3 player rather than earphones as much as possible will reduce or eliminate both of these potential iPod related tinnitus causes.  However, for many, earphones are the only option.  In this case, being sure to keep the volume as low as possible and using open ear headphones rather than ear buds will help in both preventing hearing loss as well as inhibiting infection potentials. 

iPods to Treat Tinnitus

The most common treatment for most tinnitus is to produce white noise or play music which masks the tinnitus sounds for the person suffering.  This allows them to function during the day and fall asleep without being distracted by the tinnitus noises.  An iPod can either play white noise MP3’s or there are programs that are designed to produce more random white noise rather than looping an MP3 of the same white noise.  

On top of this, there are special treatments that utilize an iPod to play specially modified songs that have tinnitus frequencies blocked.  This helps the brain turn off the sensitivity to those frequencies making the symptoms less or go away completely. 

While not typically debilitating, many people suffer from the effects of tinnitus.  For some of them, tinnitus makes falling asleep more difficult or at times causes their work to suffer when they have a period where the tinnitus is loud.  Because tinnitus affects so many people, it is very well researched and methods for alleviating tinnitus symptoms have come a long way in the past few years.  Going forward, there is research into many different ways of getting rid of tinnitus and some of these will soon be available to the general public. 

Basics of Tinnitus

Tinnitus is actually a symptom, not an actual disease.  It has many causes, from hearing loss to impacted ear wax to being a symptom of heavy metal poisoning to being a side effect of many different types of medication.  However, the single most common cause of tinnitus is hearing loss and most attempts to help correct tinnitus sufferers focus on this cause and the resulting tinnitus. 

Newest Treatment Options

Two of the newest treatment options available are tinnitus retraining therapy and additive destimulation therapy.  Tinnitus retraining therapy is a two pronged approach to dealing with tinnitus.  The first part is through the use of a sound generator to help alleviate the distraction of tinnitus.  The second part of this therapy is specialized counseling which helps retrain the brain and ear of the tinnitus sufferer to either make the sound less noticeable or to teach the person how to ignore it. 

Additive destimulation therapy is the latest and greatest though and uses a far more technological approach to helping with tinnitus.  In this therapy, the audiologist identifies the frequency or frequencies that the tinnitus sufferer hears and then modifies songs that the sufferer likes to listen to take out those frequencies.  By removing these frequencies, the brain becomes less sensitive to them and over time, hearing the tinnitus frequencies is no longer an issue because they can be more easily ignored. 

The Next Round

On the horizon are techniques that utilize electricity to achieve tinnitus relief.  The auditory nerve is the target of one such treatment, called nerve stimulation.  In this procedure, an electrode is attached to the auditory nerve and helps reset the receptors in the brain.  Because it is fairly drastic and experimental, it is reserved for only the most severe tinnitus sufferers. 

The last procedure is called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.  It involves using magnets to stimulate specific spots in the brain.  In research trials it shows promise in turning off tinnitus with very few side effects and should be approved for bigger trials soon.

For the tinnitus sufferer, making the tinnitus go away or even just lessening it from severe to mild is important for them to be able to have productive days and restful nights.  One of the most common complaints of the tinnitus sufferer is that they have difficulty falling asleep because of the sounds.  Treating tinnitus is often a two pronged approach.  While working to treat the symptom, which is tinnitus, the sufferer and their medical professional should be looking to assess what is causing the tinnitus. 

Treating the Symptom of Tinnitus

Common treatments for subjective tinnitus work to alleviate symptoms.  For many tinnitus sufferers who have trouble falling asleep, the most common method of treatment is to create white noise in the room.  This white noise can be a fan or a specifically designed white noise generator that sits beside the bed.  More recent white noise generators work with iPods and other MP3 players to provide music or constant white noise such as wind or wave sounds.  More advanced auditory stimulation includes music therapy and notched music therapy where the tinnitus frequencies are taken out of the patient’s favorite music.  This causes the brain to stop being stimulated on those frequencies making the tinnitus more tolerable. 

Other common methods of treating tinnitus include reducing or eliminating stimulants and salt.  Caffeine and nicotine reduction can help some tinnitus sufferers, however, in some it can make it worse so it is something to evaluate.  Alcohol consumption, likewise, can cause tinnitus to get better or worse and can be used, in moderation, if it helps.  Zinc supplements, as well as herbal formulas with zinc have been shown to help some sufferers of tinnitus as well because a zinc deficiency can actually be a cause of tinnitus symptoms.  Certain medications can be used, including anticonvulsants, tricyclics and benzodiazepines, however, the side effects of these medications can be more detrimental than the tinnitus itself. 

Treating Tinnitus Causes

For some, especially those with objective Tinnitus, there are treatments that actually work to fix the cause of the problem.  One of the most common is impacted ear wax.  A quick visit to a general practitioner or ENT can remove impacted earwax and provide immediate relief should this be the cause.  There are other surgical procedures available to objective tinnitus sufferers depending on the cause.  For some cases, a quick Botox injection can take care of the problem and for others a detailed surgery where the cochlea is shielded by a Teflon implant is needed.