Treatment of Tinnitus

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Treatment may be quite different in each case of tinnitus. In most cases there is no cure, and treatment is designed to help people manage tinnitus on a day-to-day basis.

Some people find that taking certain medicines can trigger tinnitus. If this is the case, your GP may advise changing medication to stop the tinnitus. Sometimes tinnitus disappears of its own accord, or may only occur in response to an obvious cause such as anxiety or stress.

There is no specific drug to treat tinnitus, but some drugs prescribed to treat other things may help the condition. Tinnitus is strongly linked to stress, and sometimes people are prescribed sedatives, tranquillisers, and antidepressants to help lessen the effect that the tinnitus has on their lives. It is important to talk to your GP about possible side effects before taking these types of drugs.

Other drugs, such as local anaesthetics, those that interfere with nerve conduction, and anticonvulsants (drugs used to prevent seizures and convulsions), such as carbamazepine, have been found to reduce symptoms in some people.

There are a number of other things that may prove effective in controlling tinnitus:

listening to calming music on personal headphones especially at bedtime;
â€˜white noiseâ€™ generators, (tinnitus maskers) may make it less easy to hear the tinnitus;
use of a hearing aid if you have slight hearing loss. Being able to hear sounds you are not cannot normally hear may help to override the tinnitus noise;
deliberate effort to concentrate on something else and to ignore the tinnitus; and
cognitive behaviour therapy by a hearing therapist to help people to change their response and lower their awareness of tinnitus.

Depression is not uncommon with severe tinnitus, and requires specific treatment such as antidepressant drugs or talking therapies such as counselling or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).