Treatments for Tinnitus

Biofeedback
Useful as a stress reduction tool, biofeedback may help some people.

Accupuncture
May provide temporary relief to some people. One contributor reports significant relief that enabled him to avoid the heavy-duty anti-depressants that his Western physician had prescribed.

Stress Reduction
Many people say their tinnitus is more active when they're tired and stressed out. Get a good night's sleep and avoid unnecessary stress.

Hearing Aids
Some people with severe tinnitus may benefit from hearing aids that bring normal speech sounds above the background tinnitus sounds. In addition to amplification, hearing aids may be useful as maskers when they also introduce white noise into the sound stream.

Cranial Sacral Therapy
There is anecdotal evidence of help for tinnitus through cranial sacral therapy by osteopaths and chiropractors.

Electrical Stimulation
Various electrode placements with various vol frequencies may provide some relief. External, ear canal, transtympanic, middle ear, and cochlear electrodes have all been tried. Side effects may include pain, and alterations to sense of ssmell. In one study of electrical stimulation on the round window, 3 out of 5 patients experienced some relief when frequencies of 40 Hz or less were applied.

Surgically Severing the Auditory Nerves
An Eighth Nerve section is the treatment of last resort. You will be totally deaf. But beware - if your tinnitus originates somewhere inside the brain, you will be totally deaf AND still have tinnitus. A prominent American tinnitus specialist says this surgery should never be done for tinnitus, since he knows of patients whose tinnitus INCREASED to suicidal levels afterward.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
This treatment is supposed to be beneficial when the tinnitus is thought to be due to a lack of oxygen for the hearing mechanism. It may be more effective for recent onset cases rather than long-term ones.