Tinnitus (Tinkling)

Tinkling is called tinnitus in medical language.  These tinnituses are mostly unimportant, sometimes they can be indication of a disease.  If tinnitus is continuous and causing indications such as sleeplessness, dizziness, or if they are influencing your daily life, you should visit an ear-nose and throat physician.

Patients of tinnitus may describe their complaints in different ways.  It can be defined as a sound heard in the ear or ‘inside the head’ being: humming, noise, whispering, splash, like cicada is signing in my ear, like a machine is operated in my ear.  Mostly the real reason is found, however sometimes the source of tinkling can not be defined.

Basic Reasons of Tinnitus:

• Hearing loss
• Presbyacusis (hearing loss because of aging)
• Damaging of cells in the internal ear
• Earwax
• All sorts of infections affecting ear, otitis media, labyrinth inflammation, sinusitis, allergy and flu
• Changes in the osscile like otosclerosis
• Meniere’s disease
• Problems related with mandibular joint and teeth
• Anemia
• Hormonal changes
• Head and neck injuries
• Brain tumors like acoustic neurinoma
• Drugs
• Hypertension
• Vascular occlusion (atherosclerosis)
• Hyperthyroid  
• Diabetes
• Kidney diseases
• Mobile phone
• Head and neck tumors (when makes pressure on veins in the neck)
• Head traumas
• Diseases originating from spinal cord
• Abnormal blood flow in the veins close to internal ear or in jugular vein (it is perceived as heart beat in the ear)
• Stress, depression, sleep disorders

TREATMENT OF TINNITUS

Drug treatment: Vasodilator, cell anti-aging drugs.  Treatment of psychological disorders, such as depression that accompany tinnitus

Tinnitus Masking: Devices, which are fixed inside or behind the ear and resemble hearing instruments, give a steady sound named as white noise to the tickling ear of the patient, in this way they mask tinnitus.

Hearing aid:  They are effective if they are used.

Biofeedback: Relaxation techniques are given by a psychologist in order to reduce stress and anxiety accompanying tinnitus.

Tinnitus feedback retraining therapy: An hearing aid that is specifically programmed and gives white noise to the tinkling ear of the patient is fixed to the ear during the biofeedback therapy.  Patient is trained to cope with his/her tinnitus.  This treatment that continues for 1-2 years is applied at intervals ranging between 1 hour in a week and 1 hour in a moth.

Various alternative medicine methods that provide positive effects even though they do not eliminate tinnitus completely are used in the treatment of tinnitus.  These are:

Acupuncture: Good results are not obtained for tinnitus.

Neuraltherapy: Injection treatment applied to the skin.

Magnetic field treatment (soft laser): There is no proof that laser treatment heals tinnitus yet.

Oxygen therapy (Hyperbaric oxygen treatment): It should be applied in the first 3 months.

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SUGGESTIONS FOR PATIENTS WITH TINNITUS

• Avoid alcoholic drinks and caffeine such as coffee
• Do not smoke (nicotine reduced blood flow to the structures in internal ear)
• Avoid stress and extreme fatigue
• If drugs regularly used have an adverse effect on the tinnitus, to reduce these drugs
• Do exercises regularly
• Do not make sports like cycling and riding a horse, for which neck is in a stretched position
• Do not focus on tinkling, divert your attention away
• Do not stay in a quiet place; keep a device that gives music or ocean sounds or gives sound like ventilating fan
• Protect yourself from loud sounds