Colon Cancer Resource logo

Colon Cancer Resource


Helping you find a cure
Colon Cancer Resource banner image - female doctor standing in corridor

Sounds of Tinnitus

remedy for tinnitus

For the latest information on the sounds of tinnitus and current news on other colon cancer topics, please accept a free weekly subscription to the CCR Newsletter.

The sounds of tinnitus are annoying and distracting. Tinnitus cures rarely happen. There are a variety of remedies for tinnitus. You will read all about these topics on this web page.

Cancer

If you are on this website, you or someone you care about has colon cancer. One of the cures for colon cancer includes chemotherapy before and after surgery to remove the cancer.

Chemotherapy can cause tinnitus. About 20% of chemotherapy patients develop tinnitus. The chemotherapy drugs cause damage to the inner ear. Tinnitus cures in this case are not possible. All you can do is learn to live with it.

Tinnitus

There is a Latin word tinnire that means to ring. Tinnitus comes from that Latin word. The sounds of tinnitus include:

  • Ringing
  • Hissing
  • Buzzing
  • Whistling
  • Clicking
  • Roaring

There is no external source for the sound. You hear the sound, but no one else does.

Your ear is a delicate and fragile organ in your body. There are three parts to your ear:

  • The outer ear – the ear canal
  • The middle ear – delicate bones
  • The inner ear - cilia

It is damage to the inner ear that causes tinnitus. The inner ear has very small hairs (cilia) that vibrate according to the external sound. Then, the vibrations travel along the auditory nerve to the brain. It is damage to the cilia that causes tinnitus.

Tinnitus cures are only possible if you had a brain tumor near the auditory nerve. The tumor causes pulsating tinnitus. The sound in your ear follows the rhythm of your pulse. There are other causes for pulsating tinnitus, such as high blood pressure. Removal of the tumor usually results in a tinnitus cure.

Remedies for Tinnitus

Electrical stimulation is a viable option. Doctors do not consider it one of the primary mainstream therapies for tinnitus. Cochlear implants provide continuous electrical stimulation of the inner ear. Results are mixed. Some patients resolve their tinnitus. Others do not.

Biofeedback has a 25-year history of success in the treatment of pain and other stress related disorders. With biofeedback and tinnitus, the goal is to decrease the level of stress and anxiety that may be contributing to the tinnitus. You need to be committed to biofeedback to let it work. It takes months of therapy.

Counseling is another approach among the remedies for tinnitus. You may want reassurance that your tinnitus is not from a malignant tumor or brain damage. Hearing aids seem to help about 50 percent of the people. Hearing aids make your environmental sounds clearer and sharper, thus mitigating the tinnitus.

The American Tinnitus Association is near Portland, Oregon. The Oregon Health and Science University has a tinnitus clinic. The doctors have treated over 9,000 clients.

Medication Therapy

You may find a medicine for tinnitus that can be helpful. The drugs described here are not FDA approved for tinnitus. They are off-label uses. There are two or three classes of antidepressants. The oldest ones, tricyclics, are frequently used. There are newer ones called SSRIs.

Both of these classes provide relief for patients with tinnitus. Prescribing nortriptyline at 50 mg at bedtime is the most helpful. Unfortunately it causes dry mouth, which can be uncomfortable. It may take up to a month to be effective.

The SSRIs have a better safety profile. Paxil in low doses of 10 mg at bedtime recently proved to be helpful. Zoloft at a dose of 50 mg demonstrated a significant reduction in the severity of the tinnitus.

Since there is some tense anxiety caused by the tinnitus, some doctors prescribe benzodiazepines. They are addicting drugs such as Valium and Ativan. They work by decreasing the abnormal excitement in the brain. They can make you drowsy. It is best to take it at bedtime. It will help you fall asleep.

Although these drugs are not FDA approved for tinnitus, small studies have shown their effectiveness.

Homeopathic Therapy

Among other types of relief for tinnitus is vitamin therapy. Some researchers believe that a vitamin B deficiency causes tinnitus. Vitamin A, in a Swiss study, restored hearing to victims of an explosion. Since vitamins C and E are powerful antioxidants, there is a case to be made for taking a vitamin supplement.

If it were up to me, I would take either a B complex once a day or a good multivitamin to see if the symptoms of tinnitus decrease.

Another natural remedy for the sounds of tinnitus is the herb ginkgo biloba. The leaves of this tree provide the therapy. The tree itself is over 200 million years old. The active ingredients are bioflavonoids and terpene lactones.

Ginkgo biloba increases blood flow to the brain and small blood vessels. The inner ear certainly has small blood vessels. Effects can take up to 12 weeks. A recommended dose of 80 mg three tines a day may help you.

Conclusion

Another one of the remedies for tinnitus is a patent pending formula of eardrops. It will soon be for sale on this web site in our Bookstore/Pharmacy. The drops have seven active ingredients said to relieve the noise of tinnitus. There is a money back guarantee for the drops. You have nothing to lose in trying the eardrops, Ring Relief.

If you have any questions related to your colon cancer, or chemotherapy, or tinnitus, please send them our way. If any of the remedies help you, please let us know. We are always happy to hear from our readers.

Written by Margaret Stenerson - 10/02/2010

Back to top

Search CCR

Get the latest news on colon cancer delivered to your inbox each week!
Click here to read our Privacy Policy.

Subscribe To
This Site

XML RSS
Add to Google
Add to My Yahoo!
Add to My MSN

[What is an RSS Feed?]