The first rule to curing tinnitus is to not accept “no” as an answer. This is your symptom, you deserve to know the particular cause and you deserve to find a cure for tinnitus. Unfortunately many physicians end their clinical discussion with “you’ll just have to live with it.” While there are certain people that may never find a cure for their tinnitus, there are many more that do. It just takes a lot of trial and error in some cases and a desire to be cured.

Know the cause

Patients are much more likely to cure tinnitus if they know their specific cause. This usually poses a clinical challenge for physicians for two reasons. First there are a huge number of causes of tinnitus, each with a possible role to play in your disease. Second, the search for the cause or causes can take a long time and a lot of energy. Nevertheless, if you can narrow the search down to at least a few possible or probable causes, it can be used to guide treatment.

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Objective versus subjective tinnitus

One diagnostic distinction is between objective tinnitus and subjective tinnitus. In objective tinnitus, that is, tinnitus that is caused by a physical, sound-wave-making source, the problem may be treatable with surgery or related non-surgical procedure. For example, if the source of objective tinnitus is an aberrant blood vessel, it could be clipped or cut away thus curing tinnitus in that case. Likewise, a case of subjective tinnitus could be tracked back to a certain medication that is ototoxic (harmful to the organs responsible for hearing). If this cause is isolated, stopping the offending drug may be a tinnitus cure.

Important issues that inform a tinnitus cure

Does the tinnitus occur on both sides or can you localize it to one ear? If the problem is in both ears, the cause is probably metabolic or related to a drug that you are taking/did take. The tinnitus cure in this case is to correct the metabolic or hormonal abnormality—the tinnitus usually resolves when the medical problem is corrected. For instance, if a patient is suffering from a vitamin B12 deficiency, restoring the vitamin can correct or cure the resulting tinnitus. A problem in one ear usually means different things, such as wax buildup in one ear canal or one cochlea is affected by Meniere’s disease.

Is there hearing loss, no change in hearing, or even hyperacusis (overly sensitive to sound)? Again, no hearing loss suggests a metabolic cause; however hearing loss could mean the cause of tinnitus is something like otosclerosis (abnormal growth of middle ear bones). In each of these cases, the tinnitus cure is different. In the case of otosclerosis, for example, the cure for tinnitus would be surgery on the stapes, either laser resurfacing or replacement of the entire bone.

Go to the experts

While they are great in their field, general practitioners and internists are usually not the best source for help with tinnitus. If you are having a significant problem and are sincerely interested in a tinnitus cure, you will likely want to visit one or more specialists. An audiologist can perform tests that may provide an accurate tinnitus diagnosis, but also help distinguish between various causes and help direct treatment. If you would like to start your search for a tinnitus cure with an M.D., your best bet is to visit a otolaryngologist (ENT; Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist). Some ENTs specialize in tinnitus and diseases related to hearing and balance. What is rather unique about ENTs is that they are somewhat like a hybrid physician/surgeon. They practice clinical medicine in about the same amount as they perform surgery.

Suppression, masking, and retraining

If a specific cause is elusive, which it most often is, there are general tinnitus treatments that may offer a cure. A number of devices that provide some form of white noise to cover up, suppress, or force the brain to ignore the tinnitus sound. Given the number of variations in devices and approaches, it may take a few attempts or trials in order to find your tinnitus cure. Finding a specialist with an excellent track record with these devices can limit the amount of time and money that you devote to your search. Stick with it, however, because one of these masking or retraining devices might be the thing that does the trick for you.

Biofeedback

While it is not 100 % effective, biofeedback does help about 80 % of those that seriously try it, making it very close to a tinnitus cure. In biofeedback, patients are taught how to isolate the phantom sound and “will” themselves to reduce its intensity. While it may sound fantastic or unbelievable, biofeedback is an extremely effective tool for controlling physiological processes generally thought to be uncontrollable. The process generally requires expert training in order to be effective.

Drugs may not be the cure

Few drugs are actually helpful in the treatment of tinnitus. Certain drugs do work very well in certain people (making it a tinnitus cure for them, apparently) but it is virtually impossible to match the effective drug with the particular person from the beginning. If tinnitus occurs with depression, antidepressants are a little more effective than they would be in people who are not depressed (though not 100 % effective). Likewise, patients with anxiety disorder and tinnitus may find relief from anti-anxiety drugs. The herbal remedy ginkgo biloba is about as effective as other tinnitus medicines available, but none can really be called an absolute tinnitus cure.

The only foolproof tinnitus cure

There is one way to ensure patients do not have tinnitus—one surefire tinnitus cure. The cure is prevention. Great pains should be made to prevent tinnitus from developing in the first place. This means avoiding loud noises, either sustained or in sharp bursts. Avoiding tinnitus means keeping the body healthy and limiting drugs that can destroy the organs of hearing. Preventing tinnitus means staying quite vigilant and on top of treatments for diseases that can indirectly cause tinnitus, like multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia. When these diseases are well-controlled, tinnitus can usually be avoided. Because finding the cause is daunting and the treatments are rather hot or miss, the only true tinnitus cure that works every time is to avoid the condition altogether. Avoiding tinnitus begins by learning about it and taking the precautions necessary to stay healthy.