What is the future of tinnitus treatment? Tinnitus is a hearing loss or auditory condition that many people suffer from. Sufferer’s feel immense displeasure and irritation due to a constant ringing sensation in their ears that they cannot manage to get rid of. Although, there are immediate solutions like listening to ‘white’ music that exist, they are only temporary. Doctors and researchers are actively looking for permanent and long term treatment options for tinnitus.

In addition to that, current treatment options that most specialists recommend also exist. Therapies likes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Tinnitus Retraining therapy have proven to be successful in this regard. However, engineers, scientists, and doctors are researching to find better ways to treat this problem. The existing solutions are good but they need a lot of improvement for the perfect resolution of the problem.

The Future of Tinnitus Treatment

This condition is a noise induced hearing loss that can result from listening to heavy metal music or working in an extremely loud environment. It is important to know and understand how we hear and process sound. There are tiny hairs present inside our ears, namely cilia. These hairs are responsible for translating sound waves and sending them off to your brain, which then interprets them and you are able to hear.

According to research by the University of Arizona, the target is the brain and not the ears. It suggests that neuro-inflammation is the real cause behind tinnitus. Inflammation is your body’s way of letting you know that there may be an infection trying to develop in your body. This leads us to the conclusion that inflammation in auditory pathways triggers tinnitus. This also means that anti-inflammation drugs can be useful in treating tinnitus in the near future.

The central nervous system of your brain tends to activate its immune cells (microglia) when infectious germs invade. However, in case of hearing damage or auditory loss, pro inflammatory cytokines start working immediately. These cytokines don’t always seem to be helpful. One specific cytokine TNF, tumor necrosis factor tends to trigger tinnitus. Therefore, anti-inflammatory medication will help in future to regulate its activation and to reduce inflammation.

Another future treatment option is, TMS Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. (Research  by Oregon Health & Science University).This procedure involves producing a cone like magnetic field inside your skull to form a connection with your brain tissues. As a result, they affect the activity of the brain neurons. This procedure is perfect for curing depression. Participants of the study who were tinnitus sufferers stated that TMS worked for them and helped reduce their tinnitus symptoms to a great extent.

Other than that, masking devices and high-quality white sound producing hearing aids in the making that will help tackle tinnitus. These white sounds target the ringing and hissing by drowning out the background noise.

Bottom-Line

To conclude, it is vital to know which type of Tinnitus you are suffering from and what kind of treatment it requires. Treatment options are specific to your condition and the specialists will recommend them after thoroughly investigating your condition. If you have identified tinnitus symptoms in yourself and you want to get rid of them, schedule your appointment with the best Tinnitus specialist in NYC today. We will help you with a solution that meets your needs and helps you live your life like any other normal person.

Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW
646-213-2321