Drugs That Help Tinnitus: An In-Depth Look
The use of medications to counteract tinnitus is a fairly common medical practice. Even patients expect to be prescribed a medication when they visit their physicians to complain about a ringing ear. Then patients go home with a bottle of pill, hoping the ringing in their ears disappears. However, tinnitus persists to their disappointment. They may also suffer from several other side effects.
Common Tinnitus Medications
1. Antidepressants are the first line of drugs that are given to people suffering from ringing in their ears. Although these drugs are not made to treat tinnitus, they offer help actually. Some drugs like Xanax can reduce stress, which is the number one aggravating factor of tinnitus. Stress reduction is important for tinnitus treatment.
2. Anticonvulsant drugs are also prescribed to people suffering from tinnitus. Again, these drugs are not made specifically for tinnitus sufferers. They treat seizures but have other effects that make them suitable, according to doctors, for the treatment of tinnitus. Patients reported that these drugs were able to reduce the degree of their tinnitus. It has been mentioned in some studies that anticonvulsant drugs can lessen ringing in the ears, as patients testify.
3. Antihistamine drugs are normally used to treat allergies, but they are also prescribed as drugs for tinnitus. These medications work by decongesting the airway and by reducing mucus buildup. In so doing, antihistamine indirectly causes a relief of tinnitus—provided it’s caused by sinus allergies. Antihistamines may be bought over the counter or via a doctor’s prescription. The downside is that a number of antihistamines are ototoxic. Meaning, they can cause tinnitus and other hearing disturbances.
4. Heart medications are also used to treat tinnitus, but they are not recommended for every person with the problem. The effect of these medications is to dilate the blood vessels, facilitating better circulation of the blood. That way, they reduce the symptoms of tinnitus by improving the circulation of the blood in the inner ears. Be warned that it is risky to take these drugs when you do not have heart or cardiovascular problems. These medications are not intended specifically for people with ringing in the ears.
5. Lidocaine is perhaps the most popular medication. Again, it is not particularly made for tinnitus, but it is a local anesthetic. But by some result of serendipity, possibly, the drug has been found out to improve the symptoms of tinnitus in a number of patients. Anecdotal evidence speaks about the efficacy of lidocaine for tinnitus. The drug offers quick relief for ringing in the ears, but it is not recommended as a long term solution to the problem.
6. Melatonin is another drug that is being studied for its effects on tinnitus. Studies show that it works for cases of idiopathic tinnitus, ringing in the ears that has no direct cause. The main role of melatonin is to help patients with sleep problems, but it is vague how melatonin causes improvement of tinnitus. The fact that it causes relief of tinnitus in research patients is worth noting.
NO CURE YET!
Bear in mind that even though you will be prescribed these medications, they may not work according to your expectations. Your doctor should warn you that these medications only reduce the intensity of tinnitus. Do not expect miracles from these drugs because they are not made to treat tinnitus in the first place.
Long term dependence on these drugs is also discouraged because they could lead to side effects, especially because they are used for a condition they are not made to treat.
The most compelling fact is that there is still no drug or agent that stops tinnitus completely.
Targeting the Cause
The most effective way to treat tinnitus is to know the cause and treat the cause. Experts have pointed out that tinnitus is a symptom of a disorder—it’s not a disease on its own. You cannot treat tinnitus by yourself. You need to go to a qualified medical professional for a physical checkup. Some causes of tinnitus are easy to treat. Earwax buildup, which causes ringing in the ear and conductive hearing loss, can be removed through ear irrigation or simple ear cleaning.
The problem is when the identified cause is incurable. Some incurable causes are age-related disorders, hearing loss, noise-induced hearing damage, and incurable disorders. When the cause of tinnitus cannot be cured, other methods are used as a cure for ringing in ear. For instance, hearing loss can be addressed by wearing hearing aids, which in turn cause the tinnitus to diminish from a person’s awareness.
Another problem when determining the cause of tinnitus is that sometimes no cause is found. Such cases of tinnitus are idiopathic.
Tinnitus Management
While ringing in the ears cannot be cured by any means, there are different ways to reduce its intensity to make it less intrusive. While you may be prescribed Lidocaine or Xanax, you should be too dependent on these medications. True management of tinnitus requires some of your effort to understand what this condition is and help your mind perceive it as a non-threatening condition.
Management of tinnitus includes lifestyle modification. That means you should stop going to noisy disco pubs and loud concert halls. Avoiding loud noise is the first step in tinnitus rehabilitation. One thing that you should remember is to curb stress, which aggravates tinnitus.
It may not be easy to deal with tinnitus, but before you opt for quick relief, think about the long term consequences. Many people who have tinnitus were able to live their lives without much medical help, and they are just fine.
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