It Is Just Mind-Blowing That Science Has Yet to Cure Tinnitus

Tinnitus is damage to your hair cells in the inner or outer ear. In my opinion, and with the amount who suffer permanent T (in the millions) it is truly mind blowing that doctors and scientists cannot resolve a treatment to rejuvenate the inner ear nerve hair cells.

Years and years without any advancement.

I sure hope they find a cure. For myself AND more importantly the troops.

 

Hi @martin12!

I hear you, but unfortunately, Science also has yet to cure many maladies of the mind -- and ultimately, whatever else might cause Tinnitus, it is ultimately a neurological disorder. While neurologists and ENTs ultimately disagree on everything about how Tinnitus functions, they do agree that, whatever the underlying cause may be, it's the misfiring of the auditory nerve in the brain that is ultimately to blame for the phantom sounds that we hear. Note that cases where Tinnitus isn't expressed neurologically, but instead as a vascular or circulatory problem -- such as Pulsatile Tinnitus, with its trademark clicking, thumping, whooshing sounds -- medical science absolutely has cures because it's easy to narrow down and identify the phenomena that are causing the auditory disturbances. In fact, most doctors can even hear it, too.

Doctors cannot "hear" classic Tinnitus - the high-pitched ringing, chiming, hissing, or chirping sounds that plague most of us. Science cannot really diagnose, beyond seeing that the brain is expressing in neurological patterns what does not exist, a definitive cause. That said, there has been a lot of research into Tinnitus over the past decade for several reasons:

1. Most tinnitus is caused by damage to the auditory organs, especially the cochlea, and is a condition that disproportionately affects a growing plurality all servicemen and servicewomen in the Armed Forces.
   
   
2. The advent of mobile devices and the ever-present earbuds with commuters listening to music at full-blast for hours a day is beginning to cause millions of young adults to start contracting tinnitus from over-exposure.
   
   
3. The growing obesity epidemic in the world is leading people to higher stress levels, poor sleep, and terrible posture, amplifying the likelihood that people contract tinnitus due to neuromuscular inflammation, like that encountered in TMJ or Head and Neck muscular injuries or strain.

The current approach that Science is taking is to try to trick auditory organs to stop sending phantom requests to the brain, which trigger the Tinnitus sounds. Many injectable drug trials are moving towards secondary and tertiary phases of clinical studies on humans, and there is measured improvement for tinnitus suffers. That said, like any other chronic condition, the best hope for people who suffer from Tinnitus -- and it's an estimated 2% of the entire planet's population that has Tinnitus at any given time, and a tenth of that population that has it persistently to disrupt their daily lives -- is to overcome it by "tuning it out." This is, of course, easier said than done, but habituation -- as a natural process that the brain guides us through -- ultimately provides relief for most sufferers, and even those of us who had acute outbreaks many months ago find ourselves significantly improved today.

I truly hope that we are approaching a scientific breakthrough. With the added research and public exposure to what tinnitus is, I am anxious that we will discover a shared mechanism and a way to suppress it with medication. In the meantime, this community for me, at any rate, is an oasis of tranquility in a sea of auditory storms.

Kaelon

 

Well said Kaelon.

You sound like a doctor or scientist.

I enjoy reading your posts. They are always so informative.

Wish I could figure out my cause. It's so annoying.

Thanks-still sleepless.

 

I wonder about that. Maybe those microwaves cause damage after all.

 

Probably.

 

I don't think it's just hair cells. In my case I did dpoae test and inner ear mri and it came back normal. My hair cells are good.

So tinnitus is very complex as it involves several parts of the brain which no one has any clue about. Unless they do a complete brain and head transplant... maybe then we will get some peace..

Hopefully docs will create pills to cure T.

 

I also don't believe it's just hair cells. It can be the cause, but T itself is all about the brains, they produce the noises.
And the brains are very complex.

My ENT said: Forget about a cure. There will never be a cure.

So....

 

There's no cure for cancer either but and they spend millions upon millions on that. There may be a way to lower the volume in our life time, but a cure isn't worth getting excited about in my opinion. The best thing to do is to manage your response to T and make it a non-issue. A cure would then be an added bonus.

 

Hey, NiNyu: Some years ago, I had an ongoing argument with a cousin who's a retired physicist. I'd add a link related to this but that could blow my identity . I didn't have noticeable T at that that time but I would often walk around with a cellphone in my breast pocket. My father was dying, so I had to keep it on and with me. It wasn't a smartphone and I added the longer-lasting battery to it. It always made that part of me red.

I don't care what a title is and had no issue arguing with him. He's convinced cellphones are harmless and wrote an article/blog about it. I'm not and haven't been convinced but I'm not myopic (lol - "shortsighted." He drew diagrams to try to convince me science doesn't support what I believe that they can do harm. I don't care about a diagram and science isn't exact in all cases. I cared that: 1) With my whacked ears and hearing aids I heard electronic noises from virtually everything around me. 2) I had my analog aid on telecoil once (my error for keeping it on - tcoils allow hearing a phone call) and walked through the electronic device to ensure you're not stealing anything from a store. I heard a piercing shriek. 3) You can't dispute heat and a red spot in the shape of a cellphone on my chest.

It just may be the microwaves also affect our brains. I believe cellphones do damage. Obviously heat radiates from them as microwaves (a known danger) also can hurt us. I was taught to remain a fair distance from the bouncing waves that spread beyond the confines of the closed device.

 

I'm from the US where money drives businesses at virtually any cost to the consumer. While the brain is very complex, if businesses could make money off a cure (I don't think they can make enough to warrant finding one), I don't see it happening here.

*** attheedgeofscience: Read your response. Politics here means corruption on probably all levels. I can't sidetrack this thread by saying anymore than that.

 

Very true. But the US is also full of lobbyism (at the government level).

And sometimes those singular people in charge have too much power such as the decision to limit embryonic stem cell research by president Bush which was based on "religious" rather than objective beliefs (EXAMPLE ONLY).

 

Let's quote a smartphone manual then,

Your cousin is right, cellphones do not harm -- as long as they are off or you keep them at arm's length.^^

 

How can you tell? Did someone count them all?

@Gabrielle , if your ENT is right we are all DOOMeD. Nevertheless, I do agree T is all about the brain but also about the cochlea. If we could fix the cochlea, address the neurons, T would very likely resolve.

But there are treatments and drugs for cancer. Moreover, you do not have 24/7 pain!
Making T a non-issue is like being raped every single day and tell yourself, 'Hey, it's just forced mating. No big deal. Nothing to worry about. It won't kill me. I just have to work on my 'response'. Change my mindset. And everything is just fine.'

Anyhow, drugs won't be the solution for T. Who wants to feel dizzy, drowsy, drugged 24/7?
Unless of course it is something you have to take just once or in a short course to resolve T.

 

And NiNyu that's why the best answer so far as been to do the neck and head transplant. It's also where those who get cochlear implants can get screwed . I feel little effect from a benzo and they don't help at all and you're right as usual. I love this but you're the only one who has said it so bluntly (I personally appreciate it immensely):

Making T a non-issue is like being raped every single day and tell yourself, 'Hey, it's just forced mating. No big deal. Nothing to worry about. It won't kill me. I just have to work on my 'response'. Change my mindset. And everything is just fine.'

WHEW! I can't go that far but I've certainly thought about it. (Sorry, Gabrielle, it's the reality for both of us.)
* * *
Also, NiNyu, we can pretend I had a smartphone at that time but I didn't despite that we still debated about it. I couldn't wear it on my belt because I didn't wear them back then. I'd like to reinforce his site with your response but he really is a nice, mushy, and sweet guy and yep, in spite of all these qualities he is a guy and nope, I never peeked.

 

Thankfully, the UK is more of a socialist state when compared to other countries so it makes sense that tinnitus would be cured here. Believe in Autifony. The UK cures tinnitus! That'll put us on the map again lol

 

I'd rather be raped daily than have tinnitus, being raped ends, tinnitus does not.

 

It actually doesn't end after a rape. One never forgets. The anxiety may decrease. But the memory is often very, very clear.

 

Well, still hugely less annoying than severe tinnitus with hyperacusis.

 

I looked up hyperacusis. Understanding I've had tinnitus for most if not all my adult life that I didn't realize until relatively recently is one thing. I didn't know because I took T literally as "ringing in the ears." I went to bed and realized what I "heard" maybe over a lifetime was the progression of T. So, I know what it feels like. It just may manifest itself differently than others.

Then when I saw the definition of hyperacusis, I flashed to one of my partner's and my biggest fear getting a cochlear implant was hearing sounds I never heard before would probably not be good. Learning I had T was one thing. The implant made it a whole lot worse. One example: We drove home from the hospital after my surgery. As soon as we turned onto our street, she took off her seat belt and I heard the ding ding ding of the seat belt indicating the seat belt wasn't on. I never heard it before. I used to take off my seat belt as just before I drove into our neighborhood. I never heard the seat belt dinging before. I learned I have it hyperacusis too, albeit from an external source, and so does my partner. She is hearing and hyper-sensitive to environment sounds. I suggested getting our dog slippers because I hear him walking on our hardwood floors. I wrapped our dog's tags in electrical tape to dampen the sound they make.

It's 12:18 a.m. here and the T is ripping away keeping me awake. What you ostensibly flippantly say is what you probably haven't experienced. I can. Can you? I attempt to make fair analogies and hopefully this is one. My partner and I grew up in different households in different ways. I compared our growing up and said hers was worse. Her response was something like, "You can't compare them and both were damaging." That's the simple version. Her BA then masters degree were in counseling from a college and university that are still rated highly.

I won't debate this with you. I know unless you've walked, "miles in my moccasins," you can't understand what I've gone through.* You can dismiss it as you have. I'm walking in your moccasins to a large extent. I hope you have big ones. Both situations to me are bad and I can never erase what I'd like to erase. My nightmares subsided, the images, the sounds, the situation, and ripple-effect are as clear as the time frame in which it happened and that's after years of distancing and coming to grips with it. *That's exactly why I loathe it when people say, "Oooohhh, I know exactly what you're going through." After years of hearing it, it just makes me a tad pissed off. I don't correct them. I let it go. They don't have a clue unless they've experienced the something similar to what happened to me (like late-stage deafness). As we all get older, our hearing (particularly high frequencies) become worse. But that's not close to having less to no ability to understand and communicate with people. We believe what we want, despite what we don't know, and I see as myopic.

 

Our medical science isn't as advanced as we think. We may have made some advancements in physical injuries and surgeries, but we are still living in the stone age when it comes to neurological issues which includes tinnitus as well. Even after decades of research and throwing away billions of dollars into research, neurological problems still remain a mystery to science and there are simply no treatments to reduce the suffering. We are light years away from finding cures in my opinion and very few people give a damn about it.

 

Two folks I know of received implants thier t got worse.
I believe stem cell will offer some answers in the next 5 years.

 

I doubt that. We get bombarded by electromagnetic radiation from the sun every day. Visible light, radio waves, infrared light, microwaves. I don't think some radio towers and mobile phones makes that big a different. The only bad rays is the UV rays, gamma rays and X-rays. Those with short wavelengths with high energy levels. But, our atmosphere takes most of them out anyways.

 

Precisely, that's why they cause no harm.^^

However, that's not happening with those millions of cellphones, mobile devices and radio towers everywhere. If I take a closer look around in my neighborhood not one single building is without several broadband antennas.

Take for instance Steve Jobs he was around wireless devices 24/7 and what did he get? Cancer?
Moreover, why do they warn us about the SAR value of cellphones in the manual? So in case there should ever be proof that those devices indeed cause any harm we cannot sue them! They will simply say, 'Hey, didn't you read the manual? Well, you should have read it.'

 

plz don't become scientist... correlation doesnt imply causation

steve jobs chose homeopathic threatments, that's why died. darwinism.

cell phone causing cancer is the same sh.. as some people saying they are allergic to ELECTRICITY... it's a psychological problem, thats all...

 

Our atmosphere protects us from high level energy rays, such as gamma rays. Not low energy rays like radio waves or visible light. If the atmosphere protected us against visible light we would have night 24/7, as the light would not penetrate down to the surface. High energy rays have shorter wavelength and much less penetration force. Gamma rays would not even penetrate a sheet of paper. While radio waves can easily penetrate a concrete wall. Even an entire building.

Mobile phones uses low energy rays. 5.8 GHz, 2.4 GHz and 900 MHz are some of the frequencies mobile phones are using. The FM band (radio) is even lower energy starting at 88.1 MHz.

The sun is bombarding us with all kinds of rays in the electromagnetic field , the amount of rays we humans send out artificial is nothing compared to what the sun hits us with.

The sun can give you cancer. But that's not because of the radio waves or gamma rays. But UV-rays. Which can penetrate the atmosphere but then gets absorbed by your skin, which leads to DNA damage.

The reasons this can not happen with radio waves is because those rays just go straight through you. No energy from the rays gets absorbed in you, therefor no damage.

If radio waves can cause cancer, why do we not see an enormous increase in brain cancer after mobile phones where introduced around 1990? Your statement about Steve Jobs makes no sense. Please stop spreading pseudo-science.

 

I'm not surprised and I've seen that mentioned before. It's where I have a huge disdain for the rights to own and control a website and therefore control the truth. Stem cell research in the US may be dependent on who pays to put the next Pres. in the White House and we may be dependent on other countries to make some advancement with it. Time will tell.

If someone had been able to say SOMEWHERE something like, "Even if you already have T, it may get worse," it would've given me another reason to take pause and likely change my mind.

That's the problem ... the deceit in so many parts of our lives to get our money. It's also why I'm enthralled with this website. I just never imagined it could occur.

 

I agree with you. I thought we were that advanced. I see it going to doctors who lie (my ongoing experience), being controlled by the medical and pharm. industries producing false research results, the bunk about cochlear implant because the truth is so hidden (that applies to the wonder drugs that are suddenly causing a high enough number of deaths (we don't know how many) that the industry of lawyers get involved. Cures lose money. Keeping people alive make money. I saw it happen with a portion of the hearing aid. One relatively simple thing might have enabled me to continue to wear them but people like me were not a big enough investment. So, "... very few people give a damn about it." Well put!

 

For reference, I put some quick prevalence numbers I googled for things with treatments. Some are about the same. Maybe even a bit less for fibromyalgia? Point is, it made monetary sense to do it for these, so it could make sense for t & h.
Restless leg syndrome: 5-10%
Asthma: 7-8%
Fibromyalgia: 2%

 

I don't think you've spent much time interacting with the victims of rape and other severe traumas.

Our problem can be huge, and terrible, and significant, without making useless hyperbolic statements which are offensive to large numbers of people...

 

Rape isn't forever tinnitus is...Tinnitus can lead to death, wanting to kill yourself, it drives you crazy and never ends ever! And the torture you go though, if you have high pitched tinnitus is unbearable...Waking up from sleep because it's too loud, wanting to kill yourself every second of the day, needing tablets to just sleep at night. Having to avoid certain foods/drinks otherwise you get a spike, living in fear. That's far worse, but that's my opinion.