Category: Articles

13 eligible RTs with a total of 1345 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The meta-analysis results showed that the 1-month response rate, 3-month response rate, 6-month response rate, and overall response rate of TRT with drugs for tinnitus were higher than that of drugs only (P < 0.05). The results demonstrated that the THI…

Studies have provided evidence that Hearing Aid fitting is a valuable treatment strategy for chronic tinnitus relief with associated hearing loss. References: 1) Simonetti P, Vasconcelos LG, Gândara MR, Lezirovitz K, Medeiros ÍRT, Oiticica J. Hearing aid effectiveness on patients with chronic tinnitus and associated hearing loss. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2022 Nov-Dec;88 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):S164-S170.…

Medicines used to treat other diseases, as well as foods and other ingested materials, can result in unwanted tinnitus. These include alcohol, antineoplastic chemotherapeutic agents and heavy metals, antimetabolites, antitumor agents, antibiotics, caffeine, cocaine, marijuana, nonnarcotic analgesics and antipyretics, ototoxic antibiotics and diuretics, oral contraceptives, quinine and chloroquine, and salicylates. References: Kim SH, Kim D,…

Patients with impacted ear wax that occludes the external auditory canal can present with tinnitus, conductive hearing loss and aural fullness. Symptoms usually resolve with clearance of the wax. References: Chan HBY, Low D, Yuen HW, How CH. Tinnitus – ringing in the ears. Singapore Med J. 2020 Sep;61(9):448-452. doi: 10.11622/smedj.2020128. PMID: 33043372; PMCID: PMC7927175.

The hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis, one of the main neuroendocrine systems involved in stress response, is commonly disturbed in tinnitus patients. Patients with chronic tinnitus have been shown to develop abnormal responses to psycho-social stress, where the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis response is weaker and delayed, suggesting chronic stress contributes to the development of chronic…

In this nationally representative sample of US adults, negative sleep characteristics were significantly associated with bothersome tinnitus. Report of bothersome tinnitus was associated with less hours of sleep per night, being diagnosed with sleep disorders, report of trouble with sleeping, and OSA symptoms. References: Awad M, Abdalla I, Jara SM, Huang TC, Adams ME, Choi…

Potential risk factors identified in the literature include pathologies of middle and inner ear structures, bone or nerve malformations, rhino sinusitis, and social factors such as poor diet. References: Hoare DJ, Smith H, Kennedy V, Fackrell K. Tinnitus in Children. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2024 Jun;25(3):239-247. doi: 10.1007/s10162-024-00944-3. Epub 2024 May 6. PMID: 38709437; PMCID:…

Animal-model studies have demonstrated that after noise exposures that lead to some damage of the cochlea, neurons in both the dorsal and ventral divisions of the first auditory brain station, the cochlear nucleus, show increased Spontaneous firing rate. References: 1) Bledsoe SC Jr, Koehler S, Tucci DL, Zhou J, Le Prell C, Shore SE. Ventral…

The results show a different average pattern of hearing impairment amongst the tinnitus patients, consistent with the suggestion that inner hair cell dysfunction with subsequent reduced auditory innervation is a possible trigger of tinnitus. References: Tan CM, Lecluyse W, McFerran D, Meddis R. Tinnitus and patterns of hearing loss. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2013 Apr;14(2):275-82.…

Tinnitus does not represent a disease itself, but instead is a symptom of a variety of underlying diseases. Otologic causes include noise-induced hearing loss, presbycusis, otosclerosis, otitis, impacted cerumen, sudden deafness, Meniere’s disease, and other causes of hearing loss. Neurologic causes include head injury, whiplash, multiple sclerosis, vestibular schwannoma (commonly called an acoustic neuroma), and…