Most of the people today can attest to having heard non-existent sounds in the years or in their head from time to time. In most cases, this is experienced when one is in a room that is entirely quiet or even after they have come from a place where loud music had been playing. This hearing of sounds from inside one’s body is what is referred to as tinnitus (Singh, et al., 2016). Tinnitus mainly arises when one has been exposed to a lot of noise, with loud music, as earlier on mentioned, being a good example. Moreover, other factors like the use of drugs, stressing moments, illness, and injuries caused to the head could also contribute greatly to its onset. These sounds are always experienced in a number of ways which include humming, grinding, buzzing, whistling, and hissing. To date, no particular treatment has been found that can help do away with tinnitus. There have, however, been a number of advancements in finding its cure. This paper looks at the previous literature on ways of managing tinnitus and how effective these ways have been.
Lim, H., Kim, T., Kang, W., Song, C., Baek, S., & Chung, J. (2016). Effect of a week of treatment with cilostazol in patients with chronic tinnitus: a randomized, prospective, placebo-controlled, double-blind, pilot study. The Journal of International Advanced Otology, 12 (2), 170-176.
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In this study which is categorized as a randomized, prospective, placebo-controlled, and double-blind, Lim et al.’s (2016) main purpose is to identify how efficient cilostazol is in treating patients who are diagnosed with chronic tinnitus. Cilostazol is described as an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3. For their study, the group of researchers sourced for adults who had been diagnosed with chronic tinnitus and had it for more than three months. Through random selection, they administered cilostazol to fifty of the chosen adult patients. Another group of fifty was also selected but they were not administered with cilostazol as they were the control group. The severity of their chronic tinnitus was then compared to the fourth week.
In their findings, the group of researchers found out that the severity of chronic tinnitus in individuals in the group that was administered was quite reduced as compared to those in the control. This was an indication that cilostazol was a viable drug in doing away with tinnitus. However, it was found to have very intense side effects. For instance, the group of researchers noted that 68% of the patients administered with cilostazol developed headaches. Some of these headaches were so severe and ended up forcing most of them to withdraw from the research. The control group had only two instances of individuals developing headaches. Again, it was also noted that 4% of patients in the cilostazol group developed hyperglycemia, which is the having of abnormal amounts of blood sugar. These findings showed that cilostazol offered a significant improvement for people with chronic tinnitus but its effects were worse than the condition itself.
Singh, C., Kawatra, R., Gupta, J., Awasthi, V., & Dungana, H. (2016). Therapeutic role of Vitamin B12 in patients of chronic tinnitus: a pilot study. Noise Health, 18 , 93-97 .
In this pilot study, Singh et al. (2016) set out to determine how vitamin B12 was a therapeutic player in patients with chronic tinnitus. Just like in the case of using cilostazol, this research was prospective, randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled. They conducted their study at Era’s Lucknow Medical College where they engaged all of the adult patients of ages 18-60 with chronic subjective tinnitus. These patients were supposed to have been suffering from severe tinnitus for a period of over 6 months at the time the study was conducted. The total number of patients enrolled in the program was 40: 20 were categorized in Group A (cases) whereas the other twenty were put in Group B which was the control. Patients in Group A were administered with “parenteral intramuscular therapy of 1 ml Vitamin B12” every week for 6 consecutive weeks. Group B, on the other side, was given “placebo isotonic saline 1 ml intramuscular” for the same time frame.
The findings first indicated that most of the patients (42.5%) were vitamin B12 deficient. For Group A, it was found out that 50% of them were deficient in the vitamin whereas only 35% of Group B patients recorded the same. Once the Vitamin B12 was used in Group A, it was found out that it only had an impact on the individuals who were vitamin B12 deficient. It reduced the levels of severity of the chronic subjective tinnitus in these group but had little or no effect on the rest. There was also no notable improvement in patients in Group B. From this results, it is evident that Vitamin B12 is not an overall way of doing away with patients of chronic tinnitus, especially those that are not deficient of the vitamin.
Coelho, C., Tyler, R., Ji, H. et al. (2016). Survey on the effectiveness of dietary supplements to treat tinnitus. American Journal of Audiology, 25 , 184-205.
For this study, Coelho et al.’s (2016) purpose was to survey how the use of dietary supplements was effective in treating tinnitus and the associated side effects of the undertaking. The group of researchers came up with a website where they would interact patients with tinnitus on a number of questions. They distributed the web address to specific tinnitus self-help organizations as well as shared it on any platforms that were in relevance. The questions were well structured and divided into portions where the patients were required to provide varying information in each. The first one based on demographics, that is, where they lived and any other relevant information after which a number of tinnitus related questions were asked. They were then supposed to respond to questions on whether they had used dietary supplements.
A total number of 1,788 individuals visited the website and responded to the questions. Of this number, only 413 individuals, which was equated to 23.1% of the total, stated that they took dietary supplements. Out of the 413, 70.7% stated that they had not experienced any improvement on tinnitus. A much lesser 19.0%, however, indicated that they had experienced improvement. Another 10.3% indicated that their tinnitus becomes worse after using dietary supplements. Additionally, it was also reported that 6% of these dietary supplements users experienced side effects such as diarrhea, headache, and bleeding. Seemingly a viable a strategy, the use of dietary supplements in not an effective way of treating patients with tinnitus. This is because of its petite impact on reducing the severity of the condition and its associated side effects.
Tabrizi, A., Naini, A., & Baradaran. (2017). Short-term effect of gabapentin on subjective tinnitus in acoustic trauma patients. Iranian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, 29 (2), 95-100.
Tabrizi, Naini, & Baradaran (2017) noticed that despite there being a wide study of evaluating treatment approaches for tinnitus, none of them were approved by the FDA. They, therefore, decided to conduct a study early this year with the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of using gabapentin to treat patients with subjective tinnitus. The researchers obtained 103 patients from the Taleghani Hospital’s ENT clinic. They then randomized them into two groups: the gabapentin (55) and control (48) groups. Like in the previous randomized and placebo-controlled studies, the gabapentin group was administered with 300 mg of gabapentin whereas the control group were subjected to a placebo. The visual analog scale was used to determine significant improvements.
Not much difference was recorded in both groups in terms of sex, age, or gender. Six weeks after they had administered the drug, it was noted that significant reductions in severity of tinnitus were recorded in both groups. However, patients in the gabapentin group were found to have reduced in numbers greater than those in the control. Of the 55 in the gabapentin group, 49 of them experienced a reduction more than 30% in the VAS as was expected. The control group had 28 of the respondents recording improvement. This numbers clearly indicated that using gabapentin was effective enough and recommendable for treating tinnitus. Moreover, the placebo was also found to have a significant impact in reducing the severity of tinnitus thus relieving the patients.
Arif, M., Sadlier, M., Rajenderkumar, D., James, J., & Tahir, T. (2017). A randomized control study of mindfulness meditation versus relaxation therapy in the management of tinnitus. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology, 1 (7), 1-7.
In this article, Arif et al. (2017) set out to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation to that of relaxation therapy in reducing the severity of tinnitus. For a long while now, psychotherapy has proven to be one of the strategies that can be used to mitigate the effect of tinnitus on individuals. As a result, they undertook the study so as to come up with the best possible therapeutic invention. For the randomized study, they recruited 86 patients diagnosed with tinnitus. These patients were then randomly categorized into two groups. The first group comprising of thirty-four patients were taken through five sessions of mindfulness meditation which they completed successfully. The other faction which comprised of twenty-seven patients were taken through five sessions of relaxation therapy. Primary outcome measures were gauged through the use of questionnaires whereas the secondary ones were measured through the visual analog scale (VAS), health status indicator, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
Once the study was completed, the researchers calculated the difference of scores both before and after treatment for both groups. It was recognized that both divides recorded a critical level of change. However, the mindfulness meditation group had a much greater impact than the relaxation therapy one. Mean difference in scores indicated a higher change in the group that was taken through mindfulness meditation. In terms of reducing the severity of tinnitus, a mean difference of 1.798 recorded between the two groups with mindfulness meditation on the highly favored side. From this findings, both psychotherapeutic interventions proved to be quite viable and promising for the countering of tinnitus. However, the more effective of the two turned out to be mindfulness meditation and it is thus one of the few ways in which the condition can be subsidized.
Demirkol, N., Usumez, A., Dermikol, M., Sari, F., & Akcaboy, C. (2016). Photomedicine and laser Surgery
, 1-5.
In this study, Demirkol et al. (2017) conducted a study to come up with a way of treating tinnitus such that it would be eliminated or reduced in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) through the use of low-level laser therapy. They took in 46 patients, 23 male, and 23 female, who had been referred to them and were diagnosed with having subjective tinnitus and TMDs. To determine this, they used two types of low-level laser therapy (LLLTs) and compared them to a placebo treatment. The first LLLT had a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd: YAG) and the other one was an 810 nm diode laser. For both the Nd: YAG and the placebo groups, 15 patients were allocated. The 810 nm diode laser group, on the other hand, had 16 patients. These methods were applied for a period of 10 days and were conducted once on a daily basis. A VAS was used to measure the implications of each.
The findings of the study were based on the scores recorded by the VAS both after and before treatment. In the Nd: YAG laser group, a significant difference (p*=0.001) was noted between the scores that had been recorded before and after treatment. The diode laser group also had a significant change (p*=0.005). The placebo group, which was, in this case, the control, did not show much of a difference. Significantly, the reduction of severity of tinnitus for the sample patients was found to reduce 100% when the Nd: YAG laser was used. The 810 nm diode laser group recorded a 30% reduced case of severity in the same. In contrast, the placebo recorded a 0% improvement. From this ratings, the use of low-level lasers has proved to be more effective especially when the Nd: YAG is used. It, in result orientation, stands out even when compared to other treatment methods.
Sweetow, R., & Sabes, J. (2010). Effects of acoustic stimuli delivered through hearing aids on tinnitus. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 21 , 461-473.
In another attempt to find the best treatment method for patients with tinnitus, Sweetow & Sabes (2010) examined how using a hearing aid could have been of significance. They thus conducted a study to find out the effect of using hearing aids on tinnitus handicap, annoyance, reaction, and the overall relaxation of a patient. Sweetow & Sabes (2010) used a study sample of 14 adults who had been identified as having a hearing impairment and subjective tinnitus too. These participants were tested by being issued with hearing aids which were well-developed to fit certain specified programs such as fractal tones and amplification. Immediately after the study sample was obtained, the collection of data was initiated. It was collected from the first visit, one week later, and upon completion of the first, third, and sixth month. This implies that the study was conducted over a six-month period with consistency being maintained.
Out of the fourteen participants, thirteen reported a reduction in their tinnitus annoyance, which was measured by using the Tinnitus Annoyance Scale for one of the conditions that had been amplified. Another group of nine was recorded to have experienced minimal annoyance while they used hearing aids with fractal tones only. Even though there was similarly significant reduction in the use of amplification only, it could not match up to the one initiated by the fractal tones. Again, the participants showed an affiliation for fractal tones as 86% of them preferred it to amplification. They said that listening to fractal signals made it much easier for them to relax. Seven of the applicants had previously stated that the noise condition was much better for them but did not end up choosing it for wear in the field. They mostly settled for the hearing aid with fractal signals. In essence, this research showed how effective the use of acoustic stimuli could be in relieving individuals suffering from tinnitus. Significantly, fractal tones outstood as the best form of stimuli that can be used to impact on tinnitus annoyance.
Doi, M., Tano, S., Schultz, A., Borges, R., & Marchiori, L. (2016). Effectiveness of acupuncture therapy as treatment for tinnitus: a randomized control trial. Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, 82 (4), 456-465.
The purpose of this study was to determine the effective of acupuncture therapy in treating or minimizing the effect of tinnitus on individuals. A total number of 50 participants, who had tinnitus were sampled out for the study through the use of interviews and also public gathering through the use of local media. Since it was a randomized control trial, 25 of these participants were put in the acupuncture group with the other 25 being used as the control. The acupuncture group received acupuncture therapy treatment for a period of five weeks with the control not receiving any sort of treatment within that time frame. Once the five weeks were over, the control group was then subjected to acupuncture therapy treatment. Like in most previous cases, the researchers used the VAS to obtain their measurements. They also made use of THI questionnaire.
Out of the 50 sampled out participants, only a minimum of 46 managed to complete the study. Twenty-two of them were in the acupuncture group with the other twenty-four in the control. Of the 22 in the acupuncture group, 17 had a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, 3 had a unilateral one, and two did not have any form of hearing loss. In the control group, 18 had a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, 2 had a unilateral one, and the other four did not have hearing loss. For the acupuncture group, a significant difference was found between the measurement collected by the VAS at the baseline and after treatment. Statistically, acupuncture therapy was found to have a 50% reduction rate on the severity of tinnitus to individuals. The implications of this study were that acupuncture therapy is an effective strategy that can be used to reduce the severity of tinnitus and as well improve the lives of individuals living with it.
Conclusion
Though quite a difficult and misunderstood condition, tinnitus can be very disturbing and cause a lot of pain to people having it. As a result, most of these individuals might rush to get any form of treatment that seems to reduce their suffering without considering the implications it might have on them. However, some of these methods might result in more harm than good for such individuals. For instance, the use of dietary supplements has proved to have very gross side effects. It is, therefore, imperative to realize that few of the provided solutions are as effective as anticipated. Using gabapentin, hearing aids with fractal tones, and acupuncture therapy are some of the methods that can be used without causing any hazardous effects on the suffering individual.
References
Arif, M., Sadlier, M., Rajenderkumar, D., James, J., & Tahir, T. (2017). A randomized control study of mindfulness meditation versus relaxation therapy in the management of tinnitus. The Journal of Laryngology & Otology, 1 (7), 1-7.
Coelho, C., Tyler, R., Ji, H. et al. (2016). Survey on the effectiveness of dietary supplements to treat tinnitus. American Journal of Audiology, 25 , 184-205.
Demirkol, N., Usumez, A., Dermikol, M., Sari, F., & Akcaboy, C. (2016). Photomedicine and laser Surgery , 1-5.
Doi, M., Tano, S., Schultz, A., Borges, R., & Marchiori, L. (2016). Effectiveness of acupuncture therapy as treatment for tinnitus: a randomized control trial. Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, 82 (4), 456-465.
Lim, H., Kim, T., Kang, W., Song, C., Baek, S., & Chung, J. (2016). Effect of a week of treatment with cilostazol in patients with chronic tinnitus: a randomized, prospective, placebo-controlled, double-blind, pilot study. The Journal of International Advanced Otology, 12 (2), 170-176.
Singh, C., Kawatra, R., Gupta, J., Awasthi, V., & Dungana, H. (2016). Therapeutic role of Vitamin B12 in patients of chronic tinnitus: a pilot study. Noise Health, 18 , 93-97.
Sweetow, R., & Sabes, J. (2010). Effects of acoustic stimuli delivered through hearing aids on tinnitus. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology, 21 , 461-473.
Tabrizi, A., Naini, A., & Baradaran. (2017). Short-term effect of gabapentin on subjective tinnitus in acoustic trauma patients. Iranian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, 29 (2), 95-100.
