Ear Noises

WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR

* The noise is accompanied by dizziness or pain.

What Your Symptom Is Telling You

You hear constant ringing in your ears, and it's definitely not your Aunt Mildred calling long distance from Des Moines. If it's any consolation, you're not alone. More than 34 million Americans suffer from tinnitus—a hearing disorder that can subject you to all sorts of bizarre ear noises. The most common source of the commotion: Nerves and special nerve endings inside your inner ear simply wear out with age and overexposure to loud noise. That means your inner ear may be sending phantom—or fake—sounds to your brain.

"You can have pulsations from blood vessels in the ear or you can have twitching of muscles in the ear, and they will make a fluttering sound or pulsating sound or a clicking sound," says Jack Vernon, Ph.D., professor of otolaryngology and director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center at the Oregon Health Sciences Center in Portland. "People will come in and describe ringing or buzzing, or they'll compare the sound to cicadas or crickets."

An earache, a bacterial infection, fluid in the middle ear, a hole in the eardrum or a big plug of wax can cause tinnitus. Menière's disease, a somewhat rare and mysterious ailment that attacks the inner ear, has also been known to cause tinnitus. In a tiny fraction of cases, the problem could be the result of a tumor on the auditory nerve of the inner ear.

Symptom Relief

Your doctor can clear up an infection with a course of antibiotics, but in most instances tinnitus is simply not treatable. But you can cut some of the annoying noise with the following techniques.

Avoid too much aspirin. Arthritis sufferers take note: Megadoses of aspirin can make your tinnitus worse—although doctors aren't sure why. "One or two aspirin aren't going to do it, but if you're taking eight to ten aspirin every day, that could be part of the problem," says David Marty, M.D., a Jefferson, Missouri, otolaryngologist and author of The Ear Book.

Stop smoking. Here's yet another reason to quit: The nicotine in cigarettes acts as a stimulant, forcing the auditory nerve in your inner ear to fire. If you're suffering from tinnitus, that's roughly the equivalent of someone banging garbage can lids together inside your brain, says Dr. Marty.

Halt the extra salt. Excess salt causes fluid retention within the ear, which can result in swelling and pressure against the hearing organs. And that can contribute to tinnitus, hearing loss and dizziness, says Dr. Marty.

Cut back on caffeine. A stimulant, caffeine also aggravates tinnitus, says Dr. Marty.

Avoid loud sounds. "Loud sounds can exacerbate tinnitus, so it's best to avoid them," says Dr. Vernon. If you can't avoid the racket, at least wear earplugs.

Drown out the sound. Many people who have tinnitus report that they don't notice their symptoms when they're in the shower. "We have some of the cleanest patients around," says Dr. Vernon. "The noise of the water apparently covers the sound."

Because the sound of water works so well, some doctors also recommend that their patients record the sound of water pouring out of the faucet and play it just before they go to sleep or whenever they need relief, says Dr. Vernon.

Try biofeedback. During a study at the House Ear Clinic, 80 percent of people who received 12 biofeedback training sessions over a six-week period actually suffered 80 percent less ringing in their ears, says Clough Shelton, M.D., an associate clinical professor of otolaryngology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a member of the House Ear Institute at the University of Southern California. Those who participated in the study learned through biofeedback how to relax the muscles in their foreheads—muscles that are commonly tightened when you're under stress. "Exactly why, we don't know—but there's a common connection between stress and increased tinnitus," says Dr. Shelton. "Biofeedback isn't effective on everyone, but on some it's a good treatment." During biofeedback, electronic sensors placed on your body measure your stress reactions like heart rate, perspiration and muscular tension. Using relaxation techniques taught during your biofeedback training, you may be able to lower those reactions, and in this case reduce your tinnitus, says Dr. Shelton. Ask your doctor to recommend someone who can give you biofeedback training.

Buy a masking device. Several electronics manufacturers sell inexpensive units that help mask tinnitus by producing white noise. If you don't want to lay out the extra cash, you can get somewhat the same effect by tuning an FM radio to pick up static, says Dr. Vernon.

Banish earwax. If a buildup of earwax is causing the problem, you can put an end to all that racket with an over-the-counter product like Auro Ear Drops or Murine Ear Wax Removal System designed to unplug earwax, says W. Steven Pray, Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. It might be a good idea to check with your doctor first, just to make sure that you don't have an infection. (For other tips on eliminating earwax buildup, see page 148.)

Explore an anti-anxiety drug. During tests, 76 percent of those suffering from tinnitus who used the prescription drug Xanax reported relief, says Dr. Vernon. "I don't know of any drug that has that good an effect."