Toning down the ring

Like a never-ending ringtone, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) drives some people nuts.

“A lot of people adapt to it, but for other people, ringing in the ears consumes them,” said Darnell Scafe, audiologist at Audiology Services of Chattanooga.

Tinnitus affects about 17 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Center at Emory University.

Typically, it rarely strikes the young, but “half the soldiers exposed to blasts in Iraq and Afghanistan” report ringing in the ears, Dr. Jerome Groopman wrote last month in The New Yorker magazine.

Causes include exposure to loud noise, a head or ear injury, the use of certain medications, and growing old. Sometimes, a cause cannot be found, according to the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Better Hearing Institute.

A hearing aid helps many patients who also have hearing loss, said Dr. Shawn Lancaster, director of audiology at the Speech & Hearing Center on North Holtzclaw Avenue.

“When you replace that ringing noise with speech and background noise, it masks the tinnitus,” Dr. Lancaster said.

Another method some doctors in town are considering is called tinnitus retraining therapy, he added.

Invented by Emory University’s Dr. Pawel J. Jastreboff, retraining therapy uses the mind to control the mind, said Whitney Smith, a Dalton, Ga., clinical audiologist who is learning the method from Dr. Jastreboff right now.

“If tinnitus to you is a negative experience, your perception of tinnitus will be enhanced. You get into a vicious cycle, and it becomes impossible to just ignore it,” Ms. Smith said.

In 12 to 18 months, counseling and low-level broadband noise combine to retrain sufferers to simply ignore the ringing sound, she added. Because the auditory system is so closely linked to the emotional nervous system, this seems to work, she said.

After completing her training, Ms. Smith will exclusively rely on this method to treat tinnitus, she said.

“For so long we’ve used maskers just to mask (tinnitus),” she said. “But if you’re masking tinnitus you’ll never habituate (get used) to it.”

Ringing Tips

If you hear ringing in your ears, especially when it’s quiet, the American Academy of Otolaryngology recommends you see a hearing specialist. Then experiment with these:

* Avoid exposure to loud sounds and noises.

* Check your blood pressure. Ask a doctor’s help if your blood pressure is high.

* Decrease salt intake. Salt impairs blood circulation.

* Avoid stimulants such as coffee, tea, cola and tobacco.

* Exercise daily to improve your circulation.

* Get adequate rest.