"Can you please be a bit more quiet?" Tinnitus is ringing in the ears. This condition is quite disconcerting, and one simply has to get use to it. Although your tinnitus may or may not be curable, here are some helpful tips to cope with life from now on.


Steps

1. Causes:
   • Ringing of the ears is caused by many things. Loud noise, guns and explosions, loud machinery, head phones, concerts, aspirin and especially Ascriptin with Malox, pain killers, accidents, aging, congestion of the sinuses, excessive ear wax, deterioration of the ear bones, a tumor, diabetes, thyroid problems, injury to the head or neck, and a variety of other causes including medications such as anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, sedatives, and anti depressants. The most common cause is loud noise which can cause nerve damage. Different people have different susceptibility to noise and for some it does not take much. Ringing ears may be caused by high blood pressure in which case one should see a doctor for this and to check if it is a symptom of something really serious.
2. Don't panic:
   • When one first gets ringing ears from nerve damage it may be truly loud and unbearable, enough to equate to suicide. It might be like a loud telephone dial tone which constant and never-ending. Tough it out and it should get better. See a doctor to see if it is symptomatic of things like a tumor in the brain, high blood pressure, or other medical condition. Avoid things like Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft as people have been known to commit suicide using these drugs in combination with sever ringing ears. Really loud ringing from nerve damage may subside in anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. However Tinnitus is usually for life so get used to it. Check out Google for solutions. Go to on line chat rooms for Tinnitus to get other people's experience. Millions of people have it. If and when the ringing becomes reduced, most the time you just won't notice it.
3. Try antihistamines:
   • On first acquiring really loud ringing it may be intensified by clogged sinuses, wherein the ear passages are clogged, reducing the background sound from outside intensifying it on the inside. For severe ringing in the beginning, try antihistamines to unclog the sinuses. Cleaning the wax from one's ears may or may not help.Waxed up ears act as ear plugs, which may protect the damaged nerves from getting worse, by reducing exterior noise. Quiet usually helps to make it better and noise usually helps to make it worse.
4. There may or may not be a cure:
   • Lidocaine injections are now said to be able to helps relieve ringing in the ears. Ginkgo Biloba is said to cure ringing ears in up to 40 percent of patients with tinnitus, attributed to inadequate blood flow to the ears, but there are varying opinions on this. This treatment is required for two to six months before any response is noted. Ginkgo Biloba may be acquired at most health food store and one would have to research the dosage.
5. Don't make it worse:
   • One wants the ringing to become lessened but not worse, since worse may be intolerable. One may have to change their life style. Avoid all loud music, and loud movies, bars, restaurants, all loud machinery, bangs and pops, keep the TV and home entertainment music down. Do not wear headphones especially ear buds. With more noise the ringing may get louder and with less softer. The important thing is one does not want to make it worse. One can carry wax for ear plugs to use if one comes upon loud noise such as construction sites, chain saws or jack hammers. One can also use these in movies and the like. One might always want to use earmuffs, to include wax or other ear plugs with noisy vacuum cleaners, coffee grinders, lawn mowers, and nosy machinery like power saws. At anytime if the ringing gets worse it may mean that there is too much noise like television or music, even though it doesn't seem too loud. Produce a quieter condition and the ringing should lessen in anywheres from an hour to a day. This condition may act as warning system as to what is too much noise. Pay attention to it.
6. Try distraction and white noise:
   • One can play low background music for distraction or devices with low humming sounds. White noise may neutralize the ringing somewhat. Companies like Bose and Sharper Image have noise-cancellation headphones. These play white noise with a volume control. They also have what they claim is noise cancellation technology.
     • From Bose: "Microphones in the earcups actively monitor what you hear, including unwanted outside sound. The difference between the unwanted sound and the desired sound is then electronically processed, creating a correction signal that acts to negate the unwanted noise. The speaker within each earcup is then fed the correction signal. This signal, combined with the passive noise reduction of the headset itself, dramatically reduces the outside distractions that reach your ears." These are quite expensive.

Tips

• Make sure you're not taking excessive amounts of aspirin or pain killers; too much, and you can get tinnitus.

Warnings

• See a doctor no matter what. It has been suggested that tinnitus can be a side-effect of partially blocked arteries and restricted blood flow caused by high cholesterol and high-fat diets.
• See a doctor if the tinnitus has a pulsating sound to it. (similar to your heartbeat) it may be a sign of blood flow problems.
• Do not listen to headphones especially ear buds at high volume. Be carefull of loud noise. Some people have gotten ringing ears from attending only one high volume concert.
• Check medications for tinnitus associated problems on Google.