Does anyone have a solution for ringing in the ear?
Raymond
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A lot of people run to doctors and pay for extensive testing trying to find the root cause which can not always be pinpointed (which was my case) and so, unless you have or think you might have heart/circulatory problems, I recommend you try to find what will give you relief on your own first. If it persists after a few weeks of seeing if you can control it yourself doesn't work then go to an ear, nose and throat specialist.
I've had it for nearly two decades and sometimes it's severe and drives me crazy and will go on for days and days before subsiding.
I've experimented with a lot of things and found that what works best for me is stay away from loud noises (common sense) and wear earplugs when I have to be around loud noises (including driving in the car with the windows down because even the wind from the car moving brings it on for me).
I also sleep with a radio on low playing soft, peaceful music because it is soothing and distracts me from thinking about the ringing. It's almost like a stress relief exercise.
I also noticed that if I drink more than one cup/glass of caffeinated beverages in any given day that it exacerbates the problem. I know I shouldn't smoke at all but I also notice that if I have more than five or six ciggies in a day that also exacerbates the ringing.
Another thing I notice is that when my blood pressure goes up it makes the ringing worse. That makes a lot of sense because the caffeine and nicotine are blood pressure risers just as much as stress is.
One last thing. When I don't get enough sleep/rest (I need eight to nine hours a night) it's really bad :-(
So, in conclusion, the ringing will always be there except for the days where you are completely taking good care of yourself self and stay away from loud noises and then the ringing will be so soft you won't notice it :-)
Make an appointment with an ear doctor, it could be serious!
I to have the ringing in my ears. What I have notice is, I get the ringing when I take any med that contains Aspirin, or outside when the wind is over 10 miles per hour. Just watch when you take any med in see what happens, or what you where doing when the ringing starts. I have cut the ringing down by just finding out the cause. Good Luck
Both Deeli and MCW have advice that "rang" true for me. I've had this problem for years. And eventually had problems hearing well also. Turns out for me, I have a combination of "Meniere's disease" (google it) and have these funny little bends in my Eustachian tubes that cause them to get "clogged up" easily. Three things said to help cause Meniere's are : Stress, "molecular water retention", and cigarette smoking. So here's what's helped me this last year after finally getting this diagnosed:
When ENT talked about molecular water retention, and stress as primary causes, it struck me that the last couple of checkups I'd had a little higher than normal blood pressure, nothing alarming, but raising each time. So I went back to my regular doc. And asked if there might be a relationship. At the time I went (when my ears were driving me crazy) , my blood pressure turned out to be even higher than the "slight " increases that had started to happen.
So, I started a small amount of blood pressure medication, and started watching my salt intake! I've never been much of a fan of salty foods, but it is SURPRISING as heck the amount of salt preloaded into processed foods, ketchup, etc. I love cheese and crackers. And "cheap" cheese, as well as many other "lower end" foods, have a higher salt content than some of their higher quality counterparts. Here's the good thing; most fruits and veggies, and unprocessed foods have little if no sodium contents. the "Healthy Choice"-like frozen meals are as sodium laden as the regular brands, for example.
Quite an education. And generally keeping an eye on my salt intake, the blood pressure meds, and nasal irrigation (netti-pot) to clear my Eustachian tubes has REALLY helped me to keep that ol ringing under control. So maybe try something similar - a combo of medical evaluation and sensible "grass roots" attempts might help you.
As an aside. After being conscious about all this for many months, and choosing carefully (if I had fast food or high-processed food for lunch, had something fresh and veggie based for dinner) I had a very disruptive and scary vertigo episode one evening while cooking dinner. Threw up for 24 hours with out having the balance to even walk to the bathroom to do it. Out of the blue, it seemed. I thought about it later...I'd had cottage cheese for lunch (remember I said I love cheese? CC, my favorite, has a really high sodium content so I'd pretty much taken it out of my diet altogether). I'd been doing so well, for so long I kinda forgot about it all and ate a WHOLE carton for lunch that day. And had terrible vertigo that evening. When I talked to my ENT, I was told I might be "salt-sensitive" . A nice way to look at it. So I am reinforced to watch what I eat. Watch the blood pressure (THAT turned out to be REALLY good that I investigated -silent killer and all). And I am careful about jumping onto ear congestion. Make a a big difference.
There is a product on the market (like Wal Mart or Walgreens, etc.) that is called Ribo Flavanoid. I'm hearing from docs and other people who have used it that it really works for ringing in the ears.
Good luck!
If the ringing is caused by hearing loss, the problem is sensory-neuro and cannot be fixed usually. This is why you constantly hear people harping on others to wear ear plugs when being around loud noises, not to wear earbuds when listening to ipods, etc. Unfortunately, an age-related hearing loss often occurs as people get older too. Noises coming into the ear canal will hit the same place on the cochlea causing the cilia (in the inner ear) to break down, which can cause some of the ringing sounds. Hearing aids will not help with the ringing sounds, nor this type of hearing loss (they usually only help with a conductive hearing loss).
You've got lots of good info on what you can do to help to tolerate it. But keep in mind, it may be caused by a medical problem (high blood pressure, etc), and unless you see a doctor, you may never know the actual problem. Since hearing is extremely important, I'd suggest you pursue it with a physician to find what is causing the ringing. The reason I'm suggesting this, is because once you lose hearing, you can never get it back. Simple things, like taking aspirin, can also cause hearing loss or exaccerbate the problem. Most people are able to occassionally take aspirin, some can't, and others who already have a hearing loss may get worse.
Hope you find out what your problem is so you can fix it if it is treatable, learn ways to minimize it if it isn't treatable, and how to stop its progression either way. This can be a extremely annoying problem. Best of luck.
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