Do you suffer from tinnitus? Have you been told that there is nothing to be done and that you'll have to live with the sound or sounds for the rest of your life? While there is no real cure for tinnitus, there are some things that can help to make the condition more manageable and less annoying. Here are some potential options to discuss with your hearing specialist:

Hearing aids: For some people with tinnitus, hearing aids can help reduce the loudness or frequency of the tinnitus itself. While your tinnitus may not go away completely with the use of hearing aids, the tinnitus sounds can be masked when a hearing aid is in use. Depending on the type of tinnitus that you have, the hearing aids may be tuned to simply amplify background noise or to emit a frequency that causes your ears to "forget" about the tinnitus. Even if your hearing is otherwise nearly perfect, you may want to see if the use of hearing aids can help with your condition. A good hearing specialist should have some hearing aids available for you to test out without needing to commit to a purchase.

Anti-anxiety drugs: If hearing aids don't help with your tinnitus, you may want to try low doses of anti-anxiety medicine. When you don't have anxiety, it can seem silly to take an anti-anxiety medicine. However, some people who have tinnitus will see improvement after taking anti-anxiety medicines. Before you start taking these drugs, you should talk to your regular doctor about any potential complications that you may face with the drug. Your insurance company may also consider anti-anxiety drugs for tinnitus to be off-label use and you could have to pay for the prescription yourself. It's up to you to decide whether or not the hassle is worth a chance at tinnitus relief. 

Steroids: If your tinnitus is a new condition within the past 30 days, a round of steroids may be helpful. For best results, your tinnitus must have a definite cause such as loud noises or a recent illness. If your tinnitus seemingly appeared from nowhere or you've had it for a while, steroids may not be as useful as trying hearing aids. If steroids do work on your tinnitus, you should be aware that while the severity may lessen, it may never go away completely. Like other potential treatments, steroids are not a miracle cure for tinnitus.

For hearing aids, contact a doctor such as Mark Montgomery MD FACS

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