What it is

• Ringing, whooshing or other noise seeming to come from your ears is a common complaint. According to the American Hearing Research Foundation, an estimated 36 million Americans experience it to some degree. But it is a symptom, not a disease in and of itself. Tinnitus can be coming from the outer ear, the middle ear, the inner ear, or the brain itself. Anything that blocks your hearing can make normal body sounds more prominent.
  
  But the annoying and persistent noises that can drive you to distraction are another matter. The most frequent cause of tinnitus is nerve damage in the inner ear. Exposure to excessively loud noise, whether from machinery or "head banger" music can cause damage to the microscopic hair cells that turn vibrations into nerve signals. Rarely, tinnitus can signal something very wrong inside the brain---an aneurysm (a weak spot in a blood vessel that balloons out) or some types of brain tumor.
  
  

Lowering the volume

• Some very basic things that are good for your overall health may help with tinnitus, as well. Get enough rest, keep on top of your blood pressure and get some regular exercise. Avoid exposure to loud sounds and noises. Cut down on nerve stimulants like caffeine and nicotine. For some people, biofeedback has been reported to help. Since tinnitus is often at its worst when everything is quiet, try using masked noises.
  Drs. Sergei Kotchkin and Richard Tyler, writing in The Hearing Review, found that 60 percent of tinnitus sufferers experienced some relief by using a hearing aid and more than one in five reported a major improvement.
  
  

Drug therapies

• Antidepressents, tranquilizers and muscle relaxants have shown some beneficial effect in some, but not all tinnitus patients. In part it could be that treating the depression that comes from coping with the noise helps them feel better. Or, if the tinnitus is stress related, loosening up the jaw muscles may help improve the situation. Anticonvulsants such as phenytoin (Dilantin), primidone (Mysoline) and valproic acid (Depakene) have been shown to have some usefulness reducing tinnitus.