Ask Dr. Nick
On today’s episode, Dr. Nick talks about tinnitus and how it can be treated. Tinnitus, or ringing in the ear, is a perception of a sound that is not produced from an external source. It can be a high- or low-pitched ringing or vibration, and it can be caused by a variety of factors. These include hearing loss, head injury, concussion, vertigo/dizziness, or infection. The brain and different parts of the auditory pathway are the main source of dysfunction, but this may be caused following damage to the inner ear structures.
These parts of the brain may have lack of stimulation or decreased overall function leading to these areas trying to stimulate themselves. In order to treat tinnitus, we want to stimulate these brain regions either directly or indirectly. This is accomplished by electrical stimulation, eye movements, vestibular and balance rehabilitation and other modalities. Check out the video for more in depth information on the pathology of tinnitus and how to fix it!
Hoare DJ, Adjamian P, Sereda M. Electrical Stimulation of the Ear, Head, Cranial Nerve, or Cortex for the Treatment of Tinnitus: A Scoping Review. Neural Plast. 2016;2016:5130503.
