A University of Iowa researcher is trying to nail down a treatment for people who develop ringing in their ears that’s not related to any outside sound. Richard Tyler says the condition is known as “tinnitus”.He says it’s a real sound as far the person hearing it is concerned, though there is no external sound source. He says it’s sound produced in the head, or the perception of sound heard in the head produced by the increase in spontaneous random activity in the nerves. Tyler says there’s no cure for the problem.He says the most common and successful ways of treating the problem are counseling and various types of low-level background sound to help decrease the tinnitus. Tyler will try to determine the most effective of these treatments. He says because it is something that occurs in the brain, it isn’t something you can see as easily and take a picture of and understand as well as other problems. He says we lag behind in our knowledge of the problem. Tyler says one of every 100 people suffer from the problem. He says people who work in factories or fire guns are the people who most often suffer from the problem. He says it’s also related to aging and hearing loss. Tyler says he’s looking for subjects for the research, and you can find out more at www.uihealthcare.com.
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