Many people in the hearing loss community are painfully aware of tinnitus and its effects. It affects some people as a low frequency rumble, others as a high frequency whistle, and still others as something that sounds almost like voices.
Some people have different sounds that ebb and flow for various reasons, apparent and otherwise.
Although doctors don't really know what causes tinnitus, they believe it is related to a disorder of the either the inner ear hair cells or the neural pathway from the inner ear to the brain. Tinnitus is often associated with other problems of the inner ear, including hearing loss and Meniere's disease. There is no effective treatment, and the ongoing effects of tinnitus can affect a person's mental health. Recently, however, Drs. John J. Shea and Xianxi Ge of the Shea Ear Clinic in Memphis, Tennessee, have announced promising tinnitus treatment using injections of lidocaine into the ear and intravenously.