How to treat tinnitus? Tinnitus is a common symptom in otology. It refers to a loud sound in the patient’s ear when there is no sound from outside, and is often described as a cicada, air horn, hissing or buzzing sound. High-pitched tinnitus can be irritating, affect work and sleep, and is very painful for patients. The occurrence of tinnitus is sometimes persistent and sometimes intermittent, and it is not easy to attract attention when it is mild, but disturbs people when it is severe. Certain physiological movements, such as chewing, breathing and swallowing, can produce sound, but this is not considered as tinnitus. Tinnitus can manifest clinically as pulsatile tinnitus (described by the patient as a chirping, ticking or tapping sound consistent with a heartbeat, which can often be heard with a stethoscope placed in the patient’s temporal region or ear) and non-pulsatile tinnitus (more common as a continuous and steady noise, such as a buzzing sound, cricket, bell or motorcycle as described by the patient). Tinnitus may disappear spontaneously, or may persist for months to years, or even for life. The presence of tinnitus is often accompanied by hearing loss, or deafness or vertigo. Therefore, when identifying the disease, it is important to take a detailed history of otologic trauma, ototoxic drugs, deafness and vertigo. Tinnitus can be caused not only by ear diseases such as middle ear infection, Meniere’s disease, otosclerosis, foreign body in the external ear canal, but also by other whole ear diseases such as diabetes and hyperthyroidism in endocrine metabolic disorders, hypertension atherosclerosis and vascular accident drug poisoning (heavy metal drugs, caffeine) in the cardiovascular system, and senile auditory neuropathy. If tinnitus occurs only on one side, the lesion is mostly in the transmitting organs. If tinnitus occurs bilaterally without other symptoms, it should be considered as an early sign of certain diseases, such as early arteriosclerosis, early manifestation of senile deafness, etc. Transient tinnitus often indicates a mild lesion, intermittent or fluctuating tinnitus of variable intensity, and is accompanied by vertigo, nausea, vomiting, etc. It can be seen in Meniere’s disease. Those with severe tinnitus should be relieved of mental stress and thought burden, and take appropriate anticonvulsants (phenytoin sodium) and sedatives (Valium, Scholastin). If it affects your sleep at night, you can turn on the FM radio and tune the frequency to between two radio stations to make a continuous and stable rustling sound to mask the tinnitus and help you fall asleep. If it seriously affects your daily life, a special tinnitus masking device can also be fitted. If the condition is stubborn and medication is not significant, surgical treatment can be adopted. Certain patients with certain tinnitus also have certain effect after treatment with acupuncture.