Tinnitus sound or noise levels can lead to tinnitus. Ear plugs or other measures can help with prevention. Several medicines have ototoxic effects, and can have a cumulative effect that can increase the damage done by noise. If ototoxic medications must be administered, close attention by the physician to prescription details, such as dose and dosage interval, can reduce the damage done. If there is an underlying cause, treating it may lead to improvements. Otherwise, the primary treatment for tinnitus is talk therapy and sound therapy; there are no effective medications. The best supported treatment for tinnitus is a type of
Tinnitus masker in 90% of persons but in rare cases, an hour or more. The period of complete silence is usually seconds to about a minute. If the trigger sound is repeated at intervals, tinnitus can be suppressed as long as the repetition lasts. The residual inhibition (RI) effect first noted in 1903: the capacity of a sound of the right frequency and intensity to briefly attenuate or suppress tinnitus. To distinguish the tailored sound used for inhibition from the broadband undifferentiated sound employed in tinnitus maskers, it is usually referred to as the 'trigger' or 'quieting' sound. The trigger sound is