Tinnitus: current treatments and future directions

Tinnitus is a pervasive auditory disorder that can have significant impacts on quality of life or even completely debilitate a patient. Investigators have been exploring potential treatment options for several decades; however, there remains no conclusive cure. To date, there are several effective management options that can reduce the severity of tinnitus and improve quality of life. Even with these options available, there remains a need for an effective pharmaceutical capable of abolishing tinnitus perceptions. Studies over the past several decades have expanded our understanding of tinnitus pathophysiology, and several drug trials have attempted to reverse aberrant neural signals thought to cause tinnitus. Unfortunately, these studies have been unsuccessful or not repeatable, with none showing to be more effective than a placebo effect. Despite years of discouraging results, drug trials forge on as new potential drug targets are identified and we learn more about what causes tinnitus at the molecular level. Here we review current known characteristics of tinnitus, available management techniques, previous and ongoing drug trials to treat tinnitus.