Stem cells could hold the key with regards to a definitive tinnitus treatment, at least for some. Those who have failed to relieve their symptoms with medications and homeopathic remedies will be interested in the studies which are being done involving possible stem cell treatments for tinnitus. Researchers are currently looking into different ways of regrowing hair cells which have been damaged due to excessive noise or other reasons and stem cells could hold the key.
Although right now there is no way to successfully regrow hair cells in the ear, studies and experiments involving stem cells are being done to find out if they can be changed in the near future. This process would involve taking stem cells from an embryo and changing them to the right type of cell. The basic concept of treating tinnitus with stem cells involves the concept of growing nerve cells in the ear and replacing the damaged ones.
It is the hope of many scientists and researchers that the new cells and nerves which are grown in the ear would provide a definitive cure for many tinnitus sufferers, or at least significantly lessen the symptoms. There are still many hurdles for scientists to overcome and the research is still in its infancy, though it does hold quite a bit of promise for the future.
The people who would benefit the most from stem cells treatments are those who have tinnitus because of damaged hair cells in the ear; this is usually due to excessive noise damage which can be caused by listening to loud music over time or having a job which involves being exposed to loud noises such as with construction.
Although there are many different ways for tinnitus sufferers to find relief, many of the current options are not completely effective or only reduce the annoyance level of the symptoms. If successful, stem cells treatments could cure tinnitus altogether, at least for some people.
