There's new hope for people who hear a ringing in their ears.

Ringing in the ears is called Tinnitus. Imagine having that buzzing, doorbell-ringing sound in your ears 24/7. It can be caused by medication, by viruses, and when it doesn't go away, there are a couple of approaches that may help.
Every second of every day, Joyce LaJeunesse has ringing in her right ear.

"Humming ... like an electric humming and it's constant," she said.

The ringing, called tinnitus, came on suddenly five years ago.

"I truly did expect it to go away. I figured it was ... something with the ear plugging up or something," she said.

But it stuck around and now follows her everywhere.

"I hear it right now while we're talking," Joyce said.

Dr. Jay Piccirillo says at least 50 million Americans have tinnitus.

"There's no drug we can give them, there's no surgery, no device to cure the tinnitus," he said.

But there is help for people with sleep problems as a result of their tinnitus. A new study says melatonin lessens the ringing and significantly improves sleep.

"I would definitely think that patients with tinnitus who are having problems sleeping consider melatonin," he said.

Another small study shows injecting botox around the ear may also help. Dr. Piccirillo is also studying a procedure called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, where a magnetic device stimulates certain areas in the brain. Further studies are promising.

Joyce was in a study on melatonin to help her ringing and her sleep.

"I had more energy in the morning. I woke up more refreshed and that was wonderful," she said.

Dr. Piccirillo says other sufferers could easily get the same benefits. Melatonin is available over the counter.

Though all three methods are showing success in reducing the ringing, there's no cure for the condition.