Plugging up ear care

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. —Cirrus Healthcare Products recently announced the launch of Tinnitex, one of the first ear care products designed to help relieve tinnitus, otherwise known as ringing in the ears. The new product is scheduled to ship in the first half of 2011.

According to the Journal of Clinical Nursing, more than 50 million Americans suffer from tinnitus. Today’s remedies include eardrops and nutritional supplements. Employing infusion technology, Cirrus has developed the Tinnitex earplug so that it delivers ingredients that help relieve ringing in the ears transdermally. The soft silicone earplugs are infused with aloe vera, vitamin B12, zinc and ginkgo biloba. The product should be a welcome addition to the company’s EarPlanes, which generated $2.5 million in sales for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 5 across food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart), according to SymphonyIRI Group data. Overall, sales of ear care products were up 7.6% to $44.4 million for the same period.