If you have been looking for a tinnitus cure, tinnitus treatment or therapy, you’ve obviously arrived here to determine what works and what is not likely to work.
I’ve been in your shoes. I know how hard it is.
Before we begin:
Beware of anyone touting a singular and/or literal "instant" cure for tinnitus because those situations (where tinnitus remits quickly) are not the norm. The good news is that people who suffer from even the most serious tinnitus can dramatically improve. Many will achieve remission. There is plenty you can do to bring you to silence but do remember there are no "tinnitus remedies" or "instant cures," so save your money.
If you want to know how important the cause of your tinnitus is to the process of tinnitus reduction or remission, that will be addressed below as well. (The correct spelling for tinnitus is not tinnitis, tinitis or tinitus).
For information about successful self-help for tinnitus, see here!
What follows is a sample of common questions (some have been paraphrased or edited, especially those that come from international readers) I have received in the mail and by e-mail from thousands of people over the past 15 years.
I think you already know that this FAQ is not to be taken as medical advice. Please see your medical doctor for medical care
What is tinnitus and why can’t anyone seem to help?
Tinnitus is any noise or set of sounds heard that is generated in the ear, hearing system, or brain. Most people who experience severe or moderate tinnitus, that we’ve worked with, experience tinnitus that is generated in the brain even when the original cause was loud sound or otoxic drugs. If you haven’t figured it out yet, everyone from medical doctors to alternative practitioners look in the ear for tinnitus.
Far more often than not…"it’s" not there.
They look for the hearing loss…and it’s very often not there either…
Nevertheless…
That’s a good place to start. However…in most cases, it simply isn’t there. It’s not being generated from there and it’s a waste of time after a few things are ruled out to keep looking in an empty box and hoping to find something…. That’s why they "can’t do anything." Had they known to look in the right place they would have found it.
The vast majority of the time "it’s" in the brain.
ENT’s have told you for years, "There’s nothing I can do, you’ll have to learn to live with it." The reasons there is nothing THEY can do is because they currently aren’t prepared to deal with problems that occur in the brain…
And…by the way, tinnitus is no big brain "malfunction." More often than not it is best thought of as persistent memory (most cases in my experience) much like phantom limb pain.
Just now is research catching up with what was in Tinnitus: Turning the Volume Down, back in 1996. This is a neurological/neurobiological/etc. issue….and only a minority of the time is it also an issue that relates to an eardrum, hammer or anything in the ear…
All that said, remember that the people I’ve worked with over the past decade are people who experience moderate to severe tinnitus. Most contemplate suicide and are severely anxious or depressed. I only speak from my personal experience and the thousands of people I’ve worked with. And remember, I’ve not had experience with people that have mild tinnitus. My work was with those suffering on a moderate to severe level.
This is important because I believe mild tinnitus often is the brain filling in from a hearing deficit at certain and often specific frequencies.
[The perennial question is whether I will begin doing therapy again someday. As of today's date, I have not, but it's always possible in the future. I will probably take a few teleconsults in 2010.]
Anyone who treats severe tinnitus as a disorder of the ear when testing shows nothing dramatically wrong with hearing (i.e. total deafness), will indeed fail in helping the person who suffers.
Can I get cured from tinnitus too?
It depends on what you mean by cured. In my experience, if cure means "silent," near silent or significantly improved, then yes, almost everyone can improve.
The word "cure" is very final in it’s feel. I won’t use that word because it can sometimes, mislead.
Some people do achieve silence. Some won’t. It’s tough to know in advance who will accomplish what. There are factors to help predict silence, but I still get surprised as people improve drmatically when I thought they might only improve a little, even with time.
Silence for you? Maybe. About 1/3 to half of my long term clients reported tinnitus remission. Usually a great deal of work, time and effort, goes into remission. (Medical doctor invested in the patient, a therapist invested with the patient… etc.)
100% noise elimination/remission is certain for some people. As time goes on and strategies/therapy is more refined, the percentage of clients reporting silence at similar time intervals in the past is growing.
Happily, almost everyone can dramatically improve from where they are today. See more here!
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