By now most people have at least some idea what tinnitus is. They either know someone who has the condition or they have heard about that ringing, buzzing, banging, or swishing that one hears in their head even when they are surrounded by complete silence. What most people don’t know is that tinnitus has become somewhat of a chicken or egg controversy.
The truth is that most professionals recognize that tinnitus is not a disease but, a symptom. Which would lead one to believe that it is entirely possible that tinnitus does not cause hearing loss nor does hearing loss cause tinnitus but, that the cause of the hearing loss is also what may in some cases cause the tinnitus as well.
For example, tinnitus is one of the symptoms to Meniere’s disease. Some people believe that the tinnitus associated with this disease is what causes people to experience hearing loss.
However, when you consider that Meniere’s disease is caused by a fluid imbalance in the inner ear it seems likely that is the excess fluid inside the ear and the damage that this fluid causes that is the root of both the hearing loss and tinnitus. Without the build up of fluid there would be no hearing loss and no Tinnitus.
Proof of this exists when you stop to consider that almost any condition that causes hearing loss either temporary or permanent can also cause tinnitus. However, not all factors that cause tinnitus causes hearing loss.
For example, allergies, medication, and stress can cause tinnitus or make tinnitus sounds seem louder but, normal hearing is often not affected at all. That is because that in these cases the cause of the Tinnitus such as the allergy does not affect or the ears or hearing.
If Tinnitus Does Not Cause Hearing Loss Why Do I Have Difficult Hearing When My Tinnitus Is At It’s Worse?
In most cases people who are severely trouble by their tinnitus but, who have no hearing loss feel as though they cannot hear because the tinnitus is so bothersome to them that they find it difficult to concentrate on anything else that may be going on around them.
As well, as not hearing people speaking to them or background sounds someone suffering from a severe bout of tinnitus is also less likely to hear the things that are going on around them or even smelling perfume or the fresh baked cookies. This does not mean that the tinnitus has affected their vision or sense of smell it simply means that they are too concentrated on the sounds they are hearing in their head to focus on things occurring around them.
In fact, in most cases on days that their tinnitus is not overly bothersome or the noise quiets for awhile these sufferers can hear, see, and smell just fine because they are focusing outwardly instead of inside themselves.
Does That Mean That My Tinnitus Can Be Cured?
Tinnitus cannot be cured in the traditional meaning of the word any more than any other symptom of a disease or condition can be cured. If the underlying problem that is causing the symptom is cured then the symptom usually goes away as well.
For example, if wax build up in your ears is causing both temporary hearing loss and tinnitus and the wax is removed from your ear your hearing may well return to normal and the tinnitus may disappear. In this case neither your hearing or the tinnitus was cured but, rather the cause of both the loss of hearing and tinnitus was removed so, the problems with both disappeared.
However, this is not always the case. Take for instance loud noises. A loud noise can lead to temporary hearing loss and tinnitus. Once you remove yourself from the source of the noise the tinnitus may soon disappear and your hearing may return to normal.
But, if you keep exposing yourself to those loud noises over and over again you may reach a point where you permanently damage your hearing and your tinnitus becomes permanent or you could have permanent hearing loss without the tinnitus being present and less often permanent tinnitus without suffering permanent hearing loss.
That is why people who work in loud environments are encouraged to wear protective devices to help reduce these loud continual noises and to protect their hearing.
While hearing loss and tinnitus often go hand in hand, tinnitus does not cause hearing loss, and hearing loss may not cause Tinnitus either. But, the condition that leads to the hearing loss may well also cause the Tinnitus.
People who suffer from tinnitus often find themselves feeling afraid, depressed and willing to do almost anything to find relief from that noise in their head only they can hear. Visits to their doctor often result in a clean bill of health and the sufferer being told that there is no physical reason for the noises they are hearing.
While this should be good news it is often not viewed in that light as most people with Tinnitus would often have a physical problem because at least then there might be hope for stopping the sound in their head. However, what they don’t realize is that there is hope for Tinnitus sufferers and that hope comes in a rather unconventional package. Hypnosis.
While most of the general public view hypnosis with suspicion the truth is that trained hypnotists are nothing like those you see on those television programs. They won’t have you clucking around their offices acting like a chicken nor will they have you performing any other asinine acts.
They are professionals like any other professionals and their goal is to help you, not to make you look stupid. But, just how can they help tinnitus sufferers? Actually, there are a number of ways that hypnosis may help in the treatment of Tinnitus. Here are a few ways it may help.
Hypnosis Can Help Diffuse The Negative Emotions Associated With The Noise Of Tinnitus
Surprisingly, people with Tinnitus can be divided into two groups. There are those who although they hear noises no one else can hear they are simply not bothered by these noises because they have no negative emotions associated with their noise. They simply view the noise as something that is just there.
The other group are the people who tend to really suffer from this condition and the sound in their head often makes them feel irritable and depressed and sometimes even frightened. For these people there simply seems like there is no escape from the constant noise or it’s effects. In these cases, what is happening is that tinnitus sufferers experience a host of negative emotions associated with the sounds they are hearing.
This is where hypnosis has proved to be of great help. In many cases, the hypnotists helps the patient to rid themselves of the negative emotions surrounding the noise they hear making them feel less frightened and able to view the noise with less frus tration and annoyance making them feel better and less depressed.
Once the negative emotions are gone the hypnotist can then help the patient focus on other stimuli making the noise in their heads less noticeable allowing them to heal.
In some cases regression therapy is used to bring the patient back to the onset of his tinnitus symptoms and allow the patient to then discuss and form an opinion as to how he should feel about the condition. Bringing the patient to a point where he can make conscious decisions about his feeling regarding this condition often helps to reduce the symptoms almost immediately.
Self Hypnosis
In many cases the hypnotist will help the patient learn how to self hypnotize himself so that whenever he feels that the Tinnitus is in control of him rather than him being in control of the Tinnitus he can hypnotize himself and regain control. This allows the patient to feel completely confident that he can manage both his Tinnitus and his feelings regarding it quickly and proficiently which further decreases his negative feelings regarding the condition.
Not A Cure
Keep in mind that hypnosis is not a cure for Tinnitus, nor does it pretend to be a cure. It is simply a treatment option that allows the patient to have some control over his condition and his feelings regarding it. This for many Tinnitus sufferers often reduces their symptoms, and allows them to enjoy a better quality of life in which their Tinnitus does not play a leading role. The noise still exists it simply loses it’s power to make the person afraid which, makes all the difference to these people.
If you suffer from Tinnitus and feel that hypnosis might help you contact the National Guild of Hypnotists to find a qualified professional in the area in which you live.
Sleep deprivation is a wide-spread epidemic. Losing sleep due to tinnitus is more common than you would believe. Countless numbers of people simply get into bed to battle tinnitus instead of sleeping. Not getting enough sleep will eventually lead to all types of health problems if you allow the sleep loss to continue indefinitely, so it is necessary to address this issue as a matter of urgency.
To start sleeping well again every night, you can follow all or some of the tips detailed below.Getting a good night’s sleep will be far easier when you follow these simple tips and ideas outlined here:
1. Concentrating on relaxing completely when you get into bed to sleep will help a lot. Ensure that your bedroom is very dark and and think of tranquil, relaxing places. Imagine that you are lying on the beach after sunset instead of in your bed and listen for the water of the ocean and the waves splashing back and forth, back and forth. It is entirely possible that before you even have any inkling of going to sleep, you wake next morning feeling refreshed and alert.
2. Invest in a high quality white noise generator or some good quality white noise CDs. Put the sound generator near the head of your bed and set it for whatever sound it makes that you find most relaxing. This is called a white noise in the background and will distract your brain from the tinnitus noise.
3. Using a fan or an air purifier will also get the job dons. Both of these produce a repetitive white noise that will help to lull you to sleep.
4. Try and finalize all of the daily problems long before bedtime so that you are not lying there wondering how you will be sorting them out the next day. It will certainly not help your tinnitus cause if you are suffering from sleep deprivation, in fact it is gauaranteed to make it far worse!
5. Make sure that you get plenty of physical exercise every day so that when bedtime arrives your body actually needs the rest and the tinnitus will not be that much of a factor any longer.
6. Try taking a natural sleep aid that isn’t addictive can be a lot of help in getting to sleep despite the sounds of tinnitus. If a natural sleep aid doesn’t work for you, talk to your doctor about a prescription sleep aid that will work for you.
7. Make changes in your diet that will help you to not only sleep better at night, but may also relieve the sounds of tinnitus. Eliminate salt as much as possible and reduce your caffeine intake. Salt is a big contributor to high blood pressure, a medical condition that has tinnitus as a side effect. Caffeine is a known stimulant which will increase the heart rate and up the tinnitus levels as well as keeping you awake.
8. Taking a relaxing hot bath is great to relax you just prior to getting into bed.
9. Many tinnitus patients who struggle with tinnitus at night are turning to hypnosis.. Professional will be able to guide you in the art of self hypnosis which does help enormously to get enough sleep.
10. You will often find that concentrating on the ambient white noises to be found in each house will be sufficient to lull you off to sleep. Examples are air conditioners, fans, attic fans etc.
These steps are designed to increase your general health levels, improve your sleep at night and reduce those tinnitus levels. Some people notice their symptoms decrease after just one night of better sleep.
Can anyone tell me about pulsatile tinnitus?
It is like a loud heartbeat in my ear…it has been happening on and off for about 2 years now. I did a little searching online and it said it could be pulsatile tinnitus….has anyone else been diagnosed with this,and how does the doc check to see if that is what you have?
also…it is in my right ear,and if I press on my neck below my ear it stops…is (more…)
Every tinnitus patient will want to get rid of the condition as soon as possible. While there is technically no cure, there are many treatment options available for tinnitus and many people are finding help with their symptoms. Some people have even found treatment ideas that completely removed all symptoms and signs of tinnitus from their lives.
No one wants to have to deal with the stress and annoyance of ringing or buzzing in the ears. However, many people don’t know what treatment options exist for tinnitus. Some may not even know that treatment does exist. If you are like many tinnitus sufferers who have been told before that there is no cure and that you will need to learn to deal with your tinnitus, there is hope for you.
Listed here are 3 ideas to help you with those tinnitus symptoms.
- Cognitive therapy- Using this kind of therapy involves altering the way one interacts with the condition instead of trying to cure tinnitus.
- Tinnitus retraining therapy- In many respects TRT is the same as cognitive therapy except that it involves using sound to try an retrain the brain to ignore tinnitus.
- Masking- Listening to white noise is a great way to obtain temporary tinnitus relief.
Most people end up using a combination of these three tinnitus treatments to alleviate the tinnitus noises.
The treatments for tinnitus listed are all proven methods that have been used by many people. Every tinnitus patient is unique however and reacts differently to others. In essence, what works for one person might not work for another.
Simply because previous efforts at finding a treatment for tinnitus have failed this does not mean that one or all of these methods will not work for you. Be sure you take the time to try wholeheartedly and with the expectations that they will work so you can have the best chance at treating your tinnitus symptoms and living a healthy, happy life.
Anyone Have A Cure for Tinnitus?
I've had it about 5 months and it's driving me nuts. Have tried just about every natural cure and none work. Anyone have any cures that give some relief ? I've heard Xanax can help.
Mastering Your Life And Tinnitus
Over the last several months I’ve written dozens of articles on tinnitus. In those articles I’ve addressed everything from getting relief from tinnitus, to sleeping with tinnitus, sex and tinnitus, marriage and tinnitus and even quantum physics and tinnitus. Today is the day you get on with it and start mastering your life and your tinnitus.
I’ve (more…)
To get a long-term cure for your condition, it is important to understand which form of tinnitus you are being affected by. One common type is Subjective Tinnitus. In this article you’ll learn what this condition is, and that you’re not crazy or imagining things. I’ll also point you to a proven, holistic tinnitus cure that can take care of your subjective problem and any other form of tinnitus that might affect you.
By definition, a subjective tinnitus sufferer is hearing sounds that no one else can. So once again, rest assured that what your hearing is caused by a medical condition and not something that’s ‘just in your head.’ It just means that no one else can hear them or explain where they are coming from. Rest assured that your subjective tinnitus is a real condition. You’re not imagining things.
One of the causes of this form of tinnitus is perfectly normal and natural sounds that originate deep within your body. These are sounds that are so faint that others can’t hear them and doctors can’t detect them. When your doctor can’t hear the sounds you are hearing, and can’t tell you where they are coming from, they get treated as subjective, rather than objective, tinnitus.
But most commonly, your subjective tinnitus won’t be caused by some physical sound that’s too faint for your doctor to hear. What this actually means is that what you are hearing is a mistake originating somewhere in your nervous system or auditory system. What’s happening is that one of these systems is malfunctionint. It is sending the same kinds of nerve impulses to your brain that it would if there were real sounds, even though those sounds aren’t actually present.
So if you’re suffering from the subjective form of tinnitus, there’s both good and bad news. The bad news is that you definitely have a problem that needs to be resolved. The good news is that this is a real and treatable condition, not just something in your head.
To learn more about subjective tinnitus and about a proven, holistic tinnitus treatment that can bring you a lasting cure, click here.
Treatment Options For Tinnitus – Hearing Aids And More
Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, can have many causes. The good news is that this annoying condition, which affects 50 million Americans, also has many effective treatments. From hearing aids to alternative therapy, let’s explore the many treatment options for tinnitus sufferers.
Sound amplification makes ambient noises louder, effectively (more…)
Secrets To Stop The Ringing – 5 Common Drugs That Cause Tinnitus
Have you been living with the buzzing, whistling and humming sounds of tinnitus for years? Have you seen your doctor, only to be told that your tinnitus was caused by damage to the sensitive parts of the cochlea, and there is no cure, and only limited treatments available?
There may be reason for you to look at some other causes (more…)