Tinnitus Treatment

Tinnitus – what to do? In this article, we're exploring a question that countless tinnitus sufferers have asked us over our 15 years of providing care, support, and treatment. They all want to know: What should I do? Why am I the one with this condition, and what can I do about it? What is the next step?

Tinnitus is a unique experience for each individual. While some find it merely annoying, others are intrigued, and many are fearful, concerned it could be a sign of a more serious health issue. We understand these worries all too well. In our clinic, we've encountered patients who initially reported tinnitus only to uncover a more significant health problem they were unaware of. This underscores the importance of discussing your symptoms with a medical professional. Your family physician can often refer you to an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist to rule out any serious underlying conditions. Remember, tinnitus could be just one symptom among others, so it's crucial to undergo a comprehensive evaluation.

The ENT specialist can make a request for the MRI just to be certain, yet the ENT specialist is not the tinnitus specialist, and tinnitus treatments or therapies are not something they are involved in or specialize in. Sometimes, with some medical problems which could be connected to tinnitus, and this could be something so simple as wax in the ears or much more serious as, for example, ear infection or another condition within the area of expertise of the ENT specialist, they can do or recommend some medical treatments. Still, unfortunately, they may not end all this aggravation and suffering, which can be caused by tinnitus symptoms. It's widely acknowledged that there was limited understanding surrounding tinnitus in the past. Regrettably, in many cases, doctors resorted to extreme measures like removing or deliberately damaging the auditory nerve in hopes of alleviating symptoms such as noise and discomfort. However, this approach proved futile and often exacerbated patients' conditions, leading to profound deafness. Today, we recognize tinnitus as a neurological process occurring within the brain, detectable through specialized imaging techniques like functional MRI. While there's no definitive cure for tinnitus, various treatments and therapies exist to significantly reduce or even eliminate the symptoms, including noise perception and others. So, don't be surprised to hear the ENT specialist telling you that the best you can do is to get used to it. Well, they're actually talking about something called natural habituation. It's like your brain's way of tuning out the noise over time, and it works for some people, except those dealing with really bad, long-lasting tinnitus. We even measure how much it's affecting you with a questionnaire on our website called the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, or THI.

This is one of the reasons why we very strongly recommend doing this questionnaire, as it has been used all over the world for many years and is recognized as the most reliable tool to be used in order to learn about tinnitus nature, its effect on patients and strength. So, don't even think twice; do it with the understanding and knowledge of what you are dealing with. You can follow our recommendations you will be provided with, right after the completion of the questionnaire, or you can choose to do something else. Still, at least you are going to be well-informed about how seriously you should treat your tinnitus. What should happen next? Well, in case your condition is really severe, not only because of what you have learned doing the tinnitus handicap inventory test questionnaire but also based on how you feel and how many negative effects tinnitus is having on your life, we strongly recommend doing the complete tinnitus assessment and consultation with tinnitus treatment specialist.

To be clear, a proper tinnitus assessment isn't the same as a hearing test. Understanding the distinction between the two is essential. A hearing test, as it is called, is all about the state of your hearing and eventually getting a prescription or being fitted with hearing aids. It is a proper procedure but for a different purpose. Now you can ask: are the hearing test elements or some tests also used in the tinnitus assessment?

And the answer is yes. Yes, they are because some tinnitus sufferers can have hearing loss and tinnitus at the same time. Even more, for some tinnitus sufferers, hearing aids can be helpful by balancing the auditory system and increasing awareness of the listening environment to the point where tinnitus sound can even disappear as the result of no need for hearing loss compensation within the auditory system, which is known to happen with the hearing loss, for example, preventing a person from hearing well enough high pitch tones or otherwise having a high frequency oriented hearing loss.

Question: Are the hearing aids taking tinnitus noise away by just wearing them, and what happens at night when tinnitus sufferers do not have the hearing aids any longer in the ears?

Well, this is what the difference between therapy or treatment and temporary relief is all about. In this situation, tinnitus will be much louder or come back as the brain does not have all the nerve signals representing what is happening in the patient's listening environment, which will increase compensation again. So, the patient is not only not going to be exposed to the sounds in the environment helping to divide the attention of our brain and just by this reducing tinnitus strength, but with no amplification present and compensation within the auditory system, tinnitus noise will be much more annoying and louder. Think about the difference in the tinnitus annoyance during the day and at the night time. Still, please remember there are many tinnitus sufferers who don't have hearing loss or apparently any other problems connected to their hearing. There is no need or, even more than that, no justification of any kind for introducing artificial amplification to the auditory system. What do we recommend for them? Well, once more, we have to emphasize the need for the proper tinnitus assessment and consultation as this is the only way to decide what type of help or assistance or eventually therapy or treatment will be the best suited to address this specific tinnitus sufferer problem with the condition he is experiencing. Once again, we want to reach out to all those dealing with tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia. We offer a unique and proven program designed specifically for what we refer to as 'distant patients.' This program has been successful for many years in addressing issues related to tinnitus assessments and providing effective therapies and treatments.

With just one visit to our clinic, we can almost always provide tinnitus sufferers with the whole procedure, including a proper assessment, recommendation and consultation, as well as initiate therapy or even treatment designed to significantly reduce or remove condition symptoms. In the case of tinnitus, we are talking about noise, sleep problems, difficulties with reduced ability to focus or stay focused for a longer time, and even stress, nervousness, and anxiety caused by tinnitus. In this program, we stay in touch with our patients using the internet, and our patients are provided with all the tools required to make this program successful, including written manuals and instructions they are expected and required to follow.

So, there is something on the horizon, as they say, and also, as they say, if there is a will, there are the means to make it happen. So, don't think twice and think about what your life is like with the tinnitus or condition you have and what it should be like without it. You can visit our clinic or search for a professional tinnitus clinic nearby, but there is a way to do so if there is a will. So, the first step is always the same: taking control of your life and being active in it.