Ringing Sound In Ear
In the long term, "they" almost certainly will not find a single cure for tinnitus because tinnitus has so many etiologies (causes). Tinnitus is experienced in so many ways that it seems like aggressive multimodal treatment programs will continue to be in the best interest of the average tinnitus sufferer. What these clients will find is that tinnitus can be greatly reduced in most cases through desensitization and alternative attention therapies.
The Multi-Modal Approach That Works
For years I have advocated a multi-modal approach to tinnitus therapy, and that has proven to be right on the mark. For the average client suffering with severe tinnitus, I recommend the following, in order of importance:
1. Talk to your doctor immediately about starting a fairly long-term treatment plan with low doses of anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax, Klonopin, or Ativan.
2. Talk with the same doctor about starting a fairly long-term treatment plan with moderate daily use of Effexor or SSR1 medications.
3. Listen to music or the television all day as background noise. Avoid silence and extremely loud places. If you can't do this, wear an mp3 player. NOTE: People who avoid sound or work in quiet places aren't going to improve.
4. Begin psychotherapy with someone who has a great deal of experience with tinnitus.
5. Begin using self-hypnosis CD's for alternative attention and focusing practice. Use the CDs/tapes every day.
6. See an osteopath for 5 sessions. After 5 sessions, you are likely to know if this is one of the keys for you. (Hint: Those clients with the best success are those whose tinnitus is much louder when they are lying down on the floor or in bed.)
7. Avoid support groups and other people who want to talk about their tinnitus all day long. Once you have an action plan, unless you are a therapist or doctor, avoid others who want to focus on their tinnitus. Tinnitus, in some respects, is an "'attention disorder."
8. Start living a life that is rich and filled with the things you love to do today! If that tinnitus were a wake-up call to happiness, today would be the day to answer the call.
Can I Help You In Person?
I had to give up doing therapy and almost all teleconsults for several reasons. The most important was that when a therapist works with clients who suffer, they often take on the same symptoms as the client.
I still see a couple of clients who I've had for years, but I simply can't take the risk of activating my tinnitus again. I've trained a number of therapists to help you. Some are still seeing clients. Those that do are very skilled and will help you as if it were me helping you. Rewriting this blog has even been a challenge. My tinnitus remitted 10 years ago, but twice I've sat down to write and my head started ringing.
Now having tinnitus for a few hours is no big deal. But I confess that I don't want to deal with a healing process ever again. The Tinnitus Reduction Program is something I will keep up to date for the rest of my life. People have been begging me to expand it for a decade and I am doing that right now. It will go from being six CD's to at least 8, It will always contain information you need to get well. It will also contain the rerecorded versions of the old audiotapes I made that helped me get well.
As of this writing, the therapist I refer to most often for you to do a teleconsult with is Jennifer Battaglino in New York. You should email her after you have been through the Tinnitus Reduction Program. You can email her first, but then you will pay her for three sessions while she explains everything that is in the Tinnitus Reduction Program.
Ron Stubbs (WA) and Bob Bayliss (TN) continue to help people with clients, though not as many as they used to. The fact is, that intensive work with people who suffer from tinnitus is about as tough as it gets for a therapist. A number of outstanding therapists I've trained in the past have gone on to pursuits that pay less money and have a lot less stress.
If you get someone like Jennifer Battaglino to work with you, be very grateful and take advantage of the help ASAP! Therapy for tinnitus is rarely covered by insurance. Why? Because there is no approved treatment for tinnitus. It's not taken seriously by most of the medical or insurance professions. (It's not taken seriously by almost anyone except for those of us who have had it and gotten well, or those who still have it.) Expect to pay out of pocket.
Avoid getting ripped off. Promises are a dime a dozen. I have very little financial interest in your healing process, so I have nothing to gain or lose by directing you to or away from something. Always remember that I'm writing and talking to the patient with moderate to severe tinnitus. I am not interested in being involved in mild cases of tinnitus where people are distracted or annoyed.
Stay away from newsgroups and support groups, especially online. You will get very little except all day long triggers to make your tinnitus blast in full force. You will pay a huge price to be in a free support group. I did teleconsults for 12 years. My contribution is now file updating of Banish Tinnitus. If you work with Jennifer Battaglino and for some reason she asks me to help you, I might do one or two teleconsults.
And lastly, know that you can get well. You can turn the volume down and you will live a happier and more fulfilling life. To learn more, you can check out Ringing Sound In Ear.
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