Tinnitus
What is tinnitus?
Many people will suffer from tinnitus – ringing in the ears – at some point in their lives. Depending on whose statistic you read, the number affected at some point in their lives is thought to be between 20% and 30% of the population. This often happens after they have been exposed to loud noise – in the working environment, at a concert, or hearing a firework go off in close proximity, for example. For the vast majority of such people tinnitus is temporary, lasting from 24 hours to a week or so. Everyone experiences tinnitus differently – some find it is constant, some find it comes and goes. The noise which is heard is described by tinnitus sufferers in many different ways – ears ringing, roaring, buzzing, hissing, whistling, or like the noise which crickets make. Some people also experience a loss of balance.
It is thought that most people have some sorts of ear noise, or noise inside their head, all of the time. Most people don’t notice the slight background ringing in the ears for the majority of the time, however, because they are distracted by the noise going on around them. Their attention is drawn away from the internal noise by the various external noises. However, when your hearing has been damaged, whether temporarily or permanently, the distraction of other noises is absent, thus making you more aware of your ears ringing.
Many people who have tinnitus find that their sleep is affected, with about half of all tinnitus sufferers also struggling with insomnia, with many reporting that their tinnitus is worse at night. The steps specifically advised to help tinnitus will also help you to sleep better; avoiding stimulants (coffee or Coke for example will increase blood flow, thus making the tinnitus seem louder, whilst the caffeine will also keep you awake), exercise, learning relaxation techniques, keeping regular bedtimes and getting up at the same time each day, and taking a bath before bed.. Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are also extremely effective for reducing the stress caused by the inability to sleep and the vicious circle that can arise from this – not sleeping, worrying about not sleeping, which then makes you unable to sleep – and so on.
What causes tinnitus?
There is no one single cause, and often the cause remains unknown. However many cases of tinnitus are associated with hearing loss. The cause of the hearing loss makes no difference – it can be due to damage caused by noise, by age, or due to a blockage – earwax for example, or caused by medication. Other less common causes are medications which affect the middle ear, cardiovascular disease, and aspirin taken in high doses (more than 12 doses per day).
Where all other tests to establish what causes tinnitus have proved negative, stress and anxiety are thought to be the most common cause. It is frequently the case that people who suffer from tinnitus often also suffered from stress, anxiety or depression before they became aware of the ringing in their ears. Your hearing is part of your general nervous system and so is sensitive to everything that affects overall health; and stress is known beyond doubt to have a direct effect on the body.
It is recommended that before seeking hypnotherapy to help with tinnitus you rule out any underlying physical problems by undergoing medical examination with your GP.
Does tinnitus make you go deaf?
Absolutely not. This is something which can really cause a lot of anxiety and worry for people who suffer with tinnitus. What causes the confusion is that many people first notice ear noise when their hearing is damaged (for example if your ears are blocked when you have a cold). So because you cannot hear what is going on outside you pay more attention to the noise in your head. It is simply because there is no other noise to disguise the noise in your head.
This is why, if you suffer from tinnitus, you may often find that it is worse at night – when there is less exterior noise to distract you. But whilst deafness (complete or partial, temporary or permanent) may make you aware of tinnitus, there are no recorded cases of it happening the other way round – tinnitus does not cause you to go deaf.
Is there a cure for tinnitus?
Many people panic when they have tinnitus because they may have heard that there is “no cure”. All that means is that there isn’t one single method which can be guaranteed to work for absolutely everybody, so that they will never experience it again. However there are many treatments which are recognised to help tinnitus. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and relaxation techniques are methods which are known to work. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy looks at your thoughts, beliefs, behaviours and assumptions about tinnitus. As with any illness there are emotions, fears and feelings attached, and CBT allows you to deal with these and to re-focus your thoughts.
If there is an underlying physical problem which is causing or contributing to your tinnitus then resolving this problem will in the vast majority of cases also completely resolve the tinnitus. If it does not then CBT and hypnosis will help you to cope calmly and without stress with any remaining tinnitus.
“Tinnitus only gets worse and worse over time”
This is not true. Many sufferers report that their tinnitus improves or quietens down over time. This is sometimes due to physiological or psychological changes, because you’ve found a treatment which works for you, because you’ve simply got used to it, or sometimes a combination of these. Some people find that they get so used to the noise that they no longer really notice it; others may need help to achieve a state of mind where they can re-focus their thoughts away from the noise.
How do hypnotherapy and hypnosis help to relieve tinnitus?
One of the most effective ways to treat tinnitus is to help you “switch off” from the noise; helping you to reduce your awareness of it. It’s like not noticing a clock ticking, or the way that you breathe, or blink, or the fact that your new shoes are pinching – as with many everyday sensations, you simply fail to notice them until your attention is drawn to them. Hypnotherapy and hypnosis allow you to attain a state where you are very deeply relaxed – to the point where the noise of the tinnitus just gets quieter and quieter. Your attention is drawn away from the noise and towards other sensations which are pleasant and relaxing. The deep state of relaxation which you feel when in hypnosis allows the body to become less tense and this alone will help tinnitus – many sufferers find that the problem is worsened by bodily tension, for example clenching of the jaw. Just feeling more relaxed also enables you to deal much better with the anxiety that tinnitus can cause. In addition to allowing you to spend extended periods in an extremely relaxed state, hypnosis allows specific suggestions to be made to you about dealing with your tinnitus, at a time when your mind is very receptive to and focused on such suggestions.
What is Tinnitus Retraining Therapy?
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is a combination of counselling and “sound therapy”. Counselling – I use CBT and hypnotherapy – allows you to explore your emotional response to your tinnitus and helps you to find ways to take less notice of it. Sound therapy is the masking of the tinnitus noise by creating other noise; some people use the “white noise” created by fans, air conditioners, computers, air purifiers and other common electrical items found in the home. It is also possible to buy pillow speakers, and the Royal National Institute for the Deaf sells these from its website http://www.rnid.org.uk. These are not expensive and many sufferers find them extremely helpful, together with counselling.
What else can I do to help my tinnitus?
In addition to hypnotherapy, hypnosis and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, there is some evidence that some or all of the following measures can be of help to tinnitus sufferers: exercise, taking steps to reduce blood pressure, and avoiding aspirin, salt, caffeine and other stimulants. Some studies also suggest that avoiding Vitamin E may help. All of the things which help insomnia will also help when tinnitus makes it difficult to sleep.
