Some of you who may happen by this site from time to time may have heard of a process called ear candling.  There are a lot of different people out there who may say it is possible for ear candling to be used to treat tinnitus, but according to this recent article by Dr. Susan Mathison from Inforum.com, it is a very bad idea.  Let’s take a look at a little bit of the column that she wrote and see what this is all about.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with ear candles or ear cones, they are made of fabric soaked in wax and shaped to form a hollow tube. In theory, the combination of heat and suction is supposed to remove ear wax.

Technically marketed “for entertainment or recreational use,” ear candles have been touted to relieve sinus pain, cure ear infections, help relieve tinnitus and vertigo, and even strengthen the brain.

(emphasis mine, not Dr. Mathison’s)

Read the Full Article Here

So, from a real live medical doctor, it’s not a great idea.  The good Dr Mathison actually started the article nothing that she had seen a young patient who had burned her ear trying to use one of these ear candles to help remove wax and presumably to get some significant benefit for their ears.

The real question, is how can an ear candle, which was described in the article as being a device for “entertainment or recreational use” all of a sudden become a cure-all for ear problems, tinnitus, or what may be thought of as a weak brain.  Otherwise, why even both er to strengthen the brain, right?

What can be done to relieve tinnitus?  The standbys that we talk about on this blog are a good start.  Which of course, starts with speaking to your doctor and making sure that you’re clear of any health complications that could be far worse than ringing in your ears, no matter how bad.  Of course, from there it’s up to you.  Find a full program like Tinnitus Miracle, or you can go your own way with different methods for meditation, neuromonics, tinnitus retraining therapy, or a combination of these depending on what you and your doctor think is best.

And one final note on the possibility of ear wax being a source of tinnitus problems: If you go to the doctor and he or she sees a build up of earwax, brave the potential discomfort and have them go ahead and clear it for you.  Tinnitus treatment by way of ear candling for any sort of problem sounds like a bad idea.

Leave us a comment if you’ve got some experience with this, or do us a favor and click that like, +1 or tweet button if you think anyone may find this useful.

All about Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

There have been many ideas as well as theories with regard to tinnitus treatment nowadays which are all based on principles that are outdated. There are various doctors who prescribe treatment plans which are based on the belief that there is nothing that can be done with regard to tinnitus. But in reality, this is far from the truth.

For the patients to be accustomed with tinnitus, the doctors have been recommending that the patients undergo a certain therapy which is referred to as tinnitus retaining therapy (TRF). A significant part of tinnitus retaining therapy is to understand that tinnitus is not just within your head. Tinnitus is not brought by your imagination and not even because of the ear damage. If you will get out of your mind these misconceptions, you will surely start finding ways on how you can treat the symptoms of tinnitus. You must be open-minded with the treatment options that are available. These include tinnitus retaining therapy. You are not the only one with tinnitus. Ther4e is no need for you to suffer it through your entire lifetime.

Defining Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

The usual misconception is that tinnitus has no cure that is known. This is not true. There are many medical professionals who do not believe in the cure for tinnitus. Hence, they prescribe tinnitus retraining therapy as the solution for tinnitus.

How Tinnitus Retraining Therapy Works

It may seem challenging to be able to describe how tinnitus retraining therapy works. But here is a somewhat near to goodness explanation on how tinnitus retraining therapy works.

Tinnitus retraining therapy is comprised with one-on-one counseling that is interactive. In this counseling, the patient will know as well as understand the mechanisms of the illness. Moreover, with this tinnitus retraining therapy, the patient is given an exposure to external sound that is low-level broadband in helping you retrain your mind into not being able to hear the sound brought by tinnitus.

When it comes to the success rate, tinnitus retraining therapy is effective in the range of 64% to 84%. There are even other studies in other places of the world that say that tinnitus retraining therapy is 8-% effective. But what is very clear about tinnitus retraining therapy is that it is certainly a potent therapy.

What makes it 20% less effective is maybe because it could be a drawn-out process that is long. Therefore, tinnitus retraining therapy can be expensive and there is a need for the patient to be determined and be very well prepared for the long haul. It is not everyone who can manage to do that — emotionally or financially.

Tinnitus retaining therapy works with the involvement of the mind training and the sound therapy. The therapy aids in helping you to be less aware of tinnitus. After some time, this tinnitus retaining therapy will aid to make you be used to your tinnitus so that it will not bother you and the sound therapy will make the ringing in the ear less noticeable.

Tinnitus retaining therapy is working temporarily. But since there is cure to tinnitus, there will be other alternatives that could be better than tinnitus retaining therapy. Even if tinnitus retaining therapy will succeed in getting off your mind tinnitus, it will still be all about time before it will come back and return for revenge.

The Rise of Tinnitus

Pawel Jastreboff, who is a neuroscientist, has worked out the mechanics behind the disease of tinnitus during 1980. This was considered as a breakthrough to those who are suffering from tinnitus who were told previously that there was no cure with the sickness. It was Pawel who has proven that tinnitus and the hyperacusis distress are not brought by damage which cannot be fixed. It has taken more than 20 years of research in the said field but with tinnitus retaining therapy, there are results which will be working and will last for a long period of time.

Tinnitus Retaining Therapy Basic Guidelines

Tinnitus retaining therapy’s basic guidelines are five. The first one is the identification of the effect as well as category of tinnitus. The second one is to teach and demystify the said condition. The third one is the ontological and audio logical diagnosis. The fourth guideline is the sound enrichment and the fifth one is the restraining tactics which is an exercise for 10 seconds.

If you will follow these guidelines, there will be occurrence of tinnitus retaining therapy and there is a possibility of relieving your discomfort. If you are suffering from tinnitus and you are looking for a cure to this illness, try considering tinnitus retaining therapy which is a treatment method. This may not be applicable for everyone but almost all of the patients who have tried it have said that it is successful. There are even those who have felt that they have been cured of tinnitus.

Tinnitus retaining therapy is just one of the many possible and available treatment options for the symptoms of tinnitus. Other than tinnitus retaining therapy, other possible ways of curing or treating tinnitus and these are – electrical stimulation, bio-feedback, and hypnotherapy, technical solutions like hearing aids, white sound and tinnitus maskers. Other than these things are yoga, herbal remedies, homeopathic remedies and acupuncture.

With regard to the medical side, there are treatments that are drug-based such as antihistamines, anti-convulsants and antidepressants but these medicines can have side effects. There is also the possibility of surgery although this is already a remote option.

Tinnitus retraining therapy is something that may not be 100% effective but is a good option to help you with the illness of tinnitus. Tinnitus retraining therapy just like any of the therapies and medications around is not perfect but it can be considered as something that is good.

If you are suffering from tinnitus or you know somebody suffering from it, tell him or her to try tinnitus retraining therapy.

Seven Things to Know About Tinnitus

Today, it has been estimated by some that up to twenty-five percent of the population goes through some instance of tinnitus.  There

Fun But Not Great For Tinnitus

are, of course, different degrees of the condition, and some experience more dramatic and persistent problems than others.  The following questions, and the corresponding answers, should help just about anyone to gain a better understanding of this particular condition, as well as the available options for tinnitus treatment.

The first point that a lot of people want to discuss is whether or not paying more attention to their tinnitus will make their symptoms worse.  Honestly, the answer is difficult to try and offer.  Some people may just notice their tinnitus one day, and then become fixated on it to the point that they never stand a chance to actually get a break from it without some specific methods.

Other people may be able to train their minds to eliminate the sounds, or at least reduce them.  In that case, concentrating on the noise at least a little bit would seem to offer some relief from the constant ringing in the ears.

The next question people often have, or maybe it’s usually the first, is whether there will ever be silence again.  Once the tinnitus starts, does it ever stop?  For some, perhaps people who have been to a concert or something similar, they may get a short term bout with tinnitus to deal with and be done with it for a long while.  Others though, may have to hope for relief, but not total elimination, from their symptoms.

The best plan of action is to see a physician, to hope for the best, but to plan for the worst.  This is probably true for most people, but if you can make a large reduction in your symptoms the worst case scenario, things could be worse.

For people who are concerned with the impact that tinnitus may have on their lifestyle, the concern may be that they’ll never be able to attend a rock concert or other loud event.  Whether you’re into music or car races, loud sounds for a long amount of time isn’t a good idea for tinnitus sufferers.

Of course, it is always possible to go about these events without making yourself worse, but it isn’t likely.  Considering that so many people have tinnitus as a result of being over exposed to loud noises for an extended amount of time, why risk it?  It is simply best to steer clear of the loud noises and environments as much as possible.

With today’s medical technology and advancements, it would make sense that there would be some sort of medication that could offer a positive outcome for tinnitus treatment.  Although some conditions which are linked to the symptoms of tinnitus can be treated through medication, like high blood pressure, there isn’t a specific prescription medication at this point that treats tinnitus.

Part of the problem in identifying medications to treat this particular problem is simply that it is a symptom of other conditions more than a condition on its own.  So, while it can be treated, it is sometimes difficult to do so, and targeting a medication for this purpose may not be something that happens any time soon.

Moving along to more news that isn’t likely to be greeted with much cheer is the question of insomnia related to tinnitus.  The ringing can grow to a point that many people begin to suffer from insomnia.  Some are able to get by this with the use of white noise or other techniques, but a lot of people go through some degree of sleeplessness.  Not everyone will have this problem, but a lot of people do.

One such technique for improving tinnitus, sleeping a bit better etc, is the use of herbs for tinnitus.  This also happens to be the sixth point of discussion on our list.

For the purpose of this blog, we’re not going to get into specifics of medications or herbal remedies.  Tinnitus treatment can take many forms, and using certain herbs can be included in this for some people.  Unfortunately, it wouldn’t seem overly responsible for us to begin mentioning these on this particular blog.  Of course, there are courses and books available that can help you narrow down different herbal and dietary remedies for tinnitus if that is your interest.

Finally, is the question that we’ve more or less been answering from the beginning of this post, as well as the entirety of this site: what are my options for tinnitus relief?  The good news is that there are a lot of options.

From medications to treat the underlying causes (but not necessarily tinnitus itself), to methods like white noise and dietary changes, there are a lot of ways to go about relieving this pesky issue.

There are a lot of things that you can do to alleviate the effects this problem may have on your lifestyle.  Of course, it is very important to seek the council of your physician if you are experiencing any symptoms like constant ringing in the ears, and be sure that you are healthy and not at risk for further issues.  Just remember that one of the best things that you can do, assuming that you get a clean bill of health aside from your symptoms, is to seek the council of your doctor, get support from a counselor, support group, friends or family, and to continue pressing forward to attempt as many safe methods for relief as you can.  With enough persistence, and perhaps a bit of luck, tinnitus treatment can be successful, and your life can be yours again.

Of course, by this point on the site, it should be obvious that tinnitus is not a great ailment to have, and while it can be a sign of more serious problems, it is often more annoying than anything. However, annoying sounds are still annoying sound, and finding a bit of tinnitus relief becomes more important as symptoms get worse, or as they stick around for longer periods of time. Below are five tips that may help anyone get at least a little bit of short term tinnitus relief when they want it most.

Via Wikipedia credit

First off, is to keep away from loud noises. The repeated exposure to loud noises can lead to the development of tinnitus in the first place, and the exposure to loud noises may act as a trigger to extended problems later on. Not everyone can avoid these noises, and ear plugs may not be the best case as blocked ear canals, usually through excessively built up ear wax, can also be a problem. Each person’s mileage may vary, and ear plugs may help to prevent any further hearing damage, so it is a bit of a conundrum. Just do your best to keep away from overly loud situations.

If you can’t avoid loud circumstances, see what you can do to keep your distance from the noise a bit, and also maybe try to cycle your exposure to loud sounds. If you are at a concert, take advantage of an intermission and try to get a little bit of a break from the noise inside. Even during a lull in the action at a concert, the noise can be incredible. This is just an example, but hopefully you get the idea.

Next up is to take a breath, and get your stress level in check. There are a lot of ways that you can do this, and it doesn’t really matter how you achieve it. Chronic stress is bad for more than just tinnitus, so the importance of handling stress before it gets away from you and causes any other symptoms is important.  Some great methods of relieving stress are things as easy as taking a walk through a park, feeding the ducks (as long as you’re not breaking any laws in the area that you live, of course), or just taking a day away from the normal problems of life.

For those who are interested in other methods, things like meditation and yoga can also be very effective at reducing stress levels.  Meditation can be a problem for some though, because a quiet environment can make the perception of tinnitus that much worse.  It may be something to check out, and some guided meditation forms may provide enough noise through the instructions that it wouldn’t be a problem.

Third then, is to use white noise or other masking options to help reduce the perception of tinnitus.  White noise, a product known as Tinnitus Masker, white noise machines, or just low level music can be effective.  Heading out to the beach, where there is often a breeze and the sound of crashing waves can be a good way to relax, get some activity, and also have enough surrounding noise to reduce the normal contrast of loud and quiet.  Take a look to see what kinds of activities involve some noise, that may also serve as a good way to relax as well.  Combining methods to get tinnitus relief is a common approach to get maximum results.  Why not look for one activity that can serve as multiple methods on its own?

Fourth up is to get into a support system of some sort.  Look for message boards on the subject where others are going through similar issues.  Finding other counseling options around you, where a therapist or support group can relate to what you are going through, and help you to cope with the emotions that you feel could be effective.  Of course, counseling for one situation can open a whole other can of worms for another, but few people would consider counseling for any issue to be a bad idea.  Not everyone buys into the idea of counseling and support groups, but they do have a track record of success.  This may also be a positive method for long term tinnitus relief as well depending on the particular conditions associated with your tinnitus.

Does Hypnosis = Tinnitus Treatment?

One of the common ways of applying tinnitus treatment is to go to the way of hypnosis to try and get relief.  While many people do get a good amount of tinnitus relief from hypnosis, just how real can it be, or is it all just hogwash?  The answer, as with most things, is not so straight forward that a simple answer can be given.  The very nature of tinnitus causes many people to be suspicious of any real approaches to tinnitus relief, but this way of thinking can only be counter productive.  Is hypnosis going to be for everyone?  Of course not, but it could very well be the missing link in the progression of treatment that helps one person successfully manage his or her symptoms to a great degree.  Let’s move along with a short recap of just what tinnitus is, for the first time readers that may not have seen the other pages on the site, and then take a look at hypnosis, and how it may fit in for hypnosis treatment.

Tinnitus Put Simply

To begin with, and to put it simply, tinnitus is simply the ringing of the ears that affects just about everyone at some point in his or her life.  Whether you develop some ringing and buzzing after a nasty head cold, when your hearing is impacted and you just don’t feel right, or you take a shot to the side of the head that makes you a little woozy, perhaps with a feel of shock and some buzzing and overwhelming ringing to go with it, or if you just get a little older and notice the symptoms.  It can affect just about anyone, and it often comes about rather quickly.  The point to remember, and it is a point that has been made repeatedly on the site, is to get evaluated by a doctor should you be experiencing symptoms, just to be sure that there are no serious causes underlying which could be detrimental to your health and well being.  There are quite a few tinnitus causes, and many of them are fairly benign, but others do need attention, so don’t put this aside.

What does need to be stated though, is that while there are many physical causes of tinnitus, sound is a sense.  We perceive senses, meaning that the sounds of tinnitus are really sensations and perceptions more than a symptoms that can be easily understood by other people.  Tinnitus is not like throwing your back out when everyone can see the pain that accompanies changes in posture or other problems.  It is a subjective, and very individual condition, making real tinnitus treatment a bit difficult in some cases.

How Does Hypnosis Fit in For Tinnitus Treatment?

Now that we’ve gotten the basic explanation of what tinnitus is, we can take a stab at how hypnosis may be used as an effective tinnitus treatment.  We already hinted at it above, but since the sounds that characterize tinnitus are largely perceptions and not easily observed by other people, then the reasoning tends to lean towards the idea that the mind could be turned on and off to these sounds.  If the mind is able to block out the sounds, then the condition may effectively be cured for the people who find success with this.

How likely is this level of success going to be?  Given the odd nature of the condition, in that it is often a symptom of something else entirely, and not really a condition on its own, the answer is a bit fuzzy.  For instance, quite a few people have a hard time accepting the that hypnosis even exists.  They’ve seen the shows at events and conferences, where a hypnotist gets a group of people on stage, gets them to fall asleep, and then dance around or act like a chicken.  These shows are funny, but most people think they’re an act.  Whether the shows actually are an act doesn’t really matter.  What matters is whether a state of hypnosis really exists.

The truth is that hypnosis, as a state of being, does exist.  It is real.  Those points of the day, where you find yourself in a zone, where the time just disappears, and you have little recollection of what’s been going on may be hypnotic states.  They could be something else altogether, but often, this is an example of mild hypnosis.

For many people, the question is going to be whether a hypnotherapist can help you to enter these states, and instruct you accordingly to begin to tune out the sounds.  Again though, the answer is going to come down to two words: It depends.

Those who don’t have a legitimate hypnotherapist in their area won’t find much success.  And even more than a legitimate therapist, is whether you can trust the person who is there to help you.  If you cannot relax and open your mind enough to allow the therapist to do their work, then you are only going to waste your time and your money.

And even more than that, is that some people are going to be impervious to some types of tinnitus treatment.  It is just the way things go.  Some people may not be able to sit still for long enough to get any real benefit from a relaxation technique like yoga.  Others will do just fine, but they won’t find as much relief from dietary changes.

For those who are considering using hypnosis as an addition to their tinnitus treatment plan, a good way to go would be to get a book on hypnosis so that you have a thorough understanding of what is involved.  Then, get a therapist who is okay with having someone else in the room with you.  You may be able to relax a bit and get more out of the treatment knowing that someone else is there to protect you when you are under the state of hypnosis.

In the end, hypnosis is a non traditional and sort of “off the wall” of dealing with tinnitus.  However, it is something that should probably at least be considered for the toolbox when you start to put together your tinnitus treatment plan.

Hypnosis for Tinnitus Treatment

Common Causes of Tinnitus

One of the very first points that was made on this site was that getting an diagnosis of the potential causes of tinnitus was a critical step that needs to be taken before going through with any sort of treatment. The various causes of this condition can range from rather benign, though certainly disconcerting and frustrating, to scary and potentially dangerous if left untreated. Further, putting together an effective tinnitus treatment plan can be made easier and more effective should you have an idea of the root causes of the condition. Some causes are inevitable, while others are avoidable, so hopefully there will be worthwhile information for just about anyone, regardless of whether you’ve got tinnitus or not.

The first, and probably the most common, of the different causes of tinnitus is the excessive exposure to loud noises. People who would be good candidates to develop tinnitus at some point in life would be people who have professions that require them to be around loud noises on a regular basis. This would mean that people like airline personnel, mechanics, and the most obvious would be musicians.

Excessively loud sound may have a role in damaging the structures of the ear, as well as the tiny hairs that are partially responsible for transmitting frequencies of sound to the brain. As these break down, the ringing in the ears that commonly characterizes tinnitus can grow to be fairly significant. The good news, is that for many people, avoiding loud noises is fairly easy. Not to say that nobody should ever go to a concert or that people should change jobs, but it is just food for thought.

Another of the more common causes of tinnitus, and probably the best one to have, would be the build up of excess earwax in the ear canal. Ear wax may cause irritation of the eardrum, or may result in partial hearing loss, which both may have an affect on the development of tinnitus. Earwax is not something that can be resolved on your own, at least not in most cases. It is best to play it safe and see your physician to clear the wax from your ears if you are having difficulty in this arena.

Should you try and clear the wax blockage from your ears, you may do more damage and make the symptoms of your tinnitus worse. So beware and do your best to play it safe. The good news is that this may be a quick fix for tinnitus, but people shouldn’t get their hopes up.

The next up in the common causes of tinnitus would be the chance that abnormal growth of the bones in a person’s ears may play a role. The ears have small bones that are also partially responsible for transmitting sound to the brain. Should these grow in an odd way, or sometimes stiffen with age, the chances of developing tinnitus may be elevated. It is thought that this may be a cause with genetic roots. It’s not like any of the causes of tinnitus are really preferred, but this would be farther down the list than most for many people.

Next would be, as discussed in the opening article on tinnitus treatment, the potential that excessive stress and possibly depression could be causes of tinnitus. It could be related to blood pressure changes when people are under high amounts of stress and tension, or it could be something different, but it is reasonably common for tinnitus to be linked to stress and depression. Either way tinnitus, even if not caused by stress and depression, could very well be a cause of stress and depression. A good tinnitus treatment plan could probably include some sort of relaxation therapy or counseling to help deal with this. The only recommendation would be that just about everyone could stand to give some methods of relaxing a try. Even those without tinnitus could probably stand to chill out a bit.

Head and neck injuries would be one of those causes of tinnitus that should never, ever, go unchecked. Potential concussions and other problems can be very bad should medical attention not be sought out. It’s quite possible that tinnitus could be the last of your problems if this is the case. So, if you’ve taken a shot upside the head, the ringing in your ears could just be a hint as to more serious problems. Don’t mess around with any potential cause, but especially not this one.

We already mentioned this elsewhere, but it obviously bares repeating: hypertension (high blood pressure) may very well play a role in causing a person’s tinnitus. Hypertension has a host of potential conditions that it can be cause by, and that it can also cause. The good news is that many people get good relief of this problem by dietary changes, relaxation methods, and of course through medications that can only be prescribed by a physician. Of course, if this is a cause of your symptoms, then treating it may help to wipe them out. Blood pressure monitors can be had for relatively cheap, as can going to a doctor for a blood pressure check, and some pharmacies may still have a monitor on site. In terms of general health, it is probably a good idea to get your blood pressure checked regularly.

And the final of our more common causes of tinnitus could be that it is sometimes a side effect of different medications. Blood thinning medications, or medications that result in thinned blood, like aspirin, may play a role. Never stop your medications without speaking to your doctor, but it may not be a bad idea to add to the list of potential tinnitus causes should you experience difficulties and head in to speak to your doctor.

Tinnitus can be a very significant issue, and if not dealt with, it can grow to out of control levels with time. It is important to make sure that you speak to a physician, and get an understanding of the various causes of tinnitus so that you can more effectively manage its symptoms. Take care and be diligent when going about formulating a plan for treating the condition.

Tinnitus Causes

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