Tinnitus Biofeedback

Tinnitus anyone? Would like natural cure – like zinc.. biofeedback?

Ringing gets louder at night statrted keeping me awake.. It changes pitch, when move head- almost like fluid trying to come out.. . ears pop alot… If I position my head, pull hair on top of head tight or press hard behind ears- the noise stops. I also thought it was sinus related.. Just want the nosie to stop.. suggestions please… Thank you…

Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is a common problem, affecting about 17% of the general population around the world (44 million people in the USA). It causes significant suffering in about 4% of the general population (10 million in the USA). Typically patients are told “to learn to live with it.” The development of a neurophysiological model of tinnitus (Jastreboff, P.J. Phantom auditory perception (tinnitus): mechanisms of generation and perception. Neurosci.Res.:221-254, 1990) and based on it a new clinical approach have created a totally new treatment for tinnitus that results in significant improvement for more that 80% of the patients treated at our center (Jastreboff, P.J., Gray, W.C., Gold, S.L. Neurophysiological approach to tinnitus patients. Am.J.Otology, 17:236-240, 1996). This method, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), uses a combination of low level, broad-band noise and counseling to achieve the habituation of tinnitus, that is the patient is no longer aware of their tinnitus, except when they focus their attention on it, and even then tinnitus is not annoying or bothersome.
Tinnitus is accompanied by hyperacusis in about 40% of the cases. Hyperacusis is a decreased tolerance of sound and can be a serious problem. Some patients experience hyperacusis without tinnitus. Tinnitus Retraining Therapy can restore totally or partially the normal level of sensitivity to sound.

http://www.tinnitus-pjj.com/

Tinnitus can be objective (the sound, e.g., a bruit, can be perceived by a clinician) or subjective (perceived only by the patient). The sound may be a quiet background noise, or loud enough to drown out all outside sounds. While the term ‘tinnitus’ usually refers to more severe cases, a 1953 Heller and Bergman found in a study of 80 tinnitus-free university students that 93% reported hearing a buzzing, pulsing or whistling sound. An increasing number of young people are developing tinnitus; as a result, it is sometimes referred to as “the club disease” as many people experience tinnitus or “ringing ears” after attending loud clubs or concerts or using personal stereos at unsafe volumes. Tinnitus has been attributed to a number of other causes
Tinnitus can also be exacerbated by severe emotional or physical stress and brought on by loud noises (especially when heard in an otherwise quiet environment) and by physical damage occurring to the ear drum, cochlea or nerve.

Mechanisms of subjective tinnitus
The inner ear contains many thousand minute hairs which vibrate in response to sound waves. These hairs in turn send signals to the brain which are interpreted as sound. If these hairs become damaged, through prolonged exposure to excessive volume, for instance, then deafness to certain frequencies occurs. In this case, they falsely relay information at a certain frequency that an externally audible sound is present, when it is not.
The mechanisms of subjective tinnitus are often obscure. While it’s not surprising that direct trauma to the inner ear can cause tinnitus, other apparent causes (e.g., TMJ and dental disorders) are difficult to explain. Recent research has proposed that there are two distinct categories of subjective tinnitus, otic tinnitus caused by disorders of the inner ear or the acoustic nerve, and somatic tinnitus caused by disorders outside the ear and nerve, but still within the head or neck. It is further hypothesized that somatic tinnitus may be due to “central crosstalk” within the brain, as certain head and neck nerves enter the brain near regions known to be involved in hearing.

Prevention
Since there is no tinnitus cure, only treatment, it is wise to take precautions to prevent it occurring. If a ringing in the ears is audible after exposure to a loud environment such as a concert or work place, it means damage is being done. If it is not possible to limit exposure, wearing earplugs or ear defenders can be advantageous. For musicians and DJs, special musicians’ earplugs can lower the volume of the music without distorting the sound and can prevent tinnitus developing in later years.

Tinnitus treatment
Many types of tinnitus are temporary and will cease spontaneously while others are permanent in nature. Although there are no specific cures for tinnitus, anything that brings the person out of the “fight or flight” stress response helps symptoms recede over a period of time. Calming body-based therapies, counseling and psychotherapy help restore well-being which in turn allows tinnitus to settle. Chronic tinnitus can be quite stressful psychologically as it distracts the affected individual from mental tasks and interferes with sleep, particularly when there is no external sound. The affected individual may have to generate artificial noise that masks the tinnitus sound. White noise is particularly effective in masking tinnitus. In terms of tinnitus treatment a combination of external masking and psychological counseling known as tinnitus retraining therapy is widely practiced. While it does not actually cure the tinnitus, many report that it becomes much less disturbing and in some cases the offending sound is no longer heard at the conscious level (Habituation of Perception). Additional steps in reducing the impact of tinnitus on adverse health consequences include, a review of medications that may have tinnitus as a side affect, a physical exam to reveal possible underlying health conditions that may aggravate tinnitus, receiving adequate rest each day, and seeking a physician’s advice concerning a sleep aid to allow for a better sleep pattern.
Adding white noise to the input can stimulate the level-sensor so that it stops raising the gain; and the resulting hiss is much more bearable to most people than feedback-squeal. Better is to have a hearing-aid that compensates for the lost frequency (or frequencies) of the level-sensor and damps the input at the feedback-squeal frequency

Tinnitus Treatments – Does Biofeedback work?

Additional Related Blogs

• Tinnitus Brain Damage « Tinnitus Relief 2009
• The Relation Between Loud Noises And Ringing In The Ears | Handicapper Aids Blog
• Treating Tinnitus with Natural Remedies | The Health Doctors Daily Blog

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