Combining Parts of Sound Retraining and Talk Therapy Can Give Relief
24/5/2012 — Combining parts of 2 established treatments for tinnitus in a new way can work, according to new research.
Tinnitus is a persistent ringing or buzzing in the ears that can be debilitating. Researcher Rilana Cima of Maastricht University in the Netherlands and colleagues used parts of sound-based retraining therapy and talk therapy in what they say is a unique way.
This approach worked better than usual care, they found.
“This was very successful in decreasing tinnitus severity, distress, and impact on daily life & general health,” Cima tells WebMD. The study is published in The Lancet. Two U.S. experts had a mixed reaction to the study. One said the new research adds scientific credibility to the two approaches. Another said there is not much new in the study.
Tinnitus: Back Story
About fifty million people in the U.S. experience in tinnitus, according to the American Tinnitus Association. About 2{754741679431ceb09efae6e94320565469f785b1bbff1b66db1121ae80245ef8} of the population has tinnitus so severe their quality of life is impaired. Those with tinnitus perceive a sound when no external source of sound exists. They may describe the condition as a ringing, buzzing, hissing, or whooshing in the ears. It can affect one or both ears. Most often, noise exposure leads to tinnitus, according to the American Tinnitus Association.
Another known cause of tinnitus is a head or neck injury.
Typically, many different treatments are offered, but with little evidence of effectiveness. Often, says Cima, a doctor will tell a patient with tinnitus: “Nothing more can be done; you have to learn to live with it.” In severe cases, patients can become depressed and unable to work or socialize.
Tinnitus: Combining Treatments
Cima assigned 247 patients with tinnitus to usual care and 245 to the specialized care.
Those in the usual care were seen by an audiologist to start. If the audiologist thought they also needed a social worker, the audiologist would refer them.
persons in specialized care got a grouping of audiology and psychology treatments. The team included many health care providers, such as psychologists and other therapists. In typical tinnitus retraining therapy, counseling sessions and exposure to a neutral external sound are used, Cima says. What is new, Cima tells WebMD, is that they combined the audiological and psychological treatments within a behavioral framework. In her approach, the behavioral intervention & the sound intervention are carried out at the same time. “We believe that not the sound itself but the reactions (fear and misinterpretations) to this sound determine whether or not people will develop complaints,” she says.
She focuses on modifying the reactions to the sounds. Patients often want to avoid the tinnitus, she says. They do this by not wanting to stay in silent environments, for instance. “I say often to patients: ‘In order to [get used] to your tinnitus, you have to be willing to perceive your tinnitus.'” After that first step, those with more severe tinnitus went on to a second step, which included group treatment with a variety of therapists.
Combining Treatments: Results
After 12 months, those in the specialized care group reported recovered quality of life, less severity of the tinnitus, & decreased impairment compared to the usual-care group. Lots of had dropped out of each group. In all, 161 finished all 12 months of the usual care; 171 completed the combined approach. Ideally, Cima says, the patients can keep using the skills learned in the program. If they have remission, they can return for more treatment, she says.
For a lot of people who experience tinnitus, a buzzing, hissing or ringing sound in the ears is something they experience all the time. This even soundtrack is impossible to escape & it can make everyday activities and daily life more and more difficult. Sometimes tinnitus can be resolved through treatment of the underlying cause, but often the cause is unknown.
Your physical wellbeing
Common causes of tinnitus include hearing loss, poor diet, exposure to loud noise, stress and high blood pressure. Since your overall health could be contributing to the ringing in your ears, you should take some extra measures to improve your overall wellness.
Have your hearing checked: Hearing loss & tinnitus often occur together. If you have hearing loss, wearing hearing aids may provide tinnitus relief.
Wear hearing protection: If you’re working around loud machinery, going hunting or dancing near the speakers at a live concert, don’t forget to wear foam earplugs or earmuffs so your tinnitus doesn’t get worse.
Exercise: There are many ways you can control your blood pressure without going to the doctor or taking medication. Increasing your activity level is one of the easiest and healthiest ways to do so. Consider a workout regimen that will help you to shed a few pounds around the waistline, which is a key factor in decreasing your risk of high blood pressure.
Dietary changes: Reduce the amount of sodium you consume and change your overall eating habits to include a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. You should also limit your consumption of alcohol and tobacco products.
Reduce stress: Stress and anxiety can temporarily increase blood pressure and cause tinnitus. You can try to decrease your amount of stress by getting a massage, meditating or practicing deep-breathing exercises. Increasing your amount of physical activity, in general, will also decrease your stress. Consider taking a day off work to simply relax, go for a walk or enjoy time with family.
Decrease caffeine: Consuming too much coffee or soda regularly can not only increase your blood pressure, it can aggravate tinnitus. You can find relief of tinnitus by cutting out beverages with high levels of caffeine by replacing them with healthier beverages. Although tea has some caffeine, it also has healing properties to increase your overall health and still give you a slight boost of energy.
Keep track
The Tinnitus comes in all shapes & sizes, so keeping track of when you are experiencing symptoms may help you find relief by just making small changes to your everyday lifestyle. Whenever you begin to experience tinnitus, write down what you were doing, what food you consumed, if you were exposed to any loud noises or if you are feeling a lot of pressure or stress. Once you have tracked it for a while, you may be able to determine a few triggers of your tinnitus you can work to reduce or prevent.
Remember that tinnitus relief does not happen overnight – just as lowering your blood pressure or losing weight takes time – so be patient with your lifestyle changes & keep tracking as you try new things.
Forget about it
Some tinnitus suffers say that learning to habituate tinnitus or ignore it, is one of the best ways to find relief. You can find things that you enjoy doing to occupy your time & help your mind forget about the ringing sensation in your ear. Whether you like to garden, paint or go hiking, these hobbies can take your mind off of the frustration and help you to refocus your concentration on something that makes you happy.
At times when your tinnitus is most bothersome, like when you’re trying to fall asleep, you can use a sound generator to play white noise, ocean sounds or other environmental sounds to distract your brain from focusing on the unwanted sounds. Set the volume at a level that just barely covers your tinnitus and allows you to concentrate on the noise in the room instead of the noise in your head.
In several cases, hearing fades so slowly you do not notice it. you will suppose that folks are mumbling additional, your spouse must speak up, and you wish a better phone. As long as some sound still comes in, you could assume your hearing is ok. However, you will become additional and additional cut off from the globe of speech and sounds.
Doctors classify hearing disorder by degrees.
Mild hearing loss:
One-on-one conversations are fine, however, it’s hard to catch each word once there is background noise.
Moderate hearing loss:
you frequently have to be compelled to ask individuals to repeat themselves throughout conversations nose to nose and on the phone.
Severe hearing loss:
Following a conversation is sort of not possible unless you have got a hearing aid.
Profound hearing loss:
you cannot hear once people speaking unless they’re very loud. you cannot perceive what they are saying while not a hearing aid or tube implant.
Early on, high-pitched sounds, like children’s and female voices, and also the sounds “S” and “F” become harder to create out. you’ll also:
Have hassle following a speech once quite one person speaks at once
Think people are mumbling or not speaking clearly
Often misapprehend what others say and respond inappropriately
Get complaints that the TV is simply too loud
Hear ringing, roaring, or hissing sounds in your ears, called tinnitus
Treatments
It depends on the kind and supply of your hearing disorder. Prompt medical treatment for sudden hearing disorder might raise your probability of recovery. Surgery might reverse hearing disorder caused by otosclerosis, connective tissue, or infection, whereas Ménière’s sickness is sometimes treatable with medication and a special diet.
Hearing loss caused by infection will usually be cleared up with antibiotics.
If you think that your hearing disorder stems from medication use, speak along with your doctor regarding drug choices. Most people with the permanent hearing disorder will have the benefit of a hearing aid. you sometimes wear these small instruments in or behind your ear to create sounds louder. Things do sound completely different from a hearing aid although, so you ought to speak along with your doctor to set realistic goals.
Other sound-enhancing technologies embody personal listening systems that enable you to tune up to what you wish to listen to and mute alternative sounds. TV-listening systems create it attainable for you to listen to the TV or radio while not turning the volume way up. completely different styles of phone-amplifying devices also as captioned phones that permit you to read what your caller is saying make conversations attainable on home and mobile phones.
Cochlear implants are used primarily for young kids, however, they are changing into a lot of standard among older adults with the profound hearing disorder.
Listen up! do not take your ears for granted. hearing loss is that the third commonest health problem within the U.S, and it will have an effect on the standard of your life and relationships. concerning forty-eight million Americans have lost some hearing.
Certain conditions, as well as age, illness, and genetics, could play a task in hearing loss. fashionable life has more a host of ear-damaging parts to the list, as well as some medications and lots of sources of loud, in progress noise. With such a large amount of untreatable cases of hearing loss, prevention is that the best way to keep hearing long-term. If you’ve got already lost some hearing, there are ways that to remain connected and communicate with friends and family.
What Causes Hearing Loss?
Advanced age is the most common cause of hearing loss. One out of three people age 65-74 has some level of hearing loss. After age 75, that goes up to one out of every two people.
Researchers don’t fully understand why hearing declines with age. It could be that lifetime exposure to noise and other damaging factors slowly wear down the ears’ delicate mechanics. Your genes are also part of the mix. Noise wears down hearing if it’s loud or continuous. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that about 22 million American workers are exposed to dangerous noise levels on the job. This includes many carpenters, construction workers, soldiers, miners, factory workers, and farmers.
Even musicians, who literally create music for our ears, are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Some now wear special earplugs to protect their ears when they perform. The earplugs allow them to hear music without harming their ears’ inner workings.
Certain medications can impair hearing or balance. More than 200 drugs and chemicals have a track record of triggering hearing and balance side effects in addition to their disease-fighting abilities.
Sudden hearing loss the rapid loss of 30 decibels or more of hearing ability, can happen over several hours or up to 3 days. (A normal conversation is 60 decibels.) Sudden hearing loss usually affects only one ear. Although there are up to 3 new cases per every 10,000 people each year, doctors are not able to discover the cause in most cases. Illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes put ears at risk by interfering with the ears’ blood supply. Otosclerosis is a bone disease of the middle ear, and Ménière’s disease affects the inner ear. Both can cause hearing loss.
Trauma especially a skull fracture or punctured eardrum puts ears at serious risk for hearing loss. Advanced age is that the commonest reason for a hearing disorder. One out of 3 individuals age 65-74 has some level of hearing disorder. after age seventy-five, that goes up to at least one out of each 2 individuals.
Researchers do not absolutely perceive why hearing declines with age. It might be that period of time exposure to noise and different damaging factors slowly wear down the ears’ delicate mechanics. Your genes also are a part of the combination. Noise wears down hearing if it’s loud or continuous. The Centers for disease control (CDC) reports that regarding twenty-two million American employees are exposed to dangerous noise levels on the work. This includes several carpenters, construction employees, soldiers, miners, works employees, and farmers.
Even musicians, who literally produce music for our ears, are in danger for a noise-induced hearing disorder. Some currently wear special earplugs to safeguard their ears after they perform. The earplugs enable them to listen to music while not harming their ears’ inner workings. Certain medications will impair hearing or balance. over two hundred medication and chemicals have a log of triggering hearing and balance side effects added to their disease-fighting skills.
Some antibiotics
Some therapy medication
Aspirin
Loop diuretics
A drug used to treat malaria
Several medication for erectile dysfunction
Sudden hearing disorder the fast loss of thirty decibels or additional of hearing ability, will happen over many hours or up to 3 days. (A traditional conversation is sixty decibels.) the sudden hearing disorder typically affects only 1 ear. though there are up to three new cases per every 10,000 individuals annually, doctors don’t seem to be able to discover the cause in most cases.
Illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure, and polygenic disease put ears in danger by meddling with the ears’ blood supply. Otosclerosis is a bone disease of the middle ear, and Ménière’s disease affects the inner ear. Both can cause hearing loss. Trauma particularly a skull fracture or perforated eardrum puts ears at serious risk for a hearing disorder. Infection or ear wax will block ear canals and reduce hearing.
There are many various ways that tinnitus will be caused, from exposure to loud noise to medications. What many of us don’t recognize is your blood pressure will play a large part in the severity of tinnitus symptoms. tinnitus is diagnosed once there’s a ringing, buzzing or static sound within the ear that someone hears perpetually. It will be affected by stress or one’s emotional state or health. Considering the shut proximity to the brain and also the immense amounts of blood flowing in and out of the head and this space, it’s no surprise that top blood pressure will have an effect on one’s hearing; inflicting hearing disorder or tinnitus and affecting the degree and severity from time to time depending on the severity of the blood pressure.
UNDERSTANDING HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AND TINNITUS
So why will high-pressure level cause tinnitus and the way will or not it’s fixed or at the terribly least lessened? the primary step is to schedule an arrangement with a hearing care skilled. whereas high-pressure level must be checked and monitored by your family doctor, a hearing care supplier is a lot of equipped to diagnose and treat tinnitus.
Medication is often used to lower high-pressure level in most patients. generally, modification in diet and exercise could also be required, or a modification in lifestyle. generally, the high-pressure level is caused by will increase in stress, alcohol consumption or caffeine intake and every of those can even increase the noticeability of tinnitus. You and your doctor should figure out the simplest course of action for not only your pressure level, however conjointly your tinnitus if it’s caused by your high-pressure level.
OTHER CAUSES OF TINNITUS
It ought to be noted that not only high pressure causes tinnitus. different vessel disorders will cause the ringing-in-your-ears sensation, as well as atherosclerosis, that could be a build from cholesterol and different deposits over time within the vessels. As we age, the vessels tend to not flex and expand as they ought to thus alongside these buildups cause restrictive, however additional forceful blood flow that is definitely picked up within the ear.
Head or neck trauma will cause pressure on the vessels within the head or ear, inflicting tinnitus. Malformation of the capillaries is once there’s an abnormal connection between the arteries so the|and also the} veins that therefore will cause tinnitus; also called arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Finally, turbulent blood flow once the neck artery or veins are kinked or narrows inflicting an irregular blood flow to the top can even cause tinnitus.
If there’s any kind of ringing or buzzing or noise in your ear that you just feel shouldn’t be there see your hearing health professional or your family doctor to have them check it out as a result of it may be telling you additional concerning your body and general health than you recognize.
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