Is TRT (Tinnitus Retraining Therapy) Useful for Desensitizing Reactive Tinnitus?

I have the reactive tinnitus and hyperacusis. My tinnitus has started due to the head and neck trauma. It's so reactive to the point that even the softest pink noise spikes my tinnitus. I have tried to listen to the pink noise for my hyperacusis. But after 30 minutes of pink noise, I feel tired or over-stimulated.

If that's a case, how can I go through the TRT?

I'm going to meet an audiologist next week. Any advice?

 

Hi @G61

TRT can help lower your perception of the tinnitus and desensitize your sensitivity to sound. Trying to do this yourself isn't possible and therefore, you need the help of a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist trained in TRT and the management of tinnitus. This requires counselling (talk therapy) and wearing 2 white noise generators. Treatment can take up to two years. I suggest you do some research and find someone reputable. I first advise that tests are carried out on your auditory system by ENT then later referral to Hearing Therapist or Audiologist.

Click on my Avatar and choose "started threads" there are many posts that I have written on TRT that you might find helpful. Read my two articles that are also in the list: Tinnitus, A Personal View, and Hyperacusis, As I see it.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

Reactive tinnitus is actually: Hyperacusis. There are different intensity levels and pain is not always felt. The term "Reactive Tinnitus" is made up and used a lot in tinnitus forums.

Michael

 

Michael, when you had H, did you T react to the sound?

 

Will get better with time, in the beginning even a voice spiked my T, now I can endure quite some noise before spiking

 

Does your react like instantly? Does it like "whistle" along to the sound?

 

Yes it did, as I was suffering from very severe noise trauma. My sensitivity was so severe, at times I had to ask people to lower their voice as my ears hurt. However, two years wearing white noise generators and using sound therapy at night completely cured my sensitivity/hyperacusis till this day and that was 20 years ago.

Tinnitus and hyperacusis can improve on their own with time. If the hypercausis is severe then it might need treatment and the most effective is using white noise generators as part of TRT

Michael

 

Yes, it reacts to it instantly but it does not whistle but it sounds like electricity sound in a high frequency.

 

TRT doesn't help with jack. It's no better than the "ring begone" scams you find on the internet, except much more expensive.

 

Hello @G61 - I've had tinnitus for nearly 5 years and H for almost 2 years. My H was the kind that whistled and whined along to many sounds.

I have worn NHS UK pink noise generators for a year and the H has mostly gone. I received a very basic form of TRT from my hearing therapist, with virtually no counselling. My hearing is not the same in each ear and so it took a while to get the pink noise sound balance right. You worry that you may not be able to tolerate the pink noise sound, but it is very low - quieter than the tinnitus. My H took quite a while to lessen.

After a few months I would get the odd day, and then a week, and currently 4 weeks H-free. It is a huge relief and I feel much better. The T is still there but I have mostly habituated to that. I cannot be sure that the maskers have helped my recovery but I still wear them most of the time. I run a small fan, which has a similar sound at night time for a while before I fall asleep. I was very lucky because my TRT was free of charge.

The pink noise is delivered by Siemens hearing aids with the hearing aid function disabled. It may be possible to get a free trial period of hearing aids with noise generators so that you can get a sense of what they will feel like.

 

So to sum it up, the general consensus around here is pretty much that reactive T that reacts to external sounds instantly and stops reacting instantly when the external sound is over is connected to H and therefore should improve/fade when H improves/fades?

 

There is no general consensus. It's all just conjecture with little evidence supporting one opinion or the other.

 

Reactive tinnitus is Hyperacusis.
Reactive tinnitus was a thought up in tinnitus forums and is now used by some in the medical field to give the belief it's a seperate condition from Hyperacusis and is treatable. More expense. Please don't believe it.
Michael

 

No it's not!

 

Yes it is!
You have had tinnitus for 5 mins I've had it considerably longer.

 

More expense? I was unaware of this expensive new treatment, can you elaborate? Just curious what it is, and what it claims to do.

 

I am using a small tablet Telis and not my regular PC so I apologise for any typos. A while back someone posted a link in the forum to a website where so called ENT professionals have written up a document to describe "Reactive tinnitus" and the treatment for it. It consists of using sound therapy to treat it and goes into a long explination that this needs to be treated first, and then the Hyperacusis. Total rubbish as far as I'm concerned.

Reactive tinnitus was a term made up in tinntius forums and some people in the medical field have had a brain wave. What a good idea to extract more money from people in misery with tinnitus and hyperacusis. I have said many times in this forum: ENT doctors know about the anatomy of the ear. They can treat it medically or surgically but most of them know very little about tinnitus because they've never experienced it. It is the Hearing Therapists and Audiologists, that work with tinnitus patients that often know a lot more. The reason being many of them were either born with tinnitus or acquired it at some time in their life.

I have had tinnitus for 21 years and read many books over the years about tinnitus and hyperacusis. Not once was the term "Reactive tinnitus mentioned"

Michael

 

@Michael Leigh

>what a good idea to extract more money from people in misery with tinnitus and hyperacusis.

You're talking about TRT right? That's exactly what they do :^)

 

We have already been there and not going there again.....

 

Well then please stop recommending it for future reference.

 

Thank you for your polite request. However, I have had TRT twice in the 21 years that I've had tinnitus and found it very helpful. Therefore, I will continue to recommend it to people whenever I think it necessary. I am here to help and advise people in the best way that I can.

Michael

 

Are two kinds of reactive tinnituszez though? One that means tinnitus that reacts to sounds instantly.. so it sounds like someone whistling along the sounds you hear... And another reactive tinnitus that is regular tinnitus that spikes for hours or something after you've been in loud environmentz?

 

Whatever you want to call it. I believe both conditions are treatable and curable with sound therapy. Namely using white noise generators in severe cases as part of TRT. I once had very severe hyperacusis. So bad, when in conversation with someone I had to ask them to lower their voice as my ears hurt so much. White noise generators desensitised my auditory system in 2 years and I've been cured for 18 years.

Michael

 

@threefirefour
@Michael Leigh

It's Saturday night in the Uk, and Michael is endorsing trt for treatment of tinnitus which I can't help but wonder is Michael really 'habituated' or 'cured' because why else is he spending Saturday mid night on a tinnitus forum?

Tagged our California friend due to our shared view of trt.

 

He probably has not much to do besides talking about tinnitus. No kids, no wife, no job, no hobbies, no friends. He's on permanent disability because of tinnitus

 

That makes me sad, because I believe Michael is a nice man. If anybody deserves a cure, it's him.

 

Wouldn't you like to know @Paulmanlike How are you so sure that I'm in the UK hmmm?

 

Ahh..That's very kind of you...Always knew you had a heart

 

Yes he is nice I hope he gets cured

 

Wouldn't you like know @Onsdag My real name isn't even Michael Leigh so don't bother looking on facebook

 

Ok I'll tell you two truths @Onsdag I drive a new Lexus GS300H disability didn't pay for that. I'm not bragging just letting you know a few facts. And I have my own house bought and fully paid for

Oh, and I have an expensive Audio system in a dedicated acoustically treated listening room.