Looking for the Best Tinnitus Clinic in Europe

Any suggestions?
I have very severe tinnitus and hyperacusis.

 

@MJv
Can you please explain more about your what caused your tinnitus? How long you have had it? Have you had any tests at ENT and if you've had any treatment? Whereabouts in Europe do you live?
Thanks
Michael

 

In France, I know that IMERTA have a good reputation (south of France)
https://www.imerta.com/

 

What do you consider to be "very severe tinnitus"?

 

Severe like Gaby Olthuis. 6 dif tones and veryyyyy loud plus severe hyperacusis.
I have it since March 2015 and began to get really bad in March 2016, suicidal.
Mri and hearing test was fine.
I've tried, cbt, trt, masking, seiyo therapy. Everything worsened the t and h.
I live in Holland.

 

Cause= unknown

 

The most common cause of tinnitus or thing that can make it worse is exposure to loud sound. If you listen to music through headphones regularly even at low volume, this can make tinnitus more intrusive for some people. If you go to places such as: clubs, concerts or even the cinema, where high sound levels can easily be achieved it can make tinnitus worse. In short: If your tinnitus has got worse since March 2015 something has caused it. If there is no underlying medical condition responsible for it getting worse, the usual reason is sound.

I live in the UK and don't know of any tinnitus clinics at your location. If you have had TRT that is one of the best treatments for tinnitus, providing it was proper TRT. By this I mean: you were having regular counselling sessions with a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist trained in TRT and tinnitus management. Also, you need to be wearing 2 white noise generators for up to 10hrs a day. At night use a "sound machine" by your bedside and set to play throughout the night for sound enrichment. The treatment lasts up to 2 years.

Click on the link below and read my articles: Tinnitus, A Personal View, and Hyperacusis, As I see it. Try to read them in full.

As I said, if there is no underlying medical condition that is causing the increase in your tinnitus, the usual reason for it getting worse is sound, or rather high volume levels or listening to music through headphones. If this is the case then you need to change your lifestyle.

Hope that you start to feel better soon.
Michael

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/tinnitus-a-personal-view.18668/

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/hyperacusis-as-i-see-it.19174/

 

Ive tried trt, but the noise generators made it worse. I am too sensitive for these things.
I think my t and h were caused because of stress. But nobody knows for sure.
I wish I could get a pill and sleep forever

 

What about North America?

 

Which one?

 

I have a suggestion for you that might work so that you can use the white noise generators. When the ears are very sensitive, introduce the white noise generators slowly. Wear them for just 1hr and then remove them from your ears for 1hr or 2hrs. Then put them back on for another hour. Slowly build up the wearing time over a few weeks. When the ears are sensitive trying to wear the white noise generators continuously is not always possible. By building up the wearing time slowly, you are allowing your ears and auditory system to get used to them. Also, make sure that you keep the volume of the white noise generators slightly below the tinnitus. They must not mask or cover up the tinnitus otherwise your brain will not learn to habituate to the tinnitus.

The best way to desensitize your auditory system and treat your tinnitus and hyperacusis is to learn to wear white noise generators. This is the best treatment, nothing else comes close.
I wish you well.
Michael

 

I don't want to be negative but some t and h are not bearable....
Each brain reacts different. My hyperacusis is so bad that i can'tbear just normal voices or sounds

 

To be honest those clinic won't help and will ask you loads of money. You'll get better advice on this board.

 

@MJv
My tinnitus used to be very severe and my hyperacusis was so bad when people spoke to me my ears hurt. My hyperacusis was completely cured using white noise generators for two years as part of TRT and my tinnitus reduced to a very low level. That was 20 years ago. My hyperacusis is still completely cured.
You have asked for advice for the best treatment, well I am telling you the best treatment. It is up to you now. Please do not listen to the advice that @VRZ78 is telling you, he has no experience of loud intrusive tinnitus or hyperacusis and has never tried TRT. Tinnitus forums can help but they can only do so much. If you want your hyperacusis to improve and your tinnitus, please follow my advice becasue I know what I'm talking about having had this condition for 20 years. I am not saying that I know everything about tinnitus but when it is caused by loud noise exposure I have some knowledge of it and when using white noise generators to treat tinnitus and hyperacusis.
I will not be commenting on this subject further.
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh
Thank you for your advice. But like I said before every brain is different and reacts different to treatments.
I am glad to read that it worked out for you. But for me it didn't work.
Gaby Olthuis also tried so many things and nothing helped here... It's sad but true.
You know, I can't even sleep taking 3x Zopiclon 7,5 mg.

 

Thank you for your kind comments @MJv and I wish you well. I do not want to stress you out any further but advise you to seek the help of a good Hearing Therapist or Audiologist who is trained in Tinnitus managment, after it is confirmed that there is no underlying medical condtion causing your tinnitus.
Take care
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh
How bad was your tinnitus? Multiple sounds and how loud?

 

@MJv
My tinnitus and hyperacusis were very severe. Multiple sounds and was so bad I was medically retired from my job. My tinnitus reduced to a low level and as I said, my hyperacusis was completely cured and remains that way. In 2008 I suffered a second noise trauma and I had a second course of TRT that lasted until 2010. There was improvement but not as well as the first time. It was then after 2 years or TRT that I started to get depressed as I wasn't making any more impovement. My tinnitus has very large fluctuations in severity. From silent, to mild, moderate, severe and extremely severe. I asked my Consultant, who is an Audiovestibular physician, to please be candid about my my condition.

She said in all the years that she has been treating tinnitus patients, I was the second worst person that she had ever treated. I asked her to be candid and she was. I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole. However, she said: " I will never give up on treating you". Her words meant so much and she stuck by her promise. It took 4 years to habituate for the 2nd time.

My tinnitus still ranges from: Silent, mild, moderate and severe. However, it no longer reaches extreme severe levels that were so bad I felt I was going out of my mind. So I have a strong freeling what you are experiencing, believe me I been to hell and back.

Michael

 

@Michael Leigh
Well, my t is insane! Extreme level whole day, this is no life.
I am glad you got the right help. And that your brain/ears reacted properly.
I am very desperated
My h is so bad that even taking a shower is horrible because of the sounds of the water

 

From the way you describe your sensitivity to sound and hyperacusis, in most cases this is caused by sound. You said that it has got worse since March 2015? Have you been listening to music through headphones or attending places where loud music is played? I asked this to try and see what has caused your tinnitus to get worse.

 

It got worse since March 2016. I think because of stress and loud noises.
But still it doesn't matter what the cause is, because there is no 'cure'

 

@MJv
A person that is seasoned to tinnitus. By this I mean someone who has had the condition for a number of years preferably a veteran, will tell you the way forward is to learn to adopt a positive approach to life and tinnitus. This takes time and isn't achieved overnight. That is why I gave you the link to my article: Tinnitus, A Personal View. If you have a printer, I advise you to print the document within it tittled: Positivity and Tinnitus, and refer to it often. It would also be a good idea to print some of the positivity messages from the posivity thread in this forum from other members.

Read these positvity messages often especially when you might not be feeling your best. They will act as a form of therapy, counselling. Over time the positivity message will gradually sink into your subconcious. Life will become easier and less problematic. Negative thinking will not take a hold so much. If you just read them on a computer screen once, the message is soon forgotten. It is for this reason tinnitus counselling requires many sessions of talk therapy with someone trained in tinnitus management. It is not unsual to find, many Hearing therapists and Audiologists who practice tinntius management also have tinnitus. This is why they have a greater understanding of tinnitus and are able to empathise with tinnitus patients when most ENT doctors can't. ENT doctors are physicians they are not tinnitus professionals or experts. They treat the ear and audiotory system, medically or surgically.

When there is no underlying medical problem causing the tinnitus they usually recommend a tinnitus patient to be referred to a Hearing Therapist or Audiologist who's trained in Tinnitus management.

Michael

 

Did you had multiple sounds?
I have 6 dif sounds in head and both ears

 

I had multiple sounds very similar to what you describe but with treatment this improved and I no longer experience multiple sounds.
I can't offer you any more advice than what I have given. I therefore wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do. Please exuse me as I have to leave for a while.
All the best
Michael

 

@Michael Leigh
Thank you for your replies. Very kind of you, regards

 

At the other hand, if it was so easy to get rid off t and h with trt, why doesn't it work for everybody???

 

With respect @MJv you have to try and deal with your negative thinking that the tinnitus and hyperacusis has put upon you. This is common when these conditions are severe and that is where counselling will help. No treatment works for everyone and this is especially true for TRT or CBT. These treatments are not cures. They help to lower the perception of the tinnitus. However, if a person allows negative thinking about tinnitus and hyperacusis to take hold, their progress and the ability to habituate will be slow or not happen at all.

Take care
Michael

 

I understand what you say.... But each person is unique and has different brain.
Like two months ago i got two new sounds in my both ears, without reason. How is that possible?

 

There are several 'clinics' in Holland and Belgium that offer some form of (or certified, if that exists) TRT for hyperacusis patients. Off the top of my head, i remember Insentis in Turnhout, Sint-Lievenspoort in Gent and Adelante in Hoensbroek. You may also wanna get in touch with people from the tinnitus and hyperacusis forum in Holland: https://forum.nvvs.nl/forum/tinnitus/
At this point, you have nothing to lose.
best of luck!

 

When I listen to music, should I use earphones or headphones? Or none of them?
May I will visit my audiologist again,,so he can check my ears again