Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

@AMe, your friend is under a lot of stress at the moment and this is quite understandable.

Although you have mentioned your friend has been suffering with hyperacusis for a couple of months, I will also assume this person is experiencing tinnitus. Both these conditions can make a person feel they are riding an emotional roller coaster. What usually happens for a lot of people in the early stages of hyperacusis and tinnitus, is that their emotions will settle down with time. Many people naturally habituate within the first 6 months to one year without any treatment at all for noise-induced tinnitus.

I advise your friend to talk to with his/her family doctor who is likely to recommend medication to help with lowering the stress so it becomes more manageable, this will also have a beneficial effect on the hyperacusis. As already mentioned, hyperacusis often improves with time but one can also use low-level sound enrichment to treat it as explained in my post: Hyperacusis, As I See It.

One of the worst things for your friend to do in these early stages of tinnitus and hyperacusis and in a heightened state of stress, is go online looking for CBT counselling as it's unlikely to yield any positive results. The person they will be dealing with does not have a full background of their medical history. Treating hyperacusis and tinnitus is not a quick fix. It is patience that is required; not haste. This is the reason most ENT doctors advise tinnitus and hyperacusis patients in the early stages to wait and allow things to settle down by themselves before medical intervention, as long as the person isn't experiencing dizziness, deafness, balance problems or anything else untoward within the auditory system that is causing the tinnitus and hyperacusis.

If the tinnitus is noise-induced, which is often the case, leaving things alone for a while is the best treatment as explained in my post: New to Tinnitus, What to Do? It is often recommend a period of four, preferably six months should elapse before starting long-term treatments such as CBT or TRT.

Please advise your friend to talk to their GP (family doctor) who will probably advise a referral to ENT. This is the right and proper thing to do in the early stages. Seek medical treatment in-house before going online and consulting with people that do not have full knowledge of your medical history.

Please print the articles that I have recommended in my previous posts and the two I am going to mention below and give to your friend to read. They are a form of counselling and will help alleviate some of the stress they are going through, by understanding tinnitus and hyperacusis better and the way they can affect a person's mental and emotional well-being. This coupled with medication (if required) by their doctor is all that is needed at this time.

Tinnitus and the Negative Mindset, Acquiring a Positive Mindset.

All the best and take care,
Michael

 

I think CBT may help most folks and TRT may help non-hyperacusis or mild hyperacusis like @AnthonyMcDonald said. I think @Michael Leigh needs to not take everything as a personal attack to his advice. Tinnitus is a huge YMMV disease. There is no one-size-fits-all approach due to too many variables. All we can do is find common triggers and give our two cents to maybe help another.

I tried hearing aids for my right ear hearing loss. The amplification kept spiking me due to my hyperacusis.

It’s ok to have negative feedback, no need to shut down lol.

 

On the contrary @Wrfortiscue, I do not take what @AfroSnowman has said as a personal attack. Although he did not address me personally, I would have preferred he didn't alert me by quoting my post. He is entitled to his opinion and should have addressed @AMe directly. This is the polite and respectful way to do things.

By the way, you are the last person I would have thought to recommend CBT since you perceive it as placebo. I read the post where you clicked "Like" when someone referred to CBT as placebo. I gather you're going to be starting the treatment and wearing white noise generators soon. Therefore, from the outset you have instilled negative thinking and have little chance of having any success with it, unless you change your attitude.

Michael

 

Yes, Michael, spoken like one of those insufferably hectoring schoolmasters in a Charles Dickens novel.

If you are so galled by our tiresome ineptitude insofar as absolutely following in all of its minutiae every aspect of your instructions, then why don't you just dismiss us and get off this Forum?

 

I like a lot of things, I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion. I’m doing CBT, not sure about TRT yet because of my hyperacusis. I clearly mention how acceptance and positive thinking has been helping me. I constantly distract...

I do believe in protecting more so than not now. For a while I was driving and shopping without any protection because the external noise would help mask my tinnitus on good days. I learned it was causing spike after spike days later so I stopped that. I can’t just “will” or force my way with it.

I just accept the noise when I plug up. Focus on my daily duties and just try to move on.

Hope you’re doing ok.

 

It's funny you mention Dickens, Dave. There was another member on here a while ago (not @Michael Leigh I have to say) whose words and presence had begun to remind me of an unwritten character from a Charles Dickens novel, like, oh I dunno... Miss Haversham's stepmother or someone lol.

Anyhow, perhaps you and Michael should settle your differences in a good old-fashioned duel at dawn with pistols

 

Indeed, you do like to tick that "like" button and ending your sentences with lol. I guess we all have our little eccentricities, no harm done.

Learning to be positive takes time and should not be forced. If you need to protect then do so. The key is not to give up and carry on at your own pace.

You seem to be on the right track, so carry on with what you're doing and I wish you well.

Take care,
Michael

 

It is quite unfortunate that you are incapable of recognizing that Michael Leigh is an expert to the degree that Dr. Pepper is a real Doctor.

 

I wonder if Michael should start a YouTube channel together with Julian Cowan Hill, Liam Stops Tinnitus and Joey Remenyi (with disabled comments and ratings of course).

 

There is merit to some of the stuff all these people say. It’s just not the be all end all treatment for everyone. As long as everyone is honest I think we can take them more seriously.

Like “this may work for some but not all”. That’s it.

 

It's not a stretch considering they all make an appearance on Dr. Ben Thompson's channel.

 

Agreed, these treatments will help some people learn to cope and adapt to the psychological, emotional, and systemic stress burdens that tinnitus often causes. For others it probably won't do much good. We really don't have any great treatment options, but improving our holistic response to the tinnitus can improve quality of life.

There is nothing magical about any of these 'treatments' and though it likely improves our response if we truly believe in them, ultimately we are better served as a community being honest with ourselves and others about what these 'treatments' are and aren't.

 

Interesting tidbit to share with you all. Back in 2018, prior to taking part in any online forums, I went to a local healthcare hospital for a tinnitus clinic that focused on TRT.

I was charged $100 for this "privilege" because we all know nothing is offered under medical that we already pay taxes for.

The class was just stuff I had already found online and links to snake oil audiology clinics.

2 weeks ago I decided to file a complaint as written below;

"In 2018, I took part in the tinnitus information clinic at St Paul's hospital. I was charged $100 to attend this session which was given by Lisa Bell.

I feel like I was taken advantage of due to being desperate for help which is scarce for this affliction. The letter offered prior made it out like Tinnitus Retraining Therapy was offered but was only a presentation mostly with what I had already found researching the internet. Link to expensive clinics that offer TRT which is far from guaranteed that it will actually help.

On top of that, she sent an assessment to my GP without conducting any tests.

I was told I would be sent correspondence with options from time to time. I have yet to receive anything. I trusted you due to this being offered by an official health authority. I feel like I simply got scammed. Shame on you!"​

I then received a call from the audiology dept.

They offered me to meet with one of their more experienced audiologists for some counselling for $180 for 90 minutes.

I was willing to give it a shot since I have coverage under my wife's plan.

I explained that if it was the same snake oil BS I will most likely not last past one session.

Sure enough I received this response this morning:

"Good Morning.

Thanks again for bringing your concerns to our attention.

I understand that you received a call from the head of our Audiology program, Mr. Lee who discussed your concerns and possible ways to cope with Tinnitus. Mr. Lee shared that he had suggested it might be beneficial for you to meet with another Audiologist in the program to provide information about available resources. The Audiology team and their manager met to discuss your case and they are not sure that there is more that they can offer you than what you have already explored. For this reason they would like to reimburse you the cost of the session ($100.)

On Monday I will ask our administrative assistant to send you a document to sign and then I will request the money be sent.

I wish you all the best with your health issues and hope you have a pleasant weekend."​

Hey, I'm just a white flag waver...

 

Thanks ever so much for this revealing report.

What fascinates me is their decision to so readily reimburse you.

Am I to interpret the following comment as an admission regarding the valuelessness of TRT:

"The Audiology team and their manager met to discuss your case and they are not sure that there is more that they can offer you than what you have already explored."​

After all, I am surprised that they they did not say that since their original presentation offered links to obtaining TRT, they had fulfilled their obligation to provide you with a legitimate service.

How many decades old is TRT? Has it finally gone the way of so many other disregarded talking therapies? Are they admitting that TRT cannot actually do anything more for you than you can do for yourself?

As I mentioned previously, even if you wanted it in the third largest city in the USA, it is offered nowhere near me.

Is their (actually quite reasonable) agreement to reimburse you an indication that finally, they too regard it as obsolete and inutile as a Black/ White TV set?

The obdurate fact is that, for what TRT provides I would have to be a flat-out fool to fork over the uninsured, out-of-pocket $6,000.00 (or more) amount for this.

 

What this shows me is how truly screwed we are. The fact they surrendered & offered the refund so quickly is quite telling. I am going for an appointment to possibly trial Phonak hearing aids. At least with those clinics, unlike the ones linked, don't charge you $300 for a tinnitus "assessment." If the hearing aids do not help you within 60 days, you get fully refunded. Nothing out of pocket.