Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Help Tinnitus?

Tinnitus occurs when people experience a ringing noise in their ears, but there isn’t a knowable cause. Some people’s experiences sound like humming or hissing.In contrast,s others might hear musical notes or experience the hiss of air or the sound of water in a sea shell.

Tinnitus can be very frustrating to live with and challenging to diagnose. Each person experiences tinnitus differently. The constant sound in your ears can be emotionally straining because it is often persistent and distracting. Since we don’t fully understand how tinnitus works, it can be a challenge to address the problem.

There is no cure for tinnitus, but therapy is available to help reduce your adverse reactions when you experience tinnitus.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Tinnitus

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helps you acknowledge your reaction to tinnitus. It doesn’t stop the auditory perception as much as it helps reduce your negative response to tinnitus. It helps train your brain to ignore the distracting sounds and is an effective way to treat tinnitus.

CBT for tinnitus helps reduce stress and the debilitating focus of hearing a noise in your head, but doesn’t change the condition or how people experience the sounds in their ears.

It helps you create positive and realistic social responses about your situation because CBT focuses on training you to rethink what you are hearing and provides you with relaxation technques, and meditation training to help you change your perspective. It provides you with ways to acknowledge what you hear more positively.

Cognitive Behavior Training can be especially practical when combined with other therapies like sound training, lifestyle changes, and hearing aids. The combination of treatments is called “Tinnitus Retraining Therapy.”

Tinnitus Retraining Therapy

Often, we think of our thoughts as truthful statements. This is not an accurate way of thinking. It is a matter of perspective. Just like people can learn to be more positive about life, learning how to stop your negative thoughts about tinnitus can help you reframe the negative thought process that you experience with tinnitus.

Through Tinnitus Retraining Therapy you work with specialists that will help you learn the exact skills you need to improve your quality of life. This often includes therapy sessions and individual homework. So your thinking becomes a habit.

How Effective is CBT Training and Tinnitus Retraining Therapy on Tinnitus

Although cognitive behavior therapy was originally developed to treat psychological conditions like depression and anxiety, it has also been found effective for tinnitus. It can’t cure tinnitus. However, an intense treatment plan like Tinnitus Retraining Therapy can help.

If you feel you might be experiencing symptoms of tinnitus, make an appointment today to see your audiologist. They are the specialists that will listen to your concerns, provide you with hearing tests and help you devise a Tinnitus Retraining Therapy plan to reduce your tinnitus symptoms.

Hearing Associates of Las Vegas will help you with all of your tinnitus concerns. We have developed Tinnitus Retraining Therapy that combines Cognitive Behavior Therapy with sound therapy, hearing aides, and professional counseling.

Research has shown that using a combination of therapies is more effective than attempting to solve the problem of tinnitus by one method alone. Your audiologist will work with you to devise a personalized plan and work with you to ensure you get the highest quality of life possible if you struggle with tinnitus.

Your personalized plan may include a combination of the following treatments:

• Sound Therapy – uses background noise to help train the brain to pay less attention to noise that isn’t relevant.
• Cognitive behavior training retrains the negative thoughts you experience with tinnitus.
• Hearing Aids can help disguise the sounds you are experiencing with tinnitus.
• Tinnitus inhibitors emit an ultrasonic sound for one minute, which can help reduce tinnitus for a day or longer.
• Counseling to help you understand your situation and provide you with coping strategies.
• Lifestyle Changes to help you live a healthier life through increased fitness and eating better.

Our program has proven to be effective with many patients. However, the effectiveness of the program varies from patient to patient. Our program informs patients and helps them understand how they are experiencing tinnitus. We work with our patients to help them control and manage their symptoms, reteach their brain response to tinnitus symptoms, and help them live more active lives.

We individualize each treatment plan with a focus on helping you improve your overall life!

While there is no known cure for tinnitus, we can help create a plan to help your brain learn to ignore and cope with the sounds you are experiencing. Hearing Associates of Las Vegas wants to hear from you today!