Tinnitus is frustrating for many reasons. First, it’s a very subjective condition. You can’t show another person what the ringing sounds like, how loud it sounds, or how bothersome the tinnitus is at any particular moment.
Second, there isn’t an accurate, objective way to measure tinnitus. Unfortunately, you can’t go into your doctor’s office, get some blood drawn, and get diagnosed with the condition.
Third, we still don’t have a complete understanding of how exactly tinnitus works. Therefore, our knowledge of the causes and possible treatment options remain limited.
However, don’t lose hope. While we can’t stop your tinnitus, there are ways that we can help control it. Through Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, we can help you manage your tinnitus and get back on track towards healthy hearing.
Aspects of Tinnitus
Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no external sound source is present. However, it’s essential to look at the two different parts of tinnitus: the actual sound and your emotional reaction to the sound.
The actual sound is usually perceived as a ringing sound but can also be perceived as buzzing, hissing, whistling, swooshing, or clicking sounds.
The emotional reaction is the perception of the loudness and character of the sound and its disruption to everyday life.
The most effective treatment of tinnitus requires addressing both parts, which is the method behind Tinnitus Retraining Therapy.
Typically, a combination of specialized machinery, psychological therapeutic techniques, and repeated training sessions are all used in conjunction to help treat patients.
Our team at both sites of our Hearing Associates of Las Vegas clinics are experienced in Tinnitus Retraining Therapy, using a combination of sound therapy, hearing aids, in-person counseling, and a one-of-a-kind relief studio to treat those with Tinnitus. With locations in Summerlin and Henderson, we can help you treat your Tinnitus right away.
Sound Therapy
Sound therapy uses an external sound to distract your brain from the internal sound of tinnitus you may be hearing. This helps to lessen the constant annoyance of tinnitus on several levels and can prove to be a quick and reliable treatment method.
First, the new external sound can partially or entirely cover the tinnitus sounds. By doing so, it can divert the patient’s attention while the sound is being played. This will usually provide immediate relief for those affected with tinnitus.
Second, and perhaps most importantly, sound therapy works to help your brain habituate to the sound of your tinnitus. When the brain is trained to reclassify the tinnitus, it sounds like unimportant background noise that should be ignored. Over time, your brain will learn to filter it out.
Third, the use of specialized sound minimizes the hyperactivity in the brain, thought to be the underlying mechanism of tinnitus. This is called “neuromodulation.”
Therefore, sound therapy has both short-term and long-term benefits and works on multiple levels to mitigate the severity of symptoms. Sound therapy can be delivered through special sound masking devices, headphones, and even hearing aids.
While any sound can theoretically provide the masking effect, specialized medical-grade devices deliver customized sounds or music programmed to match the characteristics of the patient’s tinnitus. Your hearing care professional can help you select a suitable device and sound.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
In addition to sound therapy, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy also employs behavioral therapies that help with tinnitus’ emotional component. This is often an essential part of therapy, as tinnitus can trigger strong emotional reactions like anxiety, depression, and anger.
Utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you can learn ways to handle your anxiety, which can significantly help lessen the effects of tinnitus.
We work with different Psychologists that are trained in Cognitive Behavioral therapy and will refer to them when needed to help through this process. CBT can be delivered one-on-one, in groups, from a clinic, over the phone, or via the internet from the patient’s home. This therapy includes education, identifying tinnitus triggers, instituting healthy lifestyle choices to mitigate symptoms, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are often incorporated as part of sound therapy, playing music and other background noise at will if you suffer from periodic tinnitus episodes. However, hearing aids can be used to help treat those who suffer from tinnitus in other ways as well.
Some patients have tinnitus episodes induced by hearing certain sounds. Hearing aids disguise those sounds by picking up other sounds in the background and using them as white noise. The comfort of wearing a hearing aid can also help rewire your brain, which will reduce the intensity and frequency of episodes over time.
As a result, many hearing aid manufacturers now specifically design their hearing aids with Tinnitus Retraining Therapy programs in mind.
Tinnitus Inhibitors
While they are only effective for about 70% of our patients who try them, we also have several tinnitus maskers and inhibitors that significantly reduce the adverse effects of tinnitus. By emitting a short one-minute ultrasonic frequency, many patients find their tinnitus reduced entirely relieved for a few hours or even a few days before needing to be used again.
Approved by the FDA, we would be happy to assist you in trying out a tinnitus inhibitor and seeing if it will help you find relief.
Physical Treatment Plans
While tinnitus is primarily a problem associated with your hearing and neurological system, the rest of your body can exacerbate or soften the severity of tinnitus. This is why we make recommendations to help you make healthy changes to your lifestyle. We help you find things that make your tinnitus worse and introduce ways to better your hearing.
We’re happy to help you figure out what changes to make to your exercise, diet, medication, and other physical habits that will help the rest of your body handle tinnitus more effectively.
Tinnitus Counseling
Specific sounds and physical ailments are major contributing causes to those who suffer from tinnitus, but just as common are emotional and psychological factors. Because of tinnitus’s negative impact on patients, it can also create new trauma or aggravate pre-existing trauma, which will worsen over time.
Tinnitus counseling, which consists of helping you understand your situation and finding coping strategies to help you deal with your tinnitus, is a significant aspect of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. Counseling is only as effective as the counselor you’re working with, which is why we make sure our team is knowledgeable, friendly, and readily available to answer your concerns and questions you have about your condition.
Tinnitus Relief Studio
Unlike many typical hearing clinics throughout the country, we have a unique, one-of-a-kind Tinnitus Relief Studio at our Las Vegas – Summerlin location. The studio features a range of equipment and design functions specifically in place to reduce the pain, discomfort, and ringing that comes with an intensive tinnitus cycle. This includes soft lighting, a premium massage chair, therapeutic music, and more. We invite you to learn more about our Tinnitus Relief Studio by clicking on this link.
Book an Appointment to Start Your Tinnitus Retraining Therapy Today
Over a dozen globally recognized organizations and scholars have proven Tinnitus Retraining Therapy to be an effective treatment program for tinnitus. However, for Tinnitus Retraining Therapy to reduce the effects of tinnitus, patients need to participate in at least 12 to 24 months of TRT.
As a result, the longer you wait to begin treatment, the farther out it will be before you start to see significant reductions in the discomfort that comes from your condition.
How Effective Is Tinnitus Retraining Therapy?
While the overall effectiveness of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy varies from patient to patient, it has so far proven to be a very effective means of treating those who suffer from Tinnitus. Multiple medical studies have demonstrated that between 75% to 85% of patients see dramatic improvements to their condition after undergoing Tinnitus Retraining Therapy programs.
These studies include those done by the National Insite of Health, Emory University, the International Tinnitus Journal, the American Ear and Hearing Association, the American Tinnitus Association, and several other major universities and organizations.
From our own experience, we have seen great success in treating patients by using Tinnitus Retraining Therapy techniques. Our program has helped thousands of patients understand how they experience tinnitus, control and manage their symptoms, retrain their brain to lessen the severity of their symptoms, and understand their tinnitus to live more fulfilling lives.
The specific treatment plan varies significantly from person to person, which is why we invite you to book an appointment to discuss the best treatment plan according to your symptoms.
While there is no known cure for tinnitus, you can mitigate the symptoms with the right plan and perseverance. As your tinnitus is masked and the brain becomes trained to ignore it, you’ll cope better with the sounds and improve your quality of life.
So don’t delay. With two locations in the Las Vegas area, Hearing Associates of Las Vegas is here to help. By clicking on this link, you can fill out a contact form discussing your Tinnitus symptoms and set up an appointment for an in-person or over-the-phone consultation. We’ll be happy to not only help you begin a Tinnitus Retraining Therapy program but to address all of your other hearing concerns and needs as well.
info@hearingassociateslv.com
