If you are suffering from tinnitus, you must have already heard about tinnitus retraining as it is one of the most common forms of tinnitus treatment. This treatment method deals with the condition through mindset training to sidetrack the patient’s attention so he or she would not focus on the annoying tinnitus sounds. This method of treatment is based on the concept that humans form their habits through their perception.
Tinnitus retraining follows the basic concept of eliminating the adverse perceptions about the tinnitus condition in the sufferer’s mind by helping him/her become aware of what’s causing his/her condition. Through the treatment’s counseling sessions, the sufferer will be taught of different methods to lessen his/her focus on his or her present condition.
Tinnitus retraining has three main objectives. One is to diminish the patient’s worry and fear of something that is non-existent. Second is to make him/her understand that recovery is possible. Third is to teach him/her different ways to acquire hearing loss treatment in case tinnitus leads to loss of hearing.
The tinnitus retraining therapist achieves the above-mentioned objectives by asking the patient to undergo sound and counseling therapy which aims to divert his/her attention to other external sounds instead of focusing on the tinnitus sounds such as hissing, buzzing, or ringing sounds in the ears. Proponents of this tinnitus treatment method based this concept on the ability of the brain to learn, relearn, and ignore whatever the mind perceived as irrelevant.
Here’s how the tinnitus retraining is performed:
1. The Initial Session of TRT
This session involves getting the historical facts of the patient and relating these facts to possible causes that may have caused tinnitus. It also involves knowing the extent or severity of the patient’s hearing impairment including his tolerance to intrusive sounds. During this session, the doctor evaluates the medical records of the sufferer to make sure that his tinnitus condition is not in any way related to any undetected health problem such as anemia, hypertension, or Mernier’s disease caused by foreign objects being blocked or lodged in the sufferer’s ear canals. This is also the session wherein the doctor checks if tinnitus retraining is indeed the right treatment for the sufferer’s condition.
2. Fitting of the Tinnitus Masker
The second session involves asking the patient to choose the type of masker to use for his white noise, which is one important part of this treatment method. There are two basic forms of tinnitus masker: an earphone-like device or a desktop device. Additionally, the type of white noise that will be produced will first be asked from the patient as this depends mainly on the patient’s preference.
3. Post Treatment Analysis of TRT
This session involves evaluating the effects of this treatment method to determine how the patient has progressed in his ability to redirect his/her attention away from the tinnitus sounds with or without a tinnitus masker. One important part of the tinnitus retraining is to get rid of the patient’s stress mainly because stress triggers the symptoms of tinnitus. During this final session, any negative effect in the condition will be replaced with other possible prospects for manageability or recovery from the tinnitus syndrome.
If you’re looking for more information on tinnitus retraining, then visit Barbara Thomson’s blog. To find out which tinnitus treatment is the best fit for you, visit the Top Rated Tinnitus Solutions.