Tinnitus Retraining Therapy - Success Rate and an Effective Alternative
By: John Cielo
Submitted: 2010-07-07 02:26:05 | Word Count: 489
Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is only one of many treatment options for the horrible symptoms of tinnitus. Here, you'll discover what it is, how successful it can be, and a just as effective alternative that you can carry out at home.
As well as retraining therapy, there are other therapies like bio-feedback, electrical stimulation, hypnotherapy, etc., and technical solutions such as hearing aids, tinnitus maskers and white sound. In addition, you have things like yoga, acupuncture, herbal and homeopathic remedies, etc.
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On the medical side, there are drug-based treatments using drugs like antidepressants, antihistamines and anti-convulsants, etc., but these can have pretty horrible side effects, so that you're best to stay away from them if you can. And there is surgery, but this is very rarely used, and then only as a last resort.
So what is tinnitus retraining therapy? It was developed by Professor Pawel J. Jastreboff in the 1980s who looked at a cure for tinnitus from the point of view that if there were no clear evidence of an underlying condition causing the noises you hear, then it would be possible to 'retrain' your brain to stop hearing those sounds inside your ears.
How it works can be technically challenging to describe, but the following is a pretty good explanation for the layperson I think...
Tinnitus retraining therapy consists of one-on-one interactive counseling, where the sufferer gets to know and understand the mechanisms of tinnitus (demystifying), plus, exposure to external low-level broadband sound to help 'retrain' the brain into not hearing the sounds of tinnitus, in relation to the external sounds of everyday life.
In terms of the tinnitus retraining therapy success rate, one fairly recent study indicated 64% - 84% effectiveness. And other studies around the world point to around 80% success rates. What does seem clear is that it can be a very potent therapy.
Perhaps a couple of the downsides are that it can be a long drawn-out process, so that it can be expensive, and the patient has to be very determined indeed to succeed, and be prepared for the long haul. Not everyone can do that, either financially or emotionally.
Alternatively, you could try out an already proven home-based remedy with a similar success rate of 80%. This system uses eleven unique techniques that you carry out at home or work, in a few minutes each day. All of the techniques have been proven during 2 years of research, testing and development, and, are being successfully used around the world today.
