tinnitus - it can get better

What might be required for one person, may not work for someone else.

There is a sliding scale of what we need to do, depending on how distressing Tinnitus is to an individual, however it is important to note, despite popular belief, that Tinnitus is not a progressive condition, it is not inevitably going to get worse over time.

People often say “there is no cure for Tinnitus is there?” and so approach our conversations with uncertainty and caution. The truth is, for some people, depending on how we feel Tinnitus has come about, Tinnitus can leave as suddenly as it has arrived (for example, in cases of impacted earwax or congestion), and for others, it may be around for a long time, but there is always hope of improvement in how we hear/feel about it. It is wrong to say that nothing can be done.

There is positive trajectory to work towards which may involve, depending on why we think you have Tinnitus and how severely it is affecting you, a combination of sound enrichment (either using relaxing sounds or hearing devices), behavioural therapy to adjust how we think and in turn feel about Tinnitus, mindfulness, relaxation therapy, sometimes physiotherapy, getting our overall health looked at, and for others, we may need to look at further psychological interventions.

No matter the severity, with the right combination of therapies, we can absolutely work towards a point of habituation (where you don’t notice it as much, like the glasses on your face or the ring on your finger). It may take up to 18 months for the brain to realise Tinnitus is not an important or threatening sound so that you can ignore it – in the same way as how people can live next to busy roads and not notice the traffic noise anymore. As long as you are motivated and committed to therapy, we will get there.