How To Treat Your Tinnitus with Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Tinnitus is the ringing in your ears that some people experience. It is commonly referred to as a ringing or buzzing sound and can be incredibly frustrating. If you have tinnitus, you may find it gets louder at night when you’re lying in bed. You may also find it worsens with loud noises and when you’re stressed. As if having tinnitus wasn’t bad enough!
Thankfully, there are many things you can do to help reduce your symptoms and retrain your brain so it no longer perceives that annoying noise as a threat. Coates Hearing Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) is a method used to treat persistent or recurrent tinnitus by exposing the patient to their tinnitus sound while using cognitive behavioral techniques such as relaxation training and stimulus control training.
What is Tinnitus Retraining Therapy?
Tinnitus retraining therapy, or TRT, is a method used to treat persistent or recurrent tinnitus by exposing the patient to their tinnitus sound while using cognitive behavioral techniques such as relaxation training and stimulus control training. TRT was originally developed to treat people who are dealing with hyperacusis (increased sensitivity to sounds). Hyperacusis can be a symptom of tinnitus and is defined as an abnormal sensitivity to everyday sounds such as background noise, music, and people talking. The TRT protocol was then adapted for use in people with tinnitus in order to retrain the brain so that it no longer hears the noise as a threat.
Types of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
- Cognitive Behavior Therapy
- Relaxation Therapy
- Habituation Therapy
- Masking Therapy
- Device Therapy
How to treat tinnitus with TRT
Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Successful tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) relies heavily on cognitive behavior therapy. CBT involves exposing your brain to the sounds that it is perceiving as tinnitus using positive rather than negative thoughts. Because your brain is wired to react negatively to tinnitus, it has learned to perceive the noise as a threat. Therefore, CBT trains your brain to rewire itself to perceive the sound as normal sounds while using positive affirmations such as “this sound is not dangerous, I can ignore it” and “this sound is just a sound, it has no meaning”.
Tips for TRT success
- Tranquilize your brain: Stress is one of the main reasons your brain has learned to associate certain sounds with danger. It’s important to stay away from books, music, and social media while following the TRT protocol so that your brain has nothing to associate with the annoying sound.
- Keep a positive attitude: Try to keep a positive attitude while undergoing TRT so that your brain doesn’t associate that attitude with the noise. If you start to feel frustrated or annoyed by the noise, just try to focus on the positive aspects of life and your overall health.
- Get used to the noise: It’s important to get used to the noise that you hear during TRT in order to desensitize yourself from it. You need to retrain your brain to associate the annoying sound with the normal sounds of your daily life. This is done by humming, whistling, or cranking up your favorite song.
- Stick to a routine: The more you stick to a routine while TRT, the better you’ll feel. Try to get up at the same time each day, go to bed at the same time each night, eat your meals at the same time each day, and do the same activities each day. This will help to normalize your brain’s routine and desensitize yourself from the noise.
- Try to take a break every hour: Your brain will learn to associate the sound with the normal sounds if you keep it on all the time. Therefore, it’s important to take breaks every hour or so so that your brain doesn’t associate the noise with the normal sounds of your life.
TRT should not be used for all tinnitus sufferers
There is no one-size-fits-all treatment for tinnitus. While some people find TRT helpful, others experience better results from cognitive behavioral therapy or sound therapy. It’s important to find the treatment that works best for you. If TRT doesn’t work for you, try another treatment. TRT is a very effective treatment for some people, but if it’s not right for you, it won’t help. Don’t let the promise of a quick fix get in the way of finding a treatment that actually works.
Conclusion
Tinnitus is not just a sound in your ears, it is a perception in your mind. You can retrain this perception to help you cope better with tinnitus. Tinnitus retraining therapy is a method used to retrain the brain to cope better with tinnitus. There are many different types of therapy to retrain the brain to cope with tinnitus, and some are more effective than others. TRT should not be used for all tinnitus sufferers because it is not for everyone. TRT is a very effective treatment for some people, but it is not for everyone. You need to find the therapy that works best for you. This therapy can help you reduce the amount of tinnitus you experience, and it can help you learn to cope better with the noise that you do hear.