Figuring out the cause of your symptoms is an important step in any treatment process. If your allergies are caused by your pet, you can get allergy shots; if chronic sinus infections are caused by nasal polyps, they can be removed; what happens when your Simi Valley audiologist cannot identify the cause of your tinnitus?
Tinnitus Causes & Treatment
It turns out, many individuals suffering from tinnitus never find out the cause of their symptoms. This just means your doctor will have to put together a tinnitus management plan that focuses on teaching you how to tune out the ringing, buzzing, roaring, clicking or hissing you are hearing.
One of the most popular forms of tinnitus treatment is tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT). This form of tinnitus therapy centers around counseling, which helps you understand your condition and how you can use retraining techniques and sound enrichment to change the way you react to and perceive your tinnitus.
Once your Simi Valley audiologist has conducted the required hearing tests and determined that retraining therapy is the best option for you, your first counseling appointment will be scheduled. Throughout this process you will be required to visit your Audiologist’s office regularly. While the duration of TRT differs from patient to patient, the counseling is consistently effective for tinnitus patients and is proven to work well for both short-term and long-term treatment.
Tinnitus Therapy
Tinnitus retraining therapy consists of three distinct parts.
- Counseling sessions. At these meetings with your audiologist, you will learn more about what tinnitus is and how your perception of it affects the way you react to sounds. Through counseling and education, your reactions to tinnitus will be altered, making you less and less aware of your symptoms.
- Sound enrichment. This must be used 24-hours a day to mask your tinnitus. An important part of any tinnitus treatment is avoiding silence. This portion of TRT involves choosing the new background sounds of your life. You will then learn how to incorporate these new sounds into every moment of your day. Since this is not the easiest task, it is important to work with your knowledgeable and experienced Simi Valley audiologists while they guide you through the process.
- Retraining exercises. You will learn a series of exercises that have been developed to reduce your reaction to your tinnitus, decrease your awareness of the sounds and help eliminate any feelings of annoyance associated with tinnitus. Your audiologist will walk you through each exercise and will help you implement them into your life.
Don’t wait any longer before seeking help for your tinnitus. Contact your audiologist today.