Hypnosis for Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a condition where you perceive noises, such as ringing, buzzing, clicking, humming or whistling, in your ears or head in the absence of an external source. The National Study For Hearing has estimated that 5% of adults have tinnitus that causes moderate to severe annoyance. It also estimates that 1% of adults have tinnitus that has a severe effect on their quality of life and that 0.5% of adults have the condition to such a degree that it severely affects their ability to lead a normal life. Both men and women get tinnitus, and it can occur at any age.

The causes of tinnitus are not fully understood. However, it's thought that the sounds may be the result of damage to the microscopic nerve cells found in the cochlea in the inner ear. Other possible causes are Menière's disease (a long-term progressive condition of the inner ear that causes problems with balance and has tinnitus as one of its symptoms), high blood pressure, stress, loud noise, drugs (anti-inflammatories, aspirin, antibiotics, quinine, antihistamines, hormone replacement therapy), a pierced eardrum, middle-ear disease and excessive ear wax. If you have tinnitus, your first port of call should be your GP, so that he or she can give you an accurate diagnosis and rule out any more serious ear problems.

While hypnotherapy can't cure tinnitus, it can help you learn to better tolerate the sound of this ringing in your ears through the use of stress management, self-hypnosis and symptom manipulation. It can also help to desensitise you to the sounds, so that they won't disturb you in quite the same way.

THE EVIDENCE?
According to The Internet Journal Of Otorhinolaryngology, 'three non-controlled studies examining the effectiveness of hypnosis for tinnitus found improvement in patients' symptoms.'

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