Tinnitus and Biofeedback
Tinnitus and Biofeedback. Biofeedback may provide some people with tinnitus with the tools needed to learn to control their responses through techniques like hypnosis, relaxation training and neurofeedback.
Neurofeedback uses sensors attached to your head that measure brain activity and gives a visual representation of changes occurring within it. Neurofeedback for Tinnitus treatment has proven highly successful.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback is a technique that teaches you to control bodily processes that normally happen unconsciously, such as your heart rate and blood pressure. Electrodes attached to your skin or sensors placed in your hands measure these functions during sessions with a biofeedback practitioner and display them on a monitor during these sessions. By employing this approach you can train yourself to change behaviors or manage health conditions more independently while possibly decreasing medication needs altogether.
Biofeedback therapy is often used to treat high blood pressure. Additionally, it can also be useful for managing chronic pain conditions like migraine headaches and fibromyalgia as well as tension headaches caused by tension – one of the major contributors to headaches. Furthermore, biofeedback can teach your muscles how to relax more easily, relieving stress.
EEG neurofeedback and thermal biofeedback are two forms of biofeedback techniques, each offering similar information on your activity levels in different ways. Although they differ in terms of how information is displayed and fed back to you, both types can help treat various conditions; thermal biofeedback in particular has proven itself effective at relieving gastrointestinal distress as well as nightly bruxism (the grinding and clenching of your teeth during sleep).
Study results revealed that of those tinnitus patients who underwent 10-12 one-hour biofeedback training sessions, over half experienced improvement. Researchers utilized relaxation-biofeedback protocol and sound recordings with tinnitus sound recordings in teaching patients to regulate their stress responses; cognitive behavioral therapies were also included as treatment modalities.
Researchers were taken aback when they observed that tinnitus relief was more commonly experienced among younger participants, believing this to be related to greater neuroplastic potential among youth which allows them to alter the physiology of their brains more quickly than older individuals.
Biofeedback therapy can not only reduce tinnitus, but it can also enhance sleep quality and alleviate depressive symptoms. People experiencing depression should seek medical treatment prior to embarking on psychotherapy using biofeedback techniques; there are biofeedback centers located throughout major cities that can be found by searching in your telephone directory.
Hypnotherapy
As there is no known cure for tinnitus, many individuals find their symptoms gradually improve or quieten with time. This may be attributed to hearing changes or underlying conditions like an ear infection or wax buildup being treated – however oftentimes ringing in ears are related psychological factors like stress or frustration and therefore Hypnotherapy is an excellent way of helping reduce negative emotions related to living with Tinnitus.
The first session usually begins with a relaxation and focus exercise, such as visual imagery or repetitive verbal cues to get the mind into a relaxed state that is more open to suggestions from a hypnotherapist. Therapeutic suggestions will then be given that aim to change perception, sensation, emotion, memory or behavior – these could either address specific tinnitus issues directly or explore any experiences which contribute to its onset.
Hypnosis can also help change how you respond to tinnitus by teaching relaxation skills that reduce its impact – an effect known as habituation.
Your Body Relax: For Tinnitus Relief You will also learn to consciously relax your body, especially jaw and head tension, which are often sources of aggravation of tinnitus symptoms. Finally, I will teach self-hypnosis so that it may be used anytime to achieve deep relaxation state.
Hypnotherapy can be a safe and effective treatment option for most people living with tinnitus. It may be used alone or combined with other modalities like sound therapy and counseling; it’s important to find a hypnotherapist with extensive training who has earned certification by an independent credentialing organization.
Finding a therapist you feel at ease with is key when seeking relief for tinnitus. Be sure to inquire whether they have experience helping other sufferers of tinnitus as well as successful track records of helping resolve issues related to it. For best results, work with licensed healthcare professionals such as doctors or therapists who already possess relevant licensure.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is an ancient practice that uses needles inserted at specific points on the body to relieve pain and promote healing, as well as treat psychological issues like anxiety and depression. Acupuncture may even help improve tinnitus symptoms by decreasing stress levels and stimulating natural chemicals that alleviate it; additionally it may reduce headaches caused by stress related issues, like fibromyalgia, menstrual cramps, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, back pain, tinnitus insomnia and sinusitis.
Tinnitus is a condition in which only you hear noise in your ears that other people cannot detect; this noise may range from tone to ringing, buzzing or roaring and interfere with work, sleep and concentration. There is no single medication to effectively treat tinnitus; however there are various therapies such as masking, biofeedback and acupuncture which provide temporary relief; other approaches could include hypnotherapy, TMJ treatment or counseling which also may provide some help.
Behavioral therapy may help you control tinnitus by retraining the part of the brain responsible for it. This therapy often includes counseling sessions and the use of external sound generators; full rehabilitation may take up to a year in total before becoming less aware and annoyed by tinnitus.
Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback that uses electrodes to monitor brain activity. According to one study, patients suffering from tinnitus who were taught to increase alpha brain wave activities over temporal regions while decreasing delta brain wave activities showed improvements in frequency bands for their tinnitus frequency bands and saw reduction in severity scores on Tinnitus Handicap Inventory assessments.
Neurofeedback programs have been found to not only alleviate tinnitus symptoms, but also to significantly reduce anxiety and depression associated with it. Chinese researchers discovered that neurofeedback was particularly effective at controlling tinnitus due to teaching the brain to regulate its activity, leading to lower intensity tinnitus intensity over time – lasting results even when therapy ends!
Tinnitus and Biofeedback Counseling
Tinnitus cannot be treated medically, yet many tinnitus sufferers find relief through behavioral therapy such as biofeedback, hypnotherapy and counseling. These methods have been shown to promote relaxation while simultaneously decreasing anxiety and altering neural connections in the brain to minimize its perception.
Counseling can help tinnitus sufferers to cope with their fear and anxiety about their condition, yet unfortunately some counselors use negative counseling – telling patients there’s nothing that can be done about their symptoms and they must learn to live with it – which could potentially discourage those searching for cures altogether.
Tinnitus, or the perception of sound without external acoustic stimulation, affects 10-20% of people worldwide and affects 2-3% more specifically. Although most can tolerate it without difficulty, for some it becomes an intense source of distress; these individuals find tinnitus an ongoing struggle that negatively impacts quality of life.
Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of neurofeedback in alleviating tinnitus through brain training techniques such as neurofeedback. Audiologists and clinicians can use neurofeedback techniques in clinics or through self-report questionnaires with three scales measuring functional, emotional and catastrophic responses to tinnitus to administer this form of treatment. Results can often be measured with Tinnitus Magnitude Index (TMI). This self-report questionnaire assesses functional, emotional and catastrophic reactions.
Biofeedback also uses devices known as galvanic skin response monitors to measure electrical conductivity of skin and detect emotional responses such as elevated heart rates or excessive sweating. A study published by House Ear Institute discovered that participants of 10 biofeedback sessions over six months experienced reduced tinnitus symptoms.
Other behavioral therapies for tinnitus may include stress management, physical exercises and nutritional counseling. A healthy diet can be especially useful in helping prevent tinnitus by reducing inflammation caused by ear infections; jaw joint disorders known as Temporomandibular Disorders or Temporomandibular Dysfunction (TMD) can aggravate it but treatment with oral appliances may provide relief.