· What was the most important part of your healing process?
Support from my wife was very important. Xanax, Zoloft and Osteopathy. It was perhaps Ginkgo that got rid of one pulsatile sound, self hypnosis eventually took the place of sleeping pills and helped the habituation process...and frankly, was far more successful than I thought possible. If I had to pick one aside from support and *major lifestyle changes,* it would be Xanax... but all were very important. People who "try" only one or two with little more than guesswork to go on rarely get well.
Lifestyle changes, refers to changes in what your thinking process is as you go through the day. When you begin the process of getting well you literally move to a lifestyle of thinking about things "outside of yourself." Sounds odd, but that is the core factor in getting well. These kinds "lifestyle changes" are overlooked by just about everyone, but without adopting them your chances at improvement are small. Very small.
It's funny. People always ask about the medications, and rightfully so, but really getting well is about significant changes in how your day is spent, what you do day and night...it's more complex than even a few things. Getting well is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It usually works, it just takes time and effort.
· What is tinnitus and why can't anyone seem to help?
Tinnitus is any noise or set of sounds heard that is generated in the ear, hearing system, or brain. Most people who experience severe or moderate tinnitus, that we've worked with, experience tinnitus that is generated in the brain even when the original cause was sound or otoxic drugs. If you haven't figured it out yet, everyone from medical doctors to alternative practitioners look in the ear for tinnitus.
That's a good place to start. However...in most cases, it simply isn't there. It's not being generated from there and it's a waste of time after a few things are ruled out to keep looking in an empty box and hoping to find something.... That's why they "can't do anything." Had they known to look in the right place they would have found it.
It's in the brain. ENT's have told you for years, "There's nothing I can do, you'll have to learn to live with it." The reasons there is nothing THEY can do is because they currently aren't prepared to deal with problems that occur in the brain... And...by the way, tinnitus is not a big brain "malfunction." More often than not it is a persistent memory (most cases in my experience) much like phantom limb pain.
All that said, remember that the people I've worked with over the past decade are people who are moderate to severe. Most contemplate suicide and are severely anxious or depressed. I only speak from my personal experience and the thousands of people I've worked with.
Anyone who treats severe tinnitus as a disorder of the ear when testing shows nothing dramatically wrong with hearing (i.e. total deafness), will indeed fail in helping the person who suffers.
More FAQ's coming soon!
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