What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a condition which is characterised by the sensation of a sound in the ear or head which is not produced by external noises. The type of sound and volume of this perceived sound varies from person to person. The usual sounds are a high pitched whistle, a buzzing, ringing of bells; in fact there are many other sounds which can be bothersome. The sound may be intermittent or continuous and the volume varies from a background irritation to very loud which often affects a person’s ability to work or enjoy life.
What are the causes of Tinnitus?
The cause of tinnitus has been associated with age related hearing loss, with exposure to loud noises at work, high blood pressure, anaemia or head injury.
One should always arrange to see a General Practitioner to ascertain that there is no serious physical underlying cause for the condition. If the Tinnitus is not physically related, then there is an emotional root cause which needs to be addressed at the subconscious level.
What is the role of Hypnosis in the treatment of Tinnitus?
Hypnosis is not a cure for Tinnitus caused by physical damage or when it is age related; however, studies have proven that hypnotherapy has about a 70% success rate of reducing tinnitus noise. Tinnitus is always made worse by stress and since tinnitus causes stress the condition is self propagating! Hypnotherapy is extremely beneficial to aid relaxation and wellbeing. A positive approach to Tinnitus can make the condition less intrusive, and improve the quality of life of the sufferer.
Like the management of pain the management of Tinnitus can result in the symptoms of Tinnitus being reduced significantly. This is done by teaching the mind to focus elsewhere. By concentrating on other more pleasant things you are reducing the attention given to the noise in your head. It is a skill and like any other skill we get better at the more we practice it.
If the cause of Tinnitus is emotional, a course of Analytical Hypnotherapy is recommended to find the cause and alleviate the symptom … the noise. Following are links to Articles Xavier and I have written about Analytical Hypnotherapy or also known as Hypno-Psychotherapy:
Hypnosis with Psychotherapy is a Remedy for Healing
Hypno-Psychotherapy and the Treatment of Depression
Setanta Hypnotherapy Clinic Approach to the Treatment of Psychosomatic Illness
At Setanta Hypnotherapy Clinic we teach self-hypnosis and visualisation techniques to help each client to help themselves. Hypnotherapy is no quick fix, time is needed to change the perceptions of the client and to teach the tools which are going to allow each client to manage their own well being. Each client who comes to us is an individual and we treat each as such. We ascertain which course of therapy best suits the client, Suggestion Therapy or Analytical Hypnotherapy. Our therapy is personalised so the first session always takes about two hours to find out exactly what the client truly wants. Once that is agreed upon we both then can take the route together, solution focused, which is our primary aim.
