You’ve probably seen the video “how I cured my tinnitus”. So there’s this one guy on youtube who says he cured his tinnitus and talks about it for about 40 minutes. And as a tinnitus expert myself that bothers me a little bit and I’ll tell you why in this video.
40 Minutes, Really?
First of all, he knows exactly how the youtube algoritm works, well no fault in that. The longer you watch, the more views you get. He basically says: “yeah, I got tinnitus and I distracted myself with sound until I didn’t hear my tinnitus anymore”. He takes 40 minutes to tell you just that.
Is It Possible To Cure Tinnitus?
Now after watching that video, you probably think: if I just keep distracting myself, then eventually I’ll never hear my tinnitus again. So you try this for a few weeks but the tinnitus didn’t leave like that guy said.
This is an example of what’s called the availability heuristic. A difficult word, but it’s actually quite simple. Smokers with a grandma who smoked 10 cigarettes a day and died at 97, might under underestimate the health risks of smoking. After seeing several news reports of car thefts in your neighborhood, you might start to believe that such crimes are more common than they are.
A few examples make you believe in something which is not true on average, and probably not true for you. So the amount of people where persistent tinnitus actually completely cures is very small. And if you listen to this guy you might think that he has the cure for tinnitus. Which is not true, he is just lucky.
He Uses Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
What is true is that he applies what we call Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. This therapy, invented by Dr. Pawel Jastreboff, is still commonly used for treating tinnitus patients. I was actually personally trained and certified by Dr Pawel Jastreboff, the inventor of this therapy.
TRT involves listening to masking sounds, such as nature sounds. You know that in quiet environments, you hear your tinnitus more than in a busy street. And that’s because there’s nothing else to listen to. This is also the reason that many tinnitus patients have the most trouble with sleeping, because it’s quiet. Now, if you add some distracting masking sounds, your tinnitus is perceived relatively less loud, just like on the busy street, for example
And TRT is actually used to habituate to your tinnitus. Habituation is that you don’t get bothered by your tinnitus any longer. Your reaction to your tinnitus sound gets less, creating less stress and relaxing your fight or flight nervous system. By reacting less to the sound, you’ll be able to slowly pick up your normal life because your brain isn’t scared by the sound anymore. And after time, we often see that the sound also becomes less. It can become less frequent, or less loud, just like it did in me.
But the chance that you will cure your Tinnitus, like that guy in that video, is very small unfortunately. And if you count on that, you’ll most likely be disappointed every single day. And that just causes more stress, and in turn amplifies your tinnitus, and it keeps you in a vicious cycle. So that’s why I’m telling you the truth, which is true for people on average.
Free TRT Masking Sounds App
Some TRT masking sounds work better than others and that’s why I’ve created a free app with the best sounds already in it. You can use it to play masking sounds whenever you like. You can download the app for free via these links:
Apple iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/still-tinnitus/id6465992007
Google Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stilltinnitus
Ok but lets circle back to the guy that says he cured his tinnitus.
How to Correctly Apply TRT
So this guy, he basically applied, as you now know, a very simple version of TRT, Tinnitus Retraining Therapy. And yeah, I believe him. He is a lucky guy! I have no reason to distrust that he doesn’t hear his tinnitus anymore, but in general, just distracting yourself with sound is not enough for most people. TRT is just not that easy to apply correctly. If you’d like to learn how to get the most out of TRT and other methods to habituate to tinnitus, then I recommend joining my free tinnitus webinar. There, I will explain how the Still Tinnitus method can help you to calm your tinnitus and reclaim your life, without traveling, wait times, or group sessions. Even though there’s no cure for tinnitus, a full recovery is possible. Hang in there, and see you in the webinar!
