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Tinnitus Retraining Therapy: Implementing the Neurophysiological Model
Tinnitus and oversensitivity to sound are common and hitherto incurable, distressing conditions that affect a substantial number of the population. Pawel Jastreboff's discovery of the mechanisms by which tinnitus and decreased sound tolerance occur has led to a new and effective treatment called Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). Audiologists, ENT specialists, psychologists and counsellors around the world currently practise this technique, with very high success rates. TRT, the treatment developed by the authors from the model, has already proved to be the most effective and most widely practised worldwide. This book presents a definitive description and justification for the Jastreboff neurophysiological model of tinnitus, outlining the essentials of TRT, reviewing the research literature justifying their claims, and providing an expert critique of other therapeutic practices.
Hardcover
First published November 15, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 15, 2013
This is a very helpful book for people suffering from tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. It’s quite scientific, though, and therefore not suited for everybody as a self-help book. The aim of the book is to lay down the scientific foundation for tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) and describe how the method works in practice. If you’re familiar with and don’t mind an academic style of writing, it is perfectly possible to help yourself with the information in this book, but I would say it is even more important that doctors read this book and people start applying the method to help people in practice.
It’s shocking how little GPs and even ENT doctors know about this condition. They will simply tell patients to ‘learn to live with it’, often at times when patients are very distressed about this condition that they are led to believe ‘will never go away’. Most doctors also believe tinnitus and hyperacusis to be problems of the ear, but Jastreboff and Hazell argue it is mainly a problem of the brain. Furthermore, of all people who develop tinnitus, only about 20% develop ‘clinically significant tinnitus’, in other words, are so much affected that they need help. When this happens though, ‘negative counseling’ such as that of most GPs and ENT doctors will often only exacerbate feelings of anxiety and depression that often accompany tinnitus and/or hyperacusis.
After laying down the foundation for TRT, the book goes on to describe how the method works in practice, and what should be involved in successful counseling of patients. First, this is ‘demystification of tinnitus’, which involves learning about tinnitus and the mechanisms behind its distressing effects, which leads to ‘habituation of reaction’. Second, this is ‘sound therapy’, which involves at the minimum avoiding silence and possibly also wearing sound generators to make the tinnitus signal less audible (though not completely masking it), which leads to ‘habituation of perception’.
The book then reviews results of the TRT method as applied in their practices in London and Baltimore/Atlanta, where about 80% of patients are successfully treated, and offers a review of other proposed remedies for tinnitus (medication, alternative therapies, etc.), none of which are proven to help in clinical trials. It is important to emphasize TRT is not a cure in the sense that you will never hear tinnitus anymore, but it does help you to lower your emotional and physical response to tinnitus and over time habituate to it so that you will hardly be aware of its existence.
It’s shocking how little GPs and even ENT doctors know about this condition. They will simply tell patients to ‘learn to live with it’, often at times when patients are very distressed about this condition that they are led to believe ‘will never go away’. Most doctors also believe tinnitus and hyperacusis to be problems of the ear, but Jastreboff and Hazell argue it is mainly a problem of the brain. Furthermore, of all people who develop tinnitus, only about 20% develop ‘clinically significant tinnitus’, in other words, are so much affected that they need help. When this happens though, ‘negative counseling’ such as that of most GPs and ENT doctors will often only exacerbate feelings of anxiety and depression that often accompany tinnitus and/or hyperacusis.
After laying down the foundation for TRT, the book goes on to describe how the method works in practice, and what should be involved in successful counseling of patients. First, this is ‘demystification of tinnitus’, which involves learning about tinnitus and the mechanisms behind its distressing effects, which leads to ‘habituation of reaction’. Second, this is ‘sound therapy’, which involves at the minimum avoiding silence and possibly also wearing sound generators to make the tinnitus signal less audible (though not completely masking it), which leads to ‘habituation of perception’.
The book then reviews results of the TRT method as applied in their practices in London and Baltimore/Atlanta, where about 80% of patients are successfully treated, and offers a review of other proposed remedies for tinnitus (medication, alternative therapies, etc.), none of which are proven to help in clinical trials. It is important to emphasize TRT is not a cure in the sense that you will never hear tinnitus anymore, but it does help you to lower your emotional and physical response to tinnitus and over time habituate to it so that you will hardly be aware of its existence.
September 27, 2020
If only everybody in this world knew about the existance and the power of this book, Tinnitus would be less of a problem for the people who suffer from it. The further I got into this book, the more I started to feel a mix of relief/tahnkfulness and deep frustration towards all the doctors that tell patients to "just live with this horrible, lifechanging thing". If you read TRT, you'll learn that it is not like that at all. With time, a positive attitude and some DIY practices you can defenitely get your cure for tinnitus. I experienced results just by reading the book - nothing floaty at all. This theory is proven to be the only evidence-based 'cure' for the phenomenon (it is not an illness!) even though it does not actually remove or decrease the sounds patients hear.
If you know anybody with tinnitus, PLEASE tell them to grab this book right away - no waiting for doctors, hospitals or any other trick. There is no cure for tinnitus yet, but Jastreboff's method helps a lot.
If you know anybody with tinnitus, PLEASE tell them to grab this book right away - no waiting for doctors, hospitals or any other trick. There is no cure for tinnitus yet, but Jastreboff's method helps a lot.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews