Know Tinnitus: Self-Help Guide for Tinnitus Relief

A sea sound effect that you can use to avoid silence, mix with your tinnitus, and encourage relaxation.

Bringing it all together.

Taking positive action.

What not to do...

Introducing a case study over the following chapters with Miss Ring and Mrs Hum.

A good understanding is a great start.

When tinnitus is noticed and there are no negative feelings associated with it, then it is unlikely to become a problem.

Non-meaningful sound must be mixed or matched with tinnitus. If you try and mask tinnitus the brain cannot change the nerve connections that affect it so easily. The brain may even increase the loudness of tinnitus so that it can be noticed over the masking sound!

If a change is made in the emotional evaluation of tinnitus or the ease that tinnitus is noticed, then the connections in the brain that made tinnitus a problem change. This reduces the frequency with which tinnitus occurs in the future and diminishes the negative feeling associated with it. (See diagram in the cover image)

Surround yourself with low level sounds.

Reduce your time in quieter situations.

A trial with hearing aids, or other hearing remediation, is recommended if you have a significant hearing loss..

A hearing test or series of auditory function tests are recommended.

It takes time for physical changes to happen between nerve cells in the brain and for the emotion-attention loop to unwind. Therefore any improvement in tinnitus often takes time too.

When tinnitus is less of mystery the negative feelings associated with it can become reduced.

Connections between nerve cells in the brain become stronger through simultaneous activity.

The loudness of tinnitus can be unrelated to status of the hearing system. It tends to be more closely linked to the degree of attention directed towards the tinnitus.

An attention-emotion loop can cause a negative spiral for tinnitus. (See diagram in the cover image)

If tinnitus is associated with negative feelings then it tends to get more attention.

Emotional associations are formed all the time. These can be neutral, positive, or negative.

The new and most important things receive more attention.

The perception of tinnitus varies greatly between people due to the interaction of attention and emotion.

Being in more changeable sound environments, or having a hearing loss increases the likelihood of tinnitus.

The brain changes the sensitivity of the hearing system to try and make it effective in different sound environments. (See the diagram in the cover image) Do please participate in our poll on tinnitus.

Tinnitus tends to begin following a change (temporary or ongoing) in the hearing system. (See the diagram in the cover image) Do please participate in our poll on tinnitus.

Lloyd shares his personal experiences with tinnitus and why the KnowTinnitus information tool was created. Do please participate in our poll on tinnitus.

KnowTinnitus focuses on subjective tinnitus - sounds perceived in the head or ears that can only be detected by the person experiencing it. Do please participate in our poll on tinnitus.

The mechanisms behind tinnitus make it common. Do please participate in our poll on tinnitus.

Professional help to diagnose any hearing loss or medical condition is recommended. Do please participate in our poll on tinnitus.

KnowTinnitus is narrated by Lloyd Mander. You will notice the soothing sound of the sea in the background. Each episode (chapter) is very brief. Do please feel free to listen to these more than once, or at a slower playback speed to help you hear and understand the content. Do also please participate in the first part of our poll on tinnitus.