If you are suffering from the noise of tinnitus, for relief visit TINNITUS ANXIETY RELIEF TECHNIQUES®

Aspirin is one of the most common cuplrits–typically when taken in large doses. Some blood pressure medications often cause tinnitus as well. If you are experiencing tinnitus of recent onset, and are taking any medications, search the medication online to see if it’s known to cause tinnitus. The Physician’s Desk Reference (PDR) is a good source for information.

If you feel that a prescribed medcation is responsible for your tinnitus, discuss it with the doctor who prescribed the medication. Do not discontinue a prescribed medication on your own. Ask your doctor about the possibility of discontinuing it or substituting another medication in place of the offending one.

When taken at recommended dosages, the following prescription and over-the-counter drugs have caused tinnitus in a small percentage of patients.

NOTE: Not all medications on this list cause tinnitus in a significant number of people. Only the ones marked with an asterisk–*– appear problematic, producing tinnitus in 3% or more of patients.

  These drugs were not specifically tested on people who already had tinnitus. More information about these listed drugs can be found in the Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR).

A
Abelcet Injection
Abilify Tablets
Accutane Capsules
Aceon Tablets
Acifex Tablets
Actiq
*Actonel Tablets
Adalat CC Tablets
Aggrenox Capsules
Agrylin Capsules
Alferon N Injection
Aloxi Injection
Altace Capsules
Ambien Tablets
Amerge Tablets
Amitriptyline
Amnesteem Capsules
*Anaprox Tabs
*Anaprox DS Tabs
Anzemet Injection
Anzemet Tablets
Aricept Tablets
Aricept ODT Tablets
Arthrotec Tablets
Asacol DR Tablets
Atacand HCT Tablets
Atrovent Nasal Spray
Avelox IV
Avelox Tablets
Axert Tablets

B
Bayer Arthritis Pain Formula
Bayer Aspirin
Bayer PM Aspirin
BC Powder
BC Allergy Sinus Cold Powder
BC Powder Arthritis Strength
Biaxin XL Filmtab Tablets
Biaxin Granules
Blocadren Tablets
Buprenex Injectable

C
Campral Tablets
Capastat Sulfate Injection
Carbatrol Capsules
Cardeen IV
Cardizem LA Extended Release Tablets
*Cataflam Tablets
Caudeut Tablets
Celebrex Capsules
Celexa Oral Solution
Celexa Tablets
*CellCept Capsules
*CellCept IV
*CellCept Oral Suspension
*CellCept Tablets
Cipro IV
Cipro Oral Suspension
Cipro Tablets
Cipro XR Tablets
Clinoril Tablets
Colazal Capsules
Copaxone IV
Coreg Tablets
Cosopt Opthalmic Solution
Covera HS Tablets
Cozaar Tablets
Cuprimine Capsules
Cytovene Capsules
Cytovene IV

D
Dapsone Tablets USP
Daranide Tablets
*Depacon Injection
*Depakene Capsules
*Depakene Syrup
*Depakote Capsules
*Depakote Tablets
*Depakote ER Tablets
Desferal Vials
Diovan HCT Tablets
Diprivan Injectable
Dynacin Tablets

E
*EC-Naprosyn Tablets
Edecrin Tablets
Edecrin Sodium IV
Effexor Tablets
Effexor XR Capsules
Elavil
Eldepryl Capsules
Elmiron Capsules
*Emend Capsules
Engerix-B
Equetro ER Capsules
Eskalith Capsules
Eskalith CR Tablets
Evoxac Capsules
Exelon Capsules

F
Flexeril Tablets
Floxin Otic Solution
Floxin Tablets
Flumadine
Fortical Nasal Spray
Frova Tablets
Furosemide Tablets

G
Gabitril Tablets
Garamycin Injectable
Gengraf Capsules
Geodon Capsules
Gleevec Tablets

H
Hyperstat IV Injection
Hytrin Capsules
Hyzaar Tablets

I
*Imdur Tablets
Imitrex Nasal Spray
Indocin Capsules
Indocin Oral Suspension
Indocin Suppositories
*Infergen
*Intron A Injection
Invirase Capsules
Invirase Tablets

J

K
Kaletra Capsules
Kaletra Oral Solution
Kaopectate Anti-Diarrheal Liquid

L
Lamictal Tablets
Lamictal Chewable Tablets
*Larium Tablets
Levaquin 5% Dextrose Injection
Levaquin Injection
Levaquin Oral Solution
Levaquin Tablets
Levitra Tablets
Lexapro Oral Solution
Lexapro Tablets
Lipoderm Patch
Lipitor Tablets
Lithobid Tablets
Lotensin HCT Tablets
Lotrel Capsules
Lunesta Tablets
Lyrica Capsules

M
Maalox Max Strength
Marinol Capsules
Maxalt Tablets
Maxalt-MLT Tablets
Meridia Tablets
Miacalcin Nasal Spray
Micardis Tablets
Micardis HCT Tablets
Midamor Tablets
Migranal Nasal Spray
Mintezol Suspension
Mintezol
Mirapex Tablets
Morbic Oral Suspension
Mobic Tablets
Moduretic Tablets
Mustargen Injection
            

N
Nadolol Tablets
*Nalfon Capsules
Namenda Oral Solution
Namenda Tablets
*Naprosyn Suspension
*Naprosyn Tablets
Naropin Injection
Neoral Capsules
Neoral Oral Solution
Neurontin Capsules
Neurontin Oral Solution
Neurontin Tablets
Nexium ER Capsules
Nexium IV
Nipent Injection
*Niravam Tablets
Noroxin Tablets
Norvasc Tablets
Norvir Capsules
Norvir Oral Solution

O
Orthoclone OKT3 Solution
OxyContin Capsules

P
Parnate Tablets
Paxil CR Tablets
Paxil Oral Suspension
Paxil Tablets
Pepcid Injection
Pepcid Oral Suspension
Pepsid Tablets
Pepto-Bismol Max Strength
Pepto-Bismol Original
Permax Tablets
Phenegran Suppositories
Phenegran Tablets
Pletal Tablets
Prevacid ER Capsules
Prevacid ER Oral Suspension
*Prevacid NarpraPAC 375
*Prevacid NarpraPAC 500
Prevacid Tablets
Prevpac
Prilosec OTC Tablets
Primaxin IM
Primaxin IV
Prinivil Tablets
Prinzide Tablets
*Prograf
ProSom Tablets
Protonix Tablets
Proventil HFA Aerosol
*Prozac (Frequent)

Q

R
*Rapamune Oral Solution
*Rapamune Tablets
Razadyne Oral Solution
Razadyne Tablets
Recombivax HB
*Relafen Tablets
Relpax Tablets
Requip Tablets
Rescriptor Tablets
Reyataz Capsules
Risperdal M-Tab Tablets
Risperdal Oral Solution
Risperdol Tablets
Rythmol SR Capsules

S
Sandimmune IV for Infusion
Sandimmune Oral Solution
Sandimmune Capsules
Sndostatin LAR Depot
Sedapap Tablets
Seroquel Tablets
Sonata Capsules
*Soriatane Capsules
St. Joseph 81 mg Aspirin
Sular Tablets
Sulphasalazine
Surmontil Capsules
Sustiva Capsules
Symbyax Capsules

T
Tambocor Tablets
Tarka Tablets
Tasmar Tablets
Tegretol Chewable Tablets
Tegretol Suspension
Tegretol Tablets
Tegretol XR Tablets
*Tequin Injection
*Tequin Tablets
Teveten Tablets
Teveten HCT Tablets
Thalomid Capsules
Tiazac Capsules
Ticlid Tablets
Timolide Tablets
Timoptic in Ocudose
Timoptic Opthalmic Solution
Timoptic-XE Opthalmic Solution
*TOBI Solution for Inhalation
Topamax Sprinkle Capsules
Topamax Tablets
Toprol-XL Tablets
Tricor Tablets
Trileptal Oral Suspension
Trileptal Tablets
*Trisenox Injection
Twinrix Vaccine

U
Ultracet Tablets
Uniretic Tablets
Univasc Tablets

V
Vancocin HCl Capsules
Vantin Tablets
Vantin Oral Suspension
Vaseretic Tablets
Vasotec IV
Verelan Capsules
VFEND IV
VFEND Oral Suspension
VFEND Tablets
Viagra Tablets
Vicoprofen Tablets
Vivactil Tablets
*Voltaren Tablets
*Voltaren-XR Tablets

W
Wellbutrin Tablets
*Wellbutrin SR Tablets
*Wellbutrin XL Tablets

X
*Xanax XR Tablets
Xifaxan Tablets

Y

Z
Zegerid Oral Solution
Zestoretic Tablets
Zestril Tablets
Zithromax Capsules
Zithromax IV
Zithromax Oral Suspension
Zithromax Tablets
Zithromax Tri-Pak
Zmax Oral Suspension
Zoloft Oral Concentrate
Zoloft Tablets
Zomig Nasal Spray
Zomig Tablets
Zomig-ZMT Tablets
Zonegran Capsules
Zosyn
Zosyn Galaxy Containers
Zyban SR Tablets
Zyprexa Tablets
Zyprexa ZYDIS Tablets
Zyrtec Chewable Tablets
Zyrtec Syrup
Zyrtec Tablets
Zyrtec-D ER Tablets

TRT consists of two closely integrated and equally essential parts:

A)  The use of sound therapy,  and
B)  Counseling by a knowledgeable professional.

To understand how TRT works, you first need to understand that tinnitus involves not just the ears, but multiple structures within the ears and brain.  Sound is collected by the external and middle ear as vibration, converted to electrochemical energy in the cochlea, and transmitted as nerve impulses along the acoustic nerve to specialized brain cells called auditory centers in the temporal lobes of the brain. Brain cells then interpret these nerve impulses as sound. It’s these interpretations that determine how you hear the sound. Even more significant, these and other centers in your brain determine the relative importance of that sound.

Your conscious mind can pay attention to only a few hundred bits of information (stimuli) at any given instant. There are thousands of bits of information constantly bombarding you, some deemed by your mind to be more important than others. To avoid sensory overload, your conscious mind chooses to ignore stimuli not deemed threatening, stimulating, challenging, exciting, rewarding, essential to your survival or well being, etc. That is, your brain ignores things it considers unimportant, so you remain unaware of them until something changes to make them become important. Some of these bits consist of auditory (hearing) stimuli. Others are kinesthetic (touch,) olfactory (smell,) gustatory (taste,) and visual (sight.) The relative importance of each stimulus changes frequently, so the degree of attention you grant them also changes.

Any new stimulus will always be noticed and evaluated by our brains as to whether it presents a threat or warns of danger. Your mind learns to ignore any recurring stimulus that it considers unimportant. This is called habituation. One of the goals of TRT is to teach your brain to consider any remaining tinnitus so unimportant that you will automatically ignore it unless and until you choose to hear it. Pretty neat choice, huh? 

A)    Sound therapy in TRT consists of presenting a second or new intruding sound (NIS) to your ears, with that sound being far less intense than the tinnitus in your head. The NIS typically consists of a constant low level of white or pink noise, a balanced broad spectrum perceived as a gentle hissing. When a NIS is first presented, you notice it because it’s new, and the limbic system in your brain needs to determine if it’s threatening or warning of danger. Because this NIS is constant, innocuous, and fairly faint compared to other environmental sounds, your limbic system quickly determines that it’s not important, so it pushes it into the background. Your conscious mind then switches focus and actively listens for other sounds. In so doing, you ignore the NIS as though it doesn’t exist. This process is slow, but while training your mind to ignore this artificially induced, unimportant NIS, your mind also learns to ignore other unimportant sounds inside your head—your tinnitus. A word of advice: Tinnitus sufferers must avoid silence at all times. Beginning right now, keep some sound around you at all times—something you enjoy such as music, a waterfall, etc. Not loud, just at a “background” volume you find pleasant.

B)    Professional counseling is an essential component of TRT. Studies have shown that sound therapy alone results in far less improvement for tinnitus sufferers than the combination of sound therapy and professional counseling. The primary aim of professional counseling is to remove negative emotions associated with tinnitus, such as anxiety, stress, and fear. Understanding the roles of the auditory system and brain plays an important part in removing fear surrounding tinnitus. 75% of all people with tinnitus automatically habituate the sound and generally ignore it. 85% of those who initially suffer show significant improvement following 12 to 18 months of TRT.


Along with anti-anxiety medications, TRT has become accepted by physicians in mainstream medicine as the treatment of choice for patients suffering anxiety from tinnitus. My issues with this therapy are the cost involved and the length of time required for relief.

Cost: TRT trainers typically recommend that a professional sound-generating device similar to a hearing aid be worn 24/7. These devices are quite expensive, often costing upwards of $2000. My personal experience is that patients can enrich their own environments with pleasing sound just as effectively and for far less money. This can be accomplished by playing soft music, white noise, or nature sounds on a CD, through a computer, via special CD-player pillows at night, or through sound generating devices from electronic or specialty stores such as Radio Shack or Brookstone.

Time: Patients typically require 12 to 18 months of TRT before obtaining maximum relief. Exceptions certainly exist, but it seems likely that the majority would spontaneously habituate the noise without costly therapy within this length of time. Any stimulus repeated day and night for this long will surely be determined to be non-threatening. As soon as this occurs, the conscious mind literally becomes bored with the noise and automatically begins to ignore it.

All emotions, including anger, fear, frustration, and anxiety reside in the subconscious mind. Counseling—like cognitive-behavioral therapy–involves direct communication between counselor and patient using words and diagrams—an activity of the conscious mind. Attempting to correct a subconscious problem with a conscious solution is like trying to paint a wall with a hammer. Picture this. It can be done, but is terribly inefficient because you are using the wrong tool for the job.

Hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques can relieve some of the anxiety associated with tinnitus, but require a therapist familiar with the causes of tinnitus itself. Very few of these exist. Results from general hypnosis alone are disappointing.

Energy psychology methods, such as Anxiety Relief Techniques® (ART) directly unhook the subconscious fear response from any stimulus or thought held in the conscious mind. In so doing, anger, fear, frustration, and anxiety associated with tinnitus can be eliminated within hours, rather than weeks or months. These methods utilize the body’s meridian system, and are similar to acupuncture only in this regard. Acupuncture alone is not generally effective for relieving fear and anxiety from tinnitus. ART is highly effective.

It is very distressing to experience a sudden onset of ringing in the ears. This condition is known as tinnitus. The noise of tinnitus may include ringing, screeching, buzzing, chirping, a hissing sound like steam escaping, or similar to the humming sound from high tension power lines.

While the sounds of tinnitus appear to be in the ears, they actually originate in the brain.

Tinnitus can result from a variety of causes. The most common cause is damage to the delicate sound-receiving hair cells within the inner ear. Exposure to a loud noise often damages these cells, resulting in a partial loss of hearing and the subsequent development of tinnitus. This condition is diagnosed as acoustic trauma. It is quite common in hunters, target shooters, police and military personnel, and anyone exposed without sufficient ear protection to loud gunfire or other loud noises.

How loud are various noises, and what levels are safe? What we typically think of as the loudness of sound is actually a reflection of sound pressure, and is measured in decibels (dB.).

A few examples of sound pressures are:
• A whisper or a quiet library: 30 dB
• Normal conversation: 45 to 60 dB
• Home Vacuum Cleaner or Alarm Clock: 75 dB
• Home Blender: 85 dB
• Home Garbage Disposal: 90 dB
• Tractor or Truck without a muffler: 90 dB
• Shouted conversation: 90 dB
• Power saw at 3 Ft away: 110 dB
• Noisy nightclub with live music or DJ, Rock concert: 115 dB
• Gunfire-pistol, shotgun, or rifle: approximately 150 dB
• Jet aircraft, 50 meters away: 140 dB
• Canon fire, 50t ft away: >200 dB

A “normal level” of sound (below 80 dB) will not damage your hearing. Prolonged or repeated exposure to sound levels above 85 dB will damage anyone’s hearing. A single exposure to sound above 135 to 140 dB may cause permanent damage to anyone’s hearing.

The hair cells lie inside a snail shaped structure in the inner ear called the cochlea. When exposed to a loud blast of sound, the sound vibrations enter the ear canal and strike the eardrum. Vibrations are then transmitted via three tiny bones of hearing to the cochlea, where the hair cells pick up the vibration. When the sound pressure is severe enough, it literally vibrates the delicate cells so severely as to cause permanent damage or cell destruction. Most commonly, the resulting hearing loss occurs in the higher frequencies of 4000 cycles per second and up.

Sound vibrations are received in the ear, but transmitted along the auditory nerve to the brain, where they are interpreted and perceived as sound. “Auditory, or hearing cells in the brain function best when receiving sound. For instance, when people with normal hearing are placed inside a soundproof chamber, 95% develop tinnitus within 5 minutes.

Perhaps to oversimplify, when hearing cells in the cochlea and along the auditory nerve no longer transmit outside sounds, associated brain cells search so diligently for sound that they detect the energy flow from one brain cell to another. This is thought to be the primary mechanism whereby acoustic trauma results in the sound of tinnitus.

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Also called the auditory or audio-vestibular system, this system is generally thought to be composed of three parts. In actuality, there are four.

1. The External ear consists of the auricle, the skin covered cartilaginous appendage that protrudes from the side of the head and collects and funnels sound toward the ear canal. The ear canal then directs sound inward toward the delicate ear drum, or tympanic membrane.

2. The middle ear consists of the tympanic membrane and three tiny bones of hearing-the malleus, incus, and stapes. These bones modulate and transmit sound vibrations from the tympanic membrane to the fluid contained within the inner ear.

3. The inner ear consists of two distinct systems: the snail-shaped cochlea, for receiving sound, and the vestibular apparatus with its three semicircular canals, for regulating equilibrium, or balance. In each system, physical vibrations are converted into electrical impulses. The eighth cranial nerve then transmits these electrical impulses to respective auditory and vestibular centers in the brain.

4. Auditory and vestibular centers in the brain interpret electrical impulses from the eighth cranial nerve as sound or conditions of relative balance or imbalance.

The loudness of sound is expressed as sound pressure, and measured in decibels (dB.) All sound received in the inner ear results in vibrations of delicate cells known a “hair cells.” These cells rest upon a delicate membrane suspended within the inner ear fluid. Sound above known safe levels vibrates the membrane and hair cells so violently that individual cells may be disrupted or damaged beyond repair. Badly damaged cells cannot function to receive and transmit sound to the cranial nerves and brain. They no longer “hear” sound. The function of cells in the auditory centers of the brain is to receive and interpret electrical impulses as sounds. These cells determine whether given impulses represent a bird singing, a piano playing conversation, traffic noise, or other.

In the absence of sound impulses, these cells become extra sensitive to any received stimulus, regardless of its source. In the presence of silence, from whatever cause, they literally strain to interpret sounds of any type. When silence is extreme, they become so sensitive as to pick up stimuli from the normal energy flow of adjacent brain cells, and interpret these sensations as sound. This is thought to be the primary mechanism of the most common type of tinnitus.

Anything that interrupts the normal transmission of external sound vibration from its source to the auditory centers in the brain, results in a “hearing loss.” In turn, any significant hearing loss may result in tinnitus. We typically hear normal speech in the frequencies of 500 to 2000 cycles per second (cps.) Even when hearing seems to be normal for speech, however, tinnitus may occur because of a loss at higher frequencies.

The most common cause for hearing loss in our society is exposure to noise loud enough to damage hair cells in the inner ears. Repeated exposure or our ears to noise levels above 80 to 85 DB often inflicts permanent damage. This is known as acoustic trauma. Such damage generally occurs in the higher frequencies around 4000 cps. Hair cells that receive vibrations in this frequency range appear to be more vulnerable than others. The damage from acoustic trauma is often permanent. Rather than search for tinnitus treatments or tinnitus cures after the damage is done, it’s far more sensible to avoid such damage.

While help is definitely available, there are no miracle cures for tinnitus. In my opinion, the best solution to remove the suffering from the noise of tinnitus is Anxiety Relief Techniques® . To avoid ringing in the ears from acoustic trauma, prevention is a far better solution. I will detail the average levels of common noise sources in a subsequent article.

For example, when listening to a car radio while driving, you set the volume at a level that’s comfortable, based on the ambient sound of the engine revved up to speed, surrounding traffic, passengers’ conversation, etc. But if you leave the radio on when you park the car, how’s the volume when you start the engine for a subsequent trip? Too loud, right? That’s because your auditory mechanism is automatically contrasting the sounds from the radio with the much quieter environment inside a non-moving automobile.

In a noisy restaurant or night club, are you likely to notice if someone softly whistles a tune nearby? What if you awakened in a totally silent room to hear someone whistling the same tune on the sidewalk outside your bedroom window? It would seem quite loud and intrusive.

Individuals who suffer with anxiety from ringing in the ears—tinnitus—often feel that silence is golden They crave situations where they might hear no sound at all. And silence is the worst possible thing for their condition. Likewise, people with a decreased tolerance for loud sound crave silence. Once again, this is the worst possible remedy for their condition. Their auditory mechanism will become more and more sensitive to loud sounds unless it is exposed to gradually increasing safe levels of sound. These normal levels of sound literally desensitize the system to louder sounds.

Silence puts the autonomic nervous system on high alert. This primitive “fight-or-flight” system evolved during a time when silence often signaled impending danger—such as the sudden silence of jungle birds and small animals whenever a predator approached in the night. Humans evolved in noise-filled environments, and we function best today under similar conditions. Isolation meant almost certain death in primitive times. We were forced to band together in order to survive the elements. At a core level, we still feel safest when surrounded by the sounds that others make as they go about their daily routines.

Since the loudness of sound is interpreted in relation to concurrent sound, silence makes any sound—internal or external—seem louder than if background levels were raised. This explains why white-noise generators or soft music playing are so effective to mask the sounds of a noisy neighbor, morning garbage trucks, or other unwanted and intrusive sounds.

So, the lesson here is to enrich your environment 24/7/365 with safe levels of pleasing sound. This is especially important when you sleep at night. Play a sound generator near your bed, soft music from a CD player, or have a noisy fan in the room. Anything that generates sound for your ears to listen to will help maintain their normal function.

In my professional opinion, Anxiety Relief Techniques® provides the most effective relief ever available from the suffering of hyperacusis.

Misophonia has more to do with one’s interpretation of what a particular sound represents, than with the sound itself. Imagine that your beloved family dog has been missing for two days, and is finally returned to you. Would you be annoyed by hearing that little dog crunch down on its favorite doggie treat? Not likely.

How would you feel about an identical sound produced by a group of boisterous teenagers with their feet propped on the back of your seat in a quiet movie theater, crunching handfuls of popcorn or peanut brittle? When a situation has already generated a defensive fight-or-flight response in us, we tend to extend that response to any sounds resulting from that situation. Should you experience misophonia, I suggest that you immediately search your memory banks for earlier unpleasant associations with that particular sound. Re-associating it in present time with more pleasing situations may improve the problem. Since this condition represents a fear response in the body, Anxiety Relief Techniques® is highly effective to totally relieve the suffering from misophonia.

Sounds produced by others also represent an intrusion into our personal space. Examples of “territorial intrusion” might be the unexpected ringing of a phone associated with prior unpleasant calls from telemarketers. Or the buzz of a doorbell associated with unwanted visitors or bill collectors. Contrast this with the feeling from the same phone’s ringing when you’re awaiting a call from a loved one overseas. Or the welcomed sound of a doorbell when a grandmother is expecting a visit from her only grandchild, or flowers or candy for her birthday.

Past experiences and parental conditioning influence our personal standards regarding acceptable noise from others. We may conclude that silence is the safest and least intrusive condition of all. This is a huge mistake. Silence is NOT ideal for individuals with tinnitus, misophonia, or hyperacusis. In fact, it’s the worst possible solution for each.

Silence puts the autonomic nervous system on high alert. This primitive “fight-or-flight” system evolved during a time when silence often signaled impending danger—such as the sudden silence of jungle birds and small animals whenever a predator approached in the night. Humans evolved in noise-filled environments, and we function best today under similar conditions. We are social animals. We feel safest when surrounded by others and the sounds they make as they go about their daily routines.

Since the loudness of sound is interpreted in relation to concurrent sound, silence makes any sound—internal or external—seem louder than if background levels were raised. This explains why white-noise generators or soft music playing are so effective to mask the sounds of a noisy neighbor, morning garbage trucks, or other unwanted and intrusive sounds.

Though misophonia and hyperacusis arise through totally different processes, proper environmental sound enrichment can lessen the anxiety associated with either. Sound enrichment involves the voluntary introduction of low levels of pleasing, non-threatening sound into your environment. Since it’s your choice to introduce the sound, it doesn’t feel intrusive. The increased level of background sound is quickly accepted by your conscious and subconscious minds as non-threatening. This quiets the fight-or-flight response. Any additional sounds are quickly evaluated in relation to the existing sound. They will always seem less loud and less intrusive than if your environment were silent.

The best solution for removing the suffering from hyperacusis–in my opinion– is Anxiety Relief Techniques® . This can also be quite effective for misophonia.

Anxiety Relief Techniques® is highly effective to relieve the suffering from tinnitus.

Traditional scientists have demonstrated that insulin levels and sugar metabolism play a significant role in producing tinnitus. Studies have not yet been reported to indicate whether this is also true of the related condition of hyperacusis. Whether insulin levels relate to EH has not been shown, but is a strong possibility. Several clinical studies have demonstrated that approximately 90% of patients with tinnitus have a condition called hyperinsulinemia. This term simply means a higher-than-normal level of insulin in the bloodstream. Hyperinsulinemia occurs when, at a cellular level, insulin becomes inefficient at transferring glucose from the bloodstream into the body’s cells. The condition is known as insulin resistance. Should this occur, the pancreas produces additional insulin to accomplish the task. People who develop insulin resistance typically have consumed excessive amounts of carbohydrates (sugars) for many years. They have stressed the normal insulin/glucose transfer mechanism to the point that resistance develops. It’s as though the overworked system has become fatigued and worn out. In time, the pancreas cannot keep up increased production, and the result is clinical diabetes. This is called adult-onset Type II Diabetes.

Hyperinsulinemia can often be controlled, and diabetes prevented, with proper diet and exercise. But how does this relate to tinnitus?

In November, 2004, researchers at the Federal University of Rio Grande School of Medicine in Brazil reported on 80 tinnitus patients who also had hyperinsulinemia. Patients were prescribed a low-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, and asked to limit intake of alcohol and caffeine. Of the initial 80 patients, 59 followed the diet for two years. 14% of patients who did not follow the diet showed improvement, while 76% of those who did follow the diet showed improvement. That is, tinnitus symptoms improved 500% more in those patients who followed the regimen than in the remaining 21 who did not. Among the 59 patients who followed the program, 39% had significant improvement of their tinnitus; 22% had some improvement, and in 15%, their tinnitus totally disappeared. How much of this improvement was related to habituation of the noise is not known, but results in the “control” group of who did not follow the diet suggests that the figure for habituation is around 14%.

Hyperinsulinemia with insulin resistance is typically controlled with a low-carbohydrate diet and exercise. My suggestion is that anyone who suffers from tinnitus should consider hyperinsulinemia as a contributing factor, if not the sole cause. Consult your physician for an accurate diagnosis and recommendations. Heredity certainly plays a role in our body types and metabolism. In the final analysis, however, hyperinsulinemia is the result of poor eating habits and lack of adequate exercise.

If you are overweight, tend to consume lots of carbohydrates and sweets, and do not exercise regularly, you may gain significant improvement by developing new habits that are appropriate for your physical type and situation. This may not only improve your symptom of tinnitus, but your overall health.

Anxiety Relief Techniques®  provides effective relief for tinnitus sufferers, regardless of its cause.