An important part of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) comprises of TRT
exercises
.
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy is a treatment for tinnitus
which is an auditory condition that produces abnormal
sounds in the ear in the absence of any external sounds.
Since this condition has several causal factors there
are as many opinions and devices to either treat the
condition or ‘so called’ expert opinions that declare it
untreatable. Some of these treatments that offer a
solution to tinnitus are in effect only relief producing
and placeboes in nature.
TRT is one of those tinnitus
treatments that have been known to offer great deal of
support, understanding and relief to people who have to
live with the condition of tinnitus. However, TRT does
not claim to cure tinnitus – indeed, it does not relate
to the symptomatic causal aspects of the condition at
all. All it does is help a person to effectively cope
with the tinnitus sounds – using well researched methods
of ontological and audiological diagnosis.
The basic principles of TRT
uses a combination of low frequency noise generators
along with counseling and some simple
exercises to fulfill the intention of TRT – which is to
gradually inculcate habituation of the tinnitus sounds
while removing all negative associations of the
condition. TRT in short forces the human mind to refocus
on sound perceptions in such a way so as to make the
tinnitus sounds seemingly irrelevant. While the use of specific noise generators along
with appropriate counseling is a major part of Tinnitus
Retraining Therapy, TRT exercises
has a place of significance as
well.
The Essence of Tinnitus Retraining
Therapy Exercises:
The essence of the TRT
exercises is a few basic self disciplinary activities
one needs to carry out on a regular basis in order to
make the entire TRT treatment successful.
·
Focusing on the
tinnitus sounds for a short duration
·
Practice of relaxation
techniques that help reduce annoyance caused by tinnitus
sounds
·
Taking steps to reduce
tinnitus sounds through sound enrichment or other
devices (as necessary)
·
Induce ‘retraining’ of
negative reflexes towards tinnitus sounds - at the
emotive as well as physical levels
All of these basic steps are
required to be done very gradually over a long period of
time. Sometimes the entire process can take as much as
12 to 18 months or more, depending on individual
response to the TRT exercises
and regularity of the
exercises. Positive results can be attained when TRT
exercises are practiced diligently along with holistic
methods of trying to cure the root causes of tinnitus.
