No More Tinnitus

When I first started experiencing a ringing in my left ear, I assumed it was due to hearing damage from my many years working as a musician. Surprisingly, my hearing test came back normal, with no loss at any frequency. Further medical investigations failed to identify a cause for the ringing.

Despite doctors telling me that tinnitus was common and that nothing could be done, I refused to accept this and continued researching potential causes in the hope of finding a solution. There appeared to be many possible triggers for tinnitus, including damage to the tiny hair cells in the ear, exposure to loud noise, and neurological conditions. However, regardless of the root cause, everything I read seemed to say the same thing—there was no treatment.

I eventually concluded that my tinnitus was most likely caused by a combination of hearing damage and TMJD (temporomandibular joint disorder). TMJD is a condition affecting the jaw joint, which can lead to various symptoms such as a clicking jaw, facial pain, and ringing in the ears. I researched TMJ extensively, and despite doing everything I could to support my jaw health, the ringing in my ears persisted.

A New Perspective

After a year of tinnitus nearly driving me mad, I stumbled upon a man who claimed to have successfully treated his own tinnitus. Based in London, Robert was a craniosacral therapist who helped people manage and overcome tinnitus. With nothing to lose, I decided to book an appointment with him.

At my first appointment with Robert, everything I thought I knew about tinnitus was turned upside down. Still convinced that my tinnitus was caused by TMJD, I was surprised when Robert explained that tinnitus was actually a result of the nervous system being stuck in a state of fight or flight. He told me that my body was on high alert, constantly listening for danger.

He explained that by calming the nervous system and no longer perceiving tinnitus as a threat, the brain would eventually tune it out—a process known as habituation. Habituation occurs when the brain stops monitoring a noise and no longer registers it as important.

I found this hard to believe—why had I never heard this before? Everything I had read suggested tinnitus was caused by TMJD or hearing damage. When I questioned this, Robert explained that while damage to the tiny hair cells in the ear can result in hearing loss, it isn’t responsible for causing actual tinnitus. In fact, he pointed out that many musicians with hearing loss don’t experience tinnitus. He also mentioned that the actual sound of tinnitus is generated by electrical activity in the brain.

Although I wasn’t entirely convinced by this model of tinnitus, I decided to sign up for six sessions with Robert to see if it would make a difference.

Understanding the Stress Connection

Over the next few weeks, it slowly sank in that tinnitus is a stress response. I had spent so much time monitoring my tinnitus, constantly listening to it and analysing how it reacted, that my brain had become fixated on the sound, perceiving it as a threat.

This explained why my tinnitus had started as a minor irritation but had gradually developed into an overwhelming ringing. With everything I did, I would check to see how my tinnitus responded. It also made sense of why my tinnitus seemed louder after a gig, despite wearing earplugs—it had nothing to do with noise exposure and everything to do with me focusing on how my tinnitus reacted.

I eventually learned about auditory gain. Auditory gain refers to the brain’s ability to amplify sound signals, particularly when there is hearing loss or reduced auditory input. When the brain detects a lack of external sound, it may increase its internal sensitivity in an attempt to compensate—similar to turning up the volume on a radio with a weak signal. This explained why people with hearing loss were more susceptible to tinnitus.

I’d spent the last year using earplugs every time I played or practised music, even when I was driving. I’d been so petrified of making my tinnitus worse that, in fact, I had made it worse by plugging up my ears, contributing to auditory gain.

A seminal study demonstrated how even people without tinnitus can perceive phantom sounds when placed in complete silence. Researchers placed participants in soundproof rooms, where many began hearing non-existent ringing, buzzing or humming - essentially experiencing temporary tinnitus. This phenomenon, called "auditory hallucination in silence", supports the theory that tinnitus arises from the brain's hyperactivity when deprived of external sound input, rather than solely from ear damage. The findings highlight how our auditory system amplifies neural noise when normal hearing stimuli are absent.

The Role of Trauma and Stress

It still didn’t explain why I’d developed tinnitus in the first place. Further meetings with Robert revealed that many people develop tinnitus after experiencing a shock or trauma, such as a bereavement or a car crash. Sometimes, tinnitus appears instantly, while in other cases, it may take months to materialise.

It came as no surprise to Robert when I told him that several months before my tinnitus started, I had experienced a traumatic incident. To make matters worse, I had been drinking heavily, pushing my body to its limits at the gym, and working late nights as a musician. The ringing in my ears was, in essence, my body’s alarm bell, telling me to slow down.

Recovery and Habituation

The good news was that this was all reversible. Robert’s approach to reducing tinnitus focused on bringing the body out of fight or flight and changing a person’s perception of tinnitus from something threatening to something harmless. This was achieved through relaxation therapies and craniosacral therapy, along with a form of counselling to shift the way tinnitus was perceived.

After a craniosacral therapy session with Robert, my body felt completely relaxed—and the ringing in my ears was much quieter!

I continued seeing Robert for eight months. It took time for my brain to stop monitoring my tinnitus and perceiving it as a threat, but as the months went by, I thought about it less and less. Eventually, I stopped paying attention to it altogether.

My reaction to tinnitus changed—I no longer felt anxious when I heard it. In fact, I stopped caring about it, which was exactly the mindset I needed. I had habituated, and as a result, my brain followed suit, gradually tuning out the tinnitus.

The end result? I rarely hear my tinnitus now. Occasionally, it flares up, and I might notice a faint sound when I’m falling asleep—but nothing more.

Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)

As unpleasant as the whole experience was, it highlighted how incredible the human body is. My experience with tinnitus had been the result of my being in fight or flight—an automatic physiological reaction to perceived danger, preparing the body to either confront or escape a threat.

I went on to learn about Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT), invented by Dr. Pawel Jastreboff in the late 1980s. He developed the therapy based on the idea of habituation, where the brain learns to ignore tinnitus over time. TRT combines sound therapy (to reduce the brain’s focus on tinnitus) and counselling (to change negative emotional reactions to the sound). Robert’s method was a similar approach but without the use of sound therapy.

Does Habituation Work for All Tinnitus?

So, does this method of habituation work for all causes of tinnitus? Apparently so—though it’s important to remember that if you have ringing in your ears, you must see a doctor to rule out other possible causes, such as Ménière’s disease, a buildup of wax, or an acoustic neuroma.

Musicians and Tinnitus

Please note that the following is just my opinion, based on my personal experience.

An interesting fact about musicians is that they are highly skilled listeners. Years of practice rewire their brains, sharpening their ability to detect pitch, tone, and musical details with precision. This means a musician is far more likely to notice and focus on faint sounds - including those associated with tinnitus.

Another contributing factor is the musician's lifestyle. It often involves late nights, travel, coffee, and alcohol, all of which place excessive stress on the body. Late nights can play havoc with the natural circadian rhythm and throw a person's body out of sync.

However, everyone is different and there are people who can burn the candle at both ends and in the middle and not develop tinnitus.

Final Notes

Some don’t acknowledge Dr. Pawel Jastreboff’s tinnitus model and firmly believe tinnitus stems solely from damaged hair cells in the ear. Initially, I struggled to accept his theory – but my recovery proved its validity in my case. If my tinnitus had been caused by irreversible damage, it wouldn’t have faded from a blaring noise to near-silence.

While my experience resulted from multiple stressors, it’s important to recognise tinnitus has varied causes. Much about this condition remains unexplained.

There are many things you can do to help tinnitus. Lifestyle changes, relaxation, counselling, and wellbeing can all contribute massively to improving tinnitus, but it is a very individual journey—different things work for different people. This doesn’t mean you need to live like a monk; it means doing what makes you happy. Meditation and breathwork didn’t work for me—I’m too impatient. However, getting comfortable under the duvet with a good book or film really helped me relax. I found massage one of the most effective ways to calm down.

But there’s no point in engaging in a relaxing activity and then immediately listening to your tinnitus to see what it’s doing. That defeats the whole purpose of habituation!

If you’d like further information on tinnitus, please get in touch.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any decisions regarding treatment or health concerns.