Tinnitus Therapy
How does Craniosacral Therapy Help tinnitus?
Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is very good for bringing you out of the adrenal state of fight or flight which can help the overall pattern of tinnitus (and hyperacusis) to steadily calm down and no longer be a threat. Whatever the cause of your tinnitus (there are many - from sound induced, hearing damage to chronic stress and trauma held within the body), it’s important to teach yourself to feel your body again, and become aware of where the stress and tension is holding on that could be feeding the tinnitus. Unfortunately, many people don't recognise that they are often living in this heightened reactive state, and stay locked in this loop for decades. This creates perfect conditions for tinnitus to appear and then stick around for a long time.
“Craniosacral therapy is one of the best treatments for easing you out of the hypervigilant state of red-alert which feeds tinnitus”
CST helps you get in touch with your body so that you can let go and release this stress and tension. This could be held around your neck and shoulder or jaw area for example. CST teaches you how to divert the focus away from thinking and into feeling, allowing your nervous system to settle down and in turn, your auditory system quietens down. This is not necessarily about generating thoughts in your head, it’s about laying back and letting the information come from your body back to your head. You may not be able to properly relax properly at the moment because you only have a limited sense of what is going on below the neck. If you don't know what's going on in your body, how can you switch it off?
As you let go of tinnitus, first of all, you will stop reacting negatively to it, ie it will stop getting to you so much. Then you can start forgetting about it as the brain filters it out into the background, and eventually, it can start to subside and fade into insignificance. It will become easier and easier to pay less attention to it as it no longer a threat. The way to do this depends on what you put your nervous system under in the first place of course!
Most tinnitus people need a few sessions of CST just to start being able to feel again. Chronic stress and tension and overwhelming situations are very good at shutting down the nervous system so that you cannot feel much at all. Part of treating tinnitus comes with opening up your nervous system again so numb areas in your body are replaced with feeling. CST is one of the best treatments for easing you out of this hypervigilant state of red-alert which feeds tinnitus and helping you reconnect with your body. As you start to let go of all the years of built-up overwhelm in your system, you start to feel lighter, carry less baggage and as a result, your level of hypersensitivity gradually reverts back to normal.
Most types of tinnitus can back off – It’s a physiology reaction that is still active in the body. This can settle and become quieter with positive action
“Further tinnitus help and guidance can be found on my website blog here, or within the videos on these pages. To understand more about what tinnitus actually is, head to the bottom of this page”
Tinnitus Therapy
Tinnitus therapy helps you develop a positive mindset that allows you to let go of the ringing in your ears. Learning to shift the focus away from your hearing and negative thinking into more body experience, and learning how you can settle your nervous system with the support of therapy. This helps the tinnitus go quiet and remove it from the mind.
I offer my knowledge on lifestyle, suggest coping strategies and help explain how tinnitus stays in your system. Once you understand this, tinnitus becomes much less threatening, and the way forward becomes common sense.
Letting go of your tinnitus can take some time and a bit of commitment on your side and a course of treatments is recommended (Tinnitus Care Plan), this might also include you par taking in some body based practices such as yoga or tai chi and maybe some meditation and mindfulness to help connect with your body and to help your nervous system stay balanced and de stressed, if you don’t do this already of course. Lifestyle choices can also play a role in tinnitus staying in your system.
Tinnitus Care Plan Information
What to expect during treatment
(See costs here)
Offering guidance/advice/reassurance/helping with a positive mindset
To move out of the negative mind and more into body feeling helps the tinnitus quieten down and eventually disappear
To start feeling a sense of what goes on below the neck and not always living in the head
Helping to release stressors/trauma /anxiety held in the body and structures of the head and body that can feed the tinnitus
Bringing you out of fight/flight - hypervigilant mode. Many tinnitus people are too switched on and reactive
Helping your nervous system settle into stillness and reach a more balanced state
Learning how to feel again and discovering a deeply calming place that allows the tinnitus to soften
Build up a sense of internal security and comfort within your body
Providing techniques and coping strategies
Helping your fears and finding reassurance and answers to your questions, as well as lifestyle advice on what activities help - with ongoing support.
Tinnitus therapy can be a gradual process so it’s important to take a longer-term view, don’t expect to change the way you are overnight. I ask people to come for 6 sessions initially to maximise the benefit of the treatment and feel some change, then we reassess if further sessions are required and how often.
6 sessions on a weekly basis help maximise the benefit of the cranial work, giving you a better chance to really let go, switch off and feel some sense of improvement, as well as learn how to better manage this temporary condition. This can vary from person to person.
We both want good results. Having a one-off session and then moving on to something else is not very helpful.
Having said that, getting advice and help to get on track can be very useful and positive.
Consultation sessions: If you are in any way concerned about the commitment of 6 sessions, you are welcome to come along for the initial consultation, then make a decision. This will include treatment as well as discussing positive ways to manage tinnitus going forward.
Please see common sense about this treatment further down this page before booking
A further discussion with my colleague and tinnitus expert Julian Cowan Hill. We both work in this field as Craniosacral therapists and feel these chats can be useful for many to understand tinnitus and also what we are seeing commonly in our respective practices.
My own tinnitus story, with tinnitus expert Julian Cowan Hill.
What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus commonly appears after an intense or long-term period of exertion, excitement, stress, loud noise, challenge or change. Consequently most people I see start noticing symptoms after a period of stress, losing a loved one, an operation, taking drugs, a long legal battle, listening to loud music excessively, ear infection etc. Challenges like these can not only damage your hearing but also cause your nervous system to go into an adrenal state of red alert, known as “fight flight or freeze.” This makes your nervous system hypersensitive and causes dramatic changes throughout your body. The way you hear changes radically too. Whether it is skiing, stress, anger, exhaustion, or emotional upset, adrenal situations make your ears ultra-sensitive giving rise to tinnitus.
To demonstrate this shift in auditory perception, do you remember the last time you woke up in the middle of the night, after a nightmare? There you are breaking out in a sweat with your heart thumping away. You think you can hear someone outside your door. Youʼre frightened. Suddenly there is a creak on the landing. You jump out of your skin.
In this fearful state the tiniest sound like a creak doesn't sound tiny at all, and causes a big reaction. Even though the noise is feint, you perceive it as loud, and it causes your system to jump, breathing to quicken, mind to start racing, etc. This vital survival mechanism can literally save your life. Imagine if it had been a murderer with a knife out on the landing, being able to hear him/her meant you could prepare to fight or take off at top speed in the opposite direction. Your nervous system was doing what it has evolved to do, keep you alive. If there is any danger you need to know about it. That's why in certain situations your hearing needs to become ultra-sensitive, and can be a vital lifesaver.
However, everyday things can cause a stress response to occur, such as having a depressing bank balance, or worrying about a relationship. Unlike the noise in the night, these stressors can last months and years, and can eventually lock you into an oversensitive state for much longer. In this state, ears not only pick up external noise, but now, because they are registering more than normal, they start hearing the nervous impulses along the auditory nerve inside your head. In most cases, tinnitus is nothing more than hearing the noises of your nervous system which we normally ignore. Our hearing has become too switched on and detects nervous impulses inside our head. When the nervous system settles, we stop feeling threatened by tinnitus, we come out of red-alert mode and our ears stop listening out so acutely. As our hearing turns towards calm mode we naturally stop listening to these nervous impulses, and our hearing returns to normal.
Please Read - Disclaimer / Common Sense about the Tinnitus treatment
PLEASE NOTE: With tinnitus therapy, it can be a gradual process so it’s important to take a longer-term view, don’t expect to change the way you are overnight. I recommend a minimum 6 session programme (Tinnitus Care Plan) to start with to give you a good chance of seeing some change, and then we reassess if you will require further sessions and how often. One or two sessions are usually not very helpful. A bit like having one or two personal training sessions if you are wanting to get fit, these things can take some time and commitment. I want good results and you want good results so working together is essential. I am a cog in the wheel on your path to recovery, but it’s vital you also take some responsibility for your own nervous system too. This is when we see great results! If you are concerned about the commitment of 6 sessions, you are welcome to come for the initial consultation session to see if it’s for you, then make a decision. Contact me with any questions or concerns, happy to help.
If you are a person who likes pushing yourself to the limits drinking and partying a lot, having 10 coffees a day with a bad diet, running several businesses 100mph, worrying about and looking after everyone else except yourself, then your nervous system is unlikely to let go and calm down.
6 sessions do not guarantee your tinnitus will completely disappear - there are many variables involved. Some people may require ongoing treatment.
It can sometimes take several sessions before you start to feel and connect with your body and fully relax. Years of built-up stress can take some time to let go of.
Some people may need Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to run alongside treatment if really struggling to get out of a negative mindset. This can be done with a professional practitioner or using aids in books/online/apps.
There is no one medicine, person or activity that cures all.
The vast majority of people I treat leave feeling much calmer, lighter and more relaxed.
Callbacks are not part of treatment and are purely to help advise on if this kind of therapy is right for you.
Fearful mindsets and frozen traumatised physiological processes are behind what keeps tinnitus going. Being a therapist is all about meeting people, providing support and safety to help them free up and let go. I cannot say how long this will take.
There is no scientific evidence to prove this work does what it says. This doesn’t mean that this work is not effective. If someone says “oh, my tinnitus has gone,” or “Wow, the intensity has backed off and I hardly notice it anymore,” that is good enough for me and the client.
It makes more sense to work with the tinnitus people who do come forward, and then, do my best. 9/10 clients I treat benefit in some way from the treatments.
We both want good results. Having a one-off session and then moving on to something else is not usually very helpful.
Any testimonials posted are unsolicited and are offered freely.
If you are prepared to open to change, letting go and release, which causes tinnitus to go quiet, then please step forward. If you are worried, or have any doubts, or feel that this is not an approach that suits you, then it’s probably best to seek help elsewhere.