Why is it that for the same person, the sound that tinnitus causes can sometimes seem overwhelming but at other times is bearable or even inconsequential? The answer lies with both our hearing system and our brain. Together they can make for a formidable combination which can work either against or, more importantly, for the tinnitus sufferer. Let's discuss why this is so…
Hearing system limits
The hearing system of most animals, and yes that includes us humans, is an amazingly sensitive mechanism. For a healthy young human the hearing frequency limits can be from around 20 Hz right up to 20 kHz. The upper sound limit is a whopping 190db; although sound above 120db will usually cause at least discomfort and possibly pain due to the pressure on the eardrum. The upper limit decreases with age and with the effects of any ear damage caused by noise or illness. This is a phenomenal range of sound and is essential for a successful hunter gatherer species such as humans.
Hearing and the Brain
The human brain is one of the least understood but potentially the most powerful organ known to science and we use only a fraction of its capability. However, one of the things our brain does allow us to do, and most people do it without conscious thought, is to focus our attention on a specific thing. This mental focus, the ability to sharpen our senses, comes from our survival instincts which we use to stay alive in a hostile environment. One of the necessary skills we have is the ability to selectively exclude from our senses and perception certain aspects of our environment so that we can ‘home in' on what we consider important. A typical example of this would be hearing a noise somewhere around us that seems unusual or potentially threatening. Because we can use mental focus to exclude or reduce the affect of other noises, so that we can listen more intently to the chosen sound, the sound we want to hear will seem to be louder than the other sounds around us. Another example is when we want to overhear a conversation; we seem able to reduce other conversations, say in a restaurant, in order to focus our minds and ears on the one we want to listen to. This ability is natural and essential for our survival since we often need to recognise whether something we hear is a threat or whether it is food for the table. We are able to do a similar mental focus with our other senses too.
How does this affect tinnitus sufferers?
The problem with this powerful natural ability for tinnitus sufferers is that once a sound has been brought to the attention of our mental focus it is hard to stop focussing on it. This is when things become tough since by focussing on the sound tinnitus causes we actually magnify its intensity in our mind and suffer even more; the noise seems to get louder! Our own natural survival instincts are working against us rather than for us.
Change your mental focus
The increase in sound caused by mental focus makes the problem worse but in fact we can use this same survival ability to help us reduce the intensity of the sound. The key is to find a way to direct our attention to something else. One thing that seems to happen is that when we are really applying our mental focus, or concentration, on one of our senses the other senses take a bit of a back seat; they seem less sensitive. They haven't really changed but what we are doing is filtering out their contribution to our current perception and this is the key. By consciously focussing our mind on using one of our other senses, such as sight or touch, with an activity that requires close attention we can actually reduce our perception of the sound tinnitus causes and reduce the intensity. Once the intensity of the sound starts to drop, we are able to relax further and reduce our stress level, and then block out the sound even more. Total absorption in an interesting activity that does not depend on our hearing can significantly reduce the tinnitus sound.
Although this is not a replacement for a proper tinnitus treatment or a tinnitus cure, with practice it can become part of a number of powerful self-help techniques that will assist you to control the problems tinnitus causes.
Now learn more about how to get rid of the irritating sounds tinnitus causes with a /?p=subscribe&id=1" Tinnitus treatment and also collect your free GIFT.
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