Rewiring Tinnitus: How I Finally Found Relief From The Ringing In My Ears Paperback – December 11, 2016

Easy to read and the author offers great suggestions for dealing with tinnitusIf you have tinnitus and are worried that there is nothing you can do , buy this bookI still have it but the tips and resources suggested have reduced my stress by 90% and I have a path forward. Well worth buying

Easy reading and informative. Meditation not easy, but some of that's on me.

Before I leave my review, I'd like to put it into context.When I first discovered the "ringing in my ears," I scheduled an appointment with my doctor. He ran a series of tests which came back "very unremarkable." Next, he suggested I make an appointment with an audiologist.That visit resulted in finding out that I had some age-related hearing loss, but I was not a good candidate for hearing aids. The audiologist mentioned that a colleague of hers who for his patients who had newly-acquired tinnitus, they benefited significantly by taking melatonin. (Taking melatonin did not seem to help those with existing cases, however.)I decided if something was "safe" and inexpensive, I would try it.If you can deal with the weird dreams that may result from getting deep, R.E.M. sleep, I would highly recommend melatonin. My theory is that the restorative sleep you may get from taking this supplement may help to quiet your brain, because as Glenn Schweitzer says in his book, tinnitus is the result of an over-active brain. It is trying to fill in any silence it perceives.The audiologist said that she had circumstantial evidence that increasing the potassium and decreasing the sodium in your diet might help, because these are two components of the inner ear. Even though I believe it is my brain that is "ringing" and not my ears, I figured I had to eat anyway. So I loaded up on bananas, oranges, orange juice and yogurt.I looked on online at the over-the-counter aids for tinnitus. It seemed that about half of the reviewers swore by the products they had purchased, and about half swore at the products they had ordered.What I did do: I ordered some inexpensive Ginko Biloba. I did not order an over-the-counter "remedy" for tinnitus, which got the mixed reviews I just mentioned and was very expensive for just a vitamin tablet, I instead ordered a bottle of comparable Super-B Complex vitamins at a fraction of the cost. (Manufacturers of products which they position to relieve a certain kind of "pain" probably realize that "sufferers" will pay just about any price to "get well.")Next, I decided I needed to educate myself further. I checked out a number of books from the library, including one from a Ph.D. But I was highly disappointed. Although in the books' titles, they promised relief from tinnitus, for the most part, I read in the book "you can try this, it might work, but it probably won't." It seemed to me that these authors were more interested in impressing their academic colleagues by producing definitive works on the subject than actually providing help for the reader.So I turned to Amazon and ordered Glenn Schweitzer's book. As soon as it arrived, I was excited to page through the book. A number of things have immediately struck me:This book was written from the perspective of someone who "had been there and done that," not some disinterested researcher. The author has likely been afflicted by this condition far worse than you or I.Even though this is a self-published book, it is very well-written and well-researched. (Maybe the author's wife had something to do with that!)Glenn writes from the easy-to-read perspective of a friend or counselor. He is warm and caring. (Not caught up in spewing technical jargon.) And most of all, he offers hope.All I really wanted to know in reading are two things: 1) how did I get tinnitus and 2) how do I get rid of it. (I have no intention of becoming an expert on the subject.)To his credit, Glenn dismisses covering the first item. (Who care how you got it?) He primarily concentrates on point number two.Glenn says that once you dismiss any medical conditions as the cause of the situation, the buzzing is actually harmless. (I had been over-dramatizing my condition as though I had received a death sentence.)Next, the way to lessen the effect of tinnitus was not to try to ignore it, but to actually focus on it. And he discusses in the book ways to do this.As I mentioned, I just received the book. But maybe just by reading some of Glenn's key comforting takeaways, combined with the actions I have already taken, the buzzing has decreased nearly 70%. The only time I am hearing the buzzing is times like now, when my surroundings are totally quiet. But if my condition continues to improve, even that might disappear. Otherwise, as Glenn points out, habituation may take over.The way I think of habituation: Let's say all of your life you have perfect vision. Now something happens and you need to get glasses to correct your eyesight. If you spend time thinking to yourself, "I hate the way I look in glasses! I don't like having a box around my face! Why can't I just have perfect vision like I had before? Why am I going downhill like this?" etc., getting glasses will be a traumatic experience for you.But, as most glasses wearers come to realize, after habituation sets in, they aren't even conscious of the frames resting on their nose and ears, unless they think about it.Reading Glenn's book can help you with that.Thank you, Glenn Schweitzer, for writing one of the most thoughtful, honest and beneficial books I have ever started to read!

I gave this book three stars because I believe the author really wants to help people, but I just can't buy his "solution," i.e., to actually focus on the tinnitus, even for a short time. I have some low level tinnitus caused from an injury to my right ear, and the more I focus on it, the worse it gets. For me, the solution is to simply not focus on the tinnitus, just the opposite of what this book recommends. Focusing on the tinnitus only makes it worse for me. Once I'm up and busy, even if I'm sitting still and working at the computer, my tinnitus abates. Actually, I found the "solution" in this book kind of preposterous, but who am I to say it won't work for you? After all, we're all different. If you think focusing on your tinnitus is the answer to living in peace with it, then this is definitely the book for you. If you think that sounds as preposterous as I do, better avoid this book and find another solution. I will say this: meditation, when done properly, can help us relax and endure almost anything.Update: Please don't accept tinnitus as a natural part of aging. When I began to develop tinnitus in my right ear, which was uninjured, I saw another ENT. I was diagnosed with otosclerosis, a (usually) genetic disorder in which bone grows around the stapes and prevents it from vibrating and transmitting sound. I underwent a double stapedectomy, during which the stapes was replaced with an artificial device. It is an easy and safe surgery, as the ENT enters through an incision in the eardrum. I had only local anesthesia. My tinnitus resolved completely a few weeks after surgery, and my hearing was totally restored. So, see a good ENT before accepting hearing loss and tinnitus as inevitable, especially if you have a family history of tinnitus or hearing loss. The surgery is covered by most insurance, and I found it easier than a dental appointment.