Customer Reviews

Tinnitus: Questions and Answers

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Quite possibly the best book ever written for the tinnitus patient. If there's one better, I haven't encountered it since my introduction to tinnitus 32 years ago. It's just that this one covers so much ground, and breaks it all down into such clear, manageable chunks. There's no lost time here: Quickly find and read what applies to you and skip the rest. But be forewarned: Tinnitus Today editor Tabachnick-Sanders writing is so conversational, so informative, that I found myself reading about many topics that did not apply at all to my experience of tinnitus. More importantly, I found answers to questions no G.P., E.N.T. or audiologist has ever been able to answer for me. I also found hope, coming away with the sense that, finally, the research community is seriously pursuing effective tinnitus treatments. That alone was worth the cost. In short, Tinnitus Questions & Answers is well worth punching in that credit card number and clicking "submit."

When I was first diagnosed with Tinnitus a month ago, I was thoroughly confused. The audiologist who confirmed the hearing loss was of the " deal with it" school. I needed more than that. My greatest source of help has been the American Tinnitus Association (ATA.org) and this is a book produced by them. If you are experiencing this phenomenon or if you have someone in your family who is, this book is a terrific source of information. It is done in a question and answer format and I can almost assure you that any question you might have is covered in this book in some fashion or another. And the reader is never made to feel that they are stupid for asking "that" question. It was very helpful to me.

I was browsing the bookstore for books on Tinnitus and found 3 to compare. This one was the most expensive but by far the most informative, laid out in Q&A style in so many categories like hypnosis, drugs, music, etc. What I really liked was that it didn't contain all this "deal with it and relax" ... that you see en masse in other books. The binding and print quality is really nice so you can go back to it and not worry about your investment -- it's a book I'll keep on my bookshelf. It's about 240 pages and is a must read, in my opinion, because you are probably like me and want to know everything you can about something you are reminded about all too often. Here you can pick your topic and read it one area at a time.

Dr. Jack Vernon, Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology at the Oregon Health Sciences University and former Director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center, is the world's leading authority on tinnitus and tinnitus treatment. He is a lifelong avid reader and a great admirer of the written word.

Barbara Tabachnick Sanders, editor of Tinnitus Today, is a master of that written word. And working for the American Tinnitus Association as a senior staff member focusing largely on the areas of support and education, she has gained a unique and sophisticated lay appreciation of the complexities inherent in tinnitus -- an amorphous condition that can range in impact from mere distraction to devastation.

In Tinnitus -- Questions and Answers, Vernon and Tabachnick Sanders join forces to produce a book that is extraordinarily broad in scope and meticulous in depth, yet so lovingly composed that it makes for an "easy read." This volume is a must for those affected by tinnitus -- patients, family, and friends -- as well as by hearing healthcare professionals like me, whose jobs have just become that much easier.

For people just developing ringing in the ears or who have had it for a while and don't have a clue what to do about it, this is an enormously useful volume that explains theories of what causes the problem, analyzes various treatment approaches, answers many practical questions, and generally tries to put a positive focus on coping with the psychological aspects. Also contains a very very helpful appendix of resources, support groups, etc. An excellent place to start.

Dr. Jack Vernon, Professor Emeritus of Otolaryngology at the Oregon Health Sciences University and former Director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center, is the world's leading authority on tinnitus and tinnitus treatment. He is a lifelong avid reader and a great admirer of the written word.

Barbara Tabachnick Sanders, editor of Tinnitus Today, is a master of that written word. And working for the American Tinnitus Association as a senior staff member focusing largely on the areas of support and education, she has gained a unique and sophisticated lay appreciation of the complexities inherent in tinnitus - an amorphous condition that can range in impact from mere distraction to devastation.

In Tinnitus - Questions and Answers, Vernon and Tabachnick Sanders join forces to produce a book that is extraordinarily broad in scope and meticulous in depth, yet so lovingly composed that it makes for an "easy read." This volume is a must for those affected by tinnitus - patients, family, and friends ... as well as by hearing healthcare professionals like me, whose jobs have just become that much easier.

My father is a tinnitus patient and I wanted to learn as much as possible about tinnitus without getting bogged down in depressing detail. This book was practically perfect for that. There is, as yet, no cure for tinnitus, but the authors remain optimistic. The question-and-answer format of the book makes it very readable for the layman and it seems to cover every possible aspect of living with tinnitus.

Having mild tinnitus and wanting to learn a little bit of how the future might make it worse, and what I could do to keep it from getting worse, I needed a good source of information. I found a lot of info on the web, but soon understood I needed info of a more reliable and unbiased kind. So I read this book "Tinnitus: Questions and Answers" and was very satisfied. It covers the topic of tinnitus both in depth and width, and it does so in an unbiased and easy to understand way.

Also; not having english as my native tounge, I found this book easy to read and easy to understand. It is well written and full og explanations.

Read it, and get well informed on tinnitus!
This advice is for common people as well as general physicians and ear-nose-throat doctors (!!!)

Stein Thomassen, Norway

My one quibble with Dr. Vernon's book is that the smorgasboard of questions to which he provides answers seems a bit arbitrary and haphazard. For example, how about answering the question about what the current leading theories of tinnitus causation are, or what (in Dr. Vernon's vast experience) is the best treatment strategy for someone who suffers from this condition? You must look elsewhere for that kind of information.

In fact, the lack of systematic exposition gives you the sense of a game of trivial pursuit as Dr. Vernon jumps from topic to topic. But it must be said that, for all that, one can learn a great deal from this pioneer in tinnitus treatment and research, and the tone of the book is positive and filled with warmth and an obvious and deep commitment to helping those with "ringing in the ears".

If you've just gotten tinnitus this book is a terrific starting reference, and perhaps the only book on the subject I will read.
To cut to the chase: there is no cure, but perhaps you can do some things (maskers and tinnitus retraining therapy) to lessen its impact. Just a lot of good general information about things on which you might have questions (e.g. does weather or pressure affect tinnitus, if I went deaf would the ringing stop? -- probably not).

The format is Q&A. Given the scientific detail and the subject the book is a fairly easy read. The book is divided into short chapters (generally 2-7 pages long) so you can quickly move around and find topics of interest. My only quibble is that the chapters appear to be randomly ordered. As I was writing this I went back and checked and sure enough they are not randomly ordered, they are ordered alphabetically!!! So the earliest chapters introduce you to the dangers of "Air Bags" and about "Alternative Treatments" before you ever get a firm grip on what tinnitus is... Meanwhile, more important chapters, on "Tinnitus Testing" and "Tinnitus Retraining Therapy" come only at the end. But even reading sections on which I thought I had no interest, I often found things of value. A downside, the book is from 2001 so the science may not be up-to-data. Still a solid starting point.

Two more recent articles that I found useful are:

Jerome Groopman's Feb 2009, New Yorker article ("That buzzing sound"). Groopman is a doctor who writes on medical topics and has tinnitis. Also a January 4, 2010, NY Times article by Henry Fountain ("Suppressing Tinnitus With Music Therapy"). Sorry, Amazon, edited out the two web addresses. The music therapy is new and based on a paper published in a respected scientific journal (Listening to tailor-made notched music reduces tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related auditory cortex activity. Okamoto H, Stracke H, Stoll W, Pantev C. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2010 Jan 19 107:1207-10). Basically, you listen to your own music where an octave around your tinnitus frequency has been removed. The technique is new and needs independent confirmation. It is based on one small study and it is unclear, to me, the degree of relief experienced by those who use it. There is a youtube video describing how to do this yourself, titled "Tinnitus music therapy-A do it yourself guide." But I haven't tried it yet.

Good luck!