Tinnitus: Treatment and Relief [Hardcover]

Jack A. Vernon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 14, 1997

-- Overall, at least 36 million Americans have some form of tinnitus, including William Shatner, who has testified before Congress in support of research funding aimed at discovering the cause and finding a cure for this disturbing disorder.
-- The American Tinnitus Association (a distributor of this book) estimates that 12 million Americans have tinnitus so severe that their quality of life is seriously compromised.
-- Editor, Jack Vernon was instrumental in the founding of the Tinnitus Clinic at the Oregon Hearing Research Center and played a role in the creation of the American Tinnitus Association.

Far from being a hopeless condition, tinnitus can be treated, says Jack Vernon, who has brought together in this book leading researchers from around the world to explain the most frequently used procedures for the relief of tinnitus. Readers will find a broad variety of treatments discussed here because researchers have discovered that no one treatment works for everyone. Treatment topics discussed in detail include hearing aids and wearable tinnitus masking devices; treatment successes and failures with Xanax, nortriptylene, lidocaine and other drugs; electrical stimulation, surgery, and other invasive techniques, including cochlear implants; relaxation training and cognitive therapy; and biofeedback training.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

ÒI canÕt stand this noise in my ear one more minute!Ó This is the often-heard complaint of someone who suffers from tinnitus.

* Overall, at least 36 million Americans have some form of tinnitus, including William Shatner, who has testified before Congress in support of research funding aimed at discovering the cause and finding a cure for this disturbing disorder.
* The American Tinnitus Association (a distributor of this book) estimates that 12 million Americans have tinnitus so severe that their quality of life is seriously compromised. @BULLET Editor, Jack Vernon was instrumental in the founding of the Tinnitus Clinic at the Oregon Hearing Research Center and played a role in the creation of the American Tinnitus Association.
Far from being a hopeless condition, tinnitus can be treated, says Jack Vernon, who has brought together in this book leading researchers from around the world to explain the most frequently used procedures for the relief of tinnitus. Readers will find a broad variety of treatments discussed here because researchers have discovered that no one treatment works for everyone. Treatment topics discussed in detail include hearing aids and wearable tinnitus masking devices; treatment successes and failures with Xanax, nortriptylene, lidocaine and other drugs; electrical stimulation, surgery, and other invasive techniques, including cochlear implants; relaxation training and cognitive therapy; and biofeedback training.

Jack Vernon has been studying tinnitus for more than twenty-five years. He is the co-editor of a well-received technical volume, Mechanisms of Tinnitus, and is affiliated with the Oregon Hearing Research Center, Department of Otolaryngology at Oregon Health Sciences University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 1 edition (August 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205182690
• ISBN-13: 978-0205182695
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,594,449 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview of tinnitus and available treatments, August 27, 1999

By 

S. C. Mitchell (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tinnitus: Treatment and Relief (Hardcover)

The feature of this book that makes it so helpful is the unbiased overview of the various available treatments. You may wince to hear your favorite home remedy analyzed in strictly scientific terms, but the knowledge can be as refreshing as a splash of cold water on your face. The variety of topics covered--medication, depression, masking, habituation, ginkgo, etc.--indicates that Dr. Vernon wanted this book to be a comprehensive guide to treatment, not just promote one clinic's speciality over another. As a tinnitus sufferer myself, this book was a indispensable tool in trying to understand what I was up against. I particularly liked the presentation of data--treating the reader like a fellow researcher able to form his/her own conclusions.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven writing mars the usefulness of the information..., June 12, 2005

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tinnitus: Treatment and Relief (Hardcover)

Being a tinnitus sufferer to a small degree, I picked up a copy of Tinnitus Treatment And Relief by Jack A. Vernon at the library the other day. This is one of those books you could either think is absolutely great or something that you shouldn't read unless you have a medical degree.

On the good side, this book doesn't attempt to push a single treatment option or tout some specialized treatment routine of the author. It's a series of chapters written by doctors and researchers that cover a range of techniques that have been studied and found to have varying levels of effectiveness. Since little is known about tinnitus and there are no fool-proof or totally effective treatments, it may well be that what works for one person only serves to exaggerate the problem for someone else. Also, tinnitus is highly subjective in the level of discomfort to the patient. As measurement of the extent of the problem can be difficult, placebo treatments often offer some level of relief just because the patient expects it to help. If you're a sufferer looking to find out about a range of treatment options, this book will help.

What I didn't like about the book is that the content varies greatly in its readability. Some of the chapters are written with the patient in mind, and it's easy to understand what the doctor is trying to convey. Other chapters are nothing more than research papers targeted at other researchers, complete with technical statistical analysis and research jargon. Although each chapter ends with a "question and answer" section from a patient perspective, far too much of the writing will be heavy going for the average reader.

I think the best I can do is give this an average rating with the caveat that your results may vary. Depending what you're looking for, this may be an important read to deal with your condition or it may offer even more frustration of a condition you don't understand...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful Resource, April 29, 2009

By 

K. Rowse "Kbhr" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tinnitus: Treatment and Relief (Hardcover)

I was looking for a review of alternatives to learning to cope with my tinnitus and found this book most helpful. There are many articles about various types of treatments for this affliction. I found this to be a very informative resource which I refer to often.