Customer Reviews

Tinnitus, Turning the Volume Down: Proven Strategies for Quieting the Noise in Your Head

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've read a lot of tinnitus books. This is one of the handful that actually doesn't beat around the bush with audiological theory or bogus natural remedies.

Hogan has put together a remarkable book that anyone can use to reduce the volume of their tinnitus. (He is careful to note that the profoundly deaf are often not as easy to achieve good results with.)

I found the information about medications to be an eye opener. I never dreamed there were so many medications that can help someone who suffers with this maddening sound.

I also believe what Hogan calls "SPADES" (stress, panic, anxiety, depression, emotional difficulty) play a role in tinnitus generation and resolution.

Maybe most compelling was the authors personal story about how he suffered with tinnitus. His very real pain that he experienced. His daily decision about suicide and the final victory which he was told could never happen.

Highly recommended.

This revised edition of Tinnitus: Turning the Volume Down is excellent.

I was one of Kevin's clients five years ago. I found him by his first book. It helped me enormously. After all those years of suffering I don't anymore!

Kevin doesn't have hearing aids to sell or a practice he's looking to fill. Instead he puts everything into this book that can be done in a book...and there is a lot.

He explains what medications can help the vast majority of people with tinnitus. (Yes, they do work as I can attest to.)

He also exposes in a gentle way the frauds and shams of the tinnitus "cures" without quite labeling them as frauds. (Save your money and buy this book.)

The relationship between stress and emotional problems with tinnitus seems to be quite high. Most of the books I read about tinnitus seem to focus on the ear. Hogan points out that half of all cases of tinnitus are not improved when the 8th nerve is severed. Hogan brings tinnitus relief by showing how to utilize the brain. His strategies including reducing stress, changing lifestyle, hypnosis, medication, psychotherapy, behavioral techniques and surprisingly osteopathy.

Hogan's doctorate's is in psychology not otolaryngology and I suspect he means it when he doesn't understand everything there is to know about the human ear. But clearly he understands tinnitus and it's reduction. He helped me and the original edition of this book which was also good was where it all started.

Thank you!

If you have tinnitus, or you're a health professional, please read this book!!

It is extremely comprehensive. Yet it's very easy to get through - it's written in an easy-to-read style, and is very concise and well organised.

Best of all, it describes a range of scientifically proven methods to reduce tinnitus. It is extremely well referenced (and contains over 40 pages of research abstracts at the back, which is useful if you're a health professional).

The vast majority of people who have tinnitus and read this book will see that the odds are greatly in their favor!!

The book's author had extreme tinnitus, which he reduced to zero. (After doing a massive amount of research!) Very inspiring!

Hogan has made a great leap forward because knowledge of tinnitus was really backwards, by being so fragmented. Tinnitus isn't looked after by any one type of health care profession. So no health profession has responsiblity to keep tabs on all tinnitus research, and no one was exposed to all the research - most of which was published in journals for other health professions...

Kevin Hogan took on the task of reading all the research that was available, from everywhere! (So as you'd expect, he recommends a multi-modal approach to treating tinnitus - using a range of strategies which just one type of health professional can't give you.)

The result of Hogan's research is that people no longer need to accept the following sort of hackneyed, awful advice: "Tinnitus is an incurable condition, that one can, with patience, learn to live with." (Which is well-intended, but whoever says this simply isn't up-to-date with scientific research.)

The book lists the different causes of tinnitus, the different ways in which it presents itself, and the different effects that experiencing tinnitus has on individuals. It points to the most likely strategies for success depending on individual characteristics.

However, it emphasises that all tinnitus is just a perception of sound (not originating from the environment). It tells you how to reduce that sound perception, pretty much regardless of cause. Many people do that to the point where the perception doesn't exist at all - i.e. no tinnitus!

This is a landmark book.

As a hearing aid account executive for a major manufacturer, I constantly get asked about tinnitus and what can be done for people who have it. I read this book and was ecstatic to find out that so much can be done to help people with tinnitus. I thought 40 pages of professional journal article citations was a bit much but aside from that, this book is wonderful. If you have tinnitus or work with people who have tinnitus this book is indispensable. It provides a workable framework from which people can improve their situation. Dr. Hogan's own story of how he battled tinnitus is compelling. The most useful section may have been how people with very little money can utilize a simple walkman for auditory habituation. The discussion about medications was also new to me. This book is a wonderful resource. Definitely recommended for everyone with tinnitus and everyone in audiology.

I ordered this book after reading so many excellent reviews! Well, I have suffered with tinnitus for 5 years and I have to say this has got to be one of the worst books I have ever read. Mr. Hogan gives you some strategies to use and then over and over recommends the reader buy his program for tinnitus reduction. I felt like this was one long sales pitch with some real information thrown in once in awhile to make it seem like it's a useful book. Another thing that drove me crazy was how poorly written the book was. There has to be at least 50 typos, including some very poorly composed sentences. Doesn't this guy have spell check or an editor?

One last thing, after I read the book I went in and reread the reviews and it seemed to me that a large percentage of reviewers were either fellow therapists or former students. Maybe he asked them for the glowing reviews to help sell the book. I have wasted my money, I hope you are smart enough to not waste yours.

While attending hypnotherapist training with Kevin Hogan in 1998 I was introduced to a potentially debilitating condition called tinnitus. Shortly following this training, I was assigned to write a college paper, the topic, tinnitus. This book was by far one the most informational and scientifically sound book which I was able to obtain on the subject of tinnitus. The facts and figures speak for themselves with the massive number of people experiencing this on a day to day basis. Tinnitus;Turning the volume down provides hope for those who have been told that they will "have to learn to live with it" this book says it is time to help the tinnitus find a new address. This book is good for the person who has been diagnosed with tinnitus, doctors wanting to learn more about tinnitus, family/friend of someone experiencing tinnitus, or student researching tinnitus. The format is easy to follow and understand while still containing just the right degree of scientific jargon. My best wishes to you and the journey to quiet the noise inside of your head.

Kevin Hogan has a clear insight into this problem, being a tinnitus suffer himself. He has done his research but presents the material in easy to read lay terms. His research data is current and varied. He offers hope to everyone suffering from tinnitus without giving false claims. Someone should find as least one thing helpful in this book, I found many.

Dr. Kevin Hogan is the published author of several books, and is also a highly respected trainer. This great contribution, however, comes from his personal success in overcoming the frustrating inner noise of tinnitus (ringing and/or roaring in the ears). It covers the basics of tinnitus, including scientific explanations and current modalities of treatment. The use of competent hypnotherapy, used in conjunction with other appropriate professional health care, may offer the best hope of turning the volume down. This is a valuable book, written in a style that is easy to understand, and it is a MUST-read for anyone who suffers from tinnitus.

--Reviewed by Roy Hunter, M.S., Published Author of: MASTER THE POWER OF SELF-HYPNOSIS, THE ART OF HYPNOSIS, and THE ART OF HYPNOTHERAPY

A few years ago, I attended a seminar lead by Kevin Hogan on the subject, "Tinnitus". Within two weeks, I was working with my first tinnitus patient who had been referred to me by her doctor. With the information that I received at that seminar, I was able to help this lady reduce the noise and cope better with life. Anyone suffering from tinnitus or theraist who is or will be working with a tennitus client should read this book. It has been very helpful to me as a hynotherapist in working with people with tinnitus. He gives a wealth of information concerning the various treatments for tinnitus and how they can be combined for the benefit of the client. I let the doctor prescribe the medication and I use hypnotherapy to enhance the desired results. Kevin Hogan's book has been a valuable referrence for me when working with clients suffering from the noise of tennitus. I am pleased to call Kevin Hogan: peer, teacher, and friend. Chaplain Paul G. Durbin, Ph.D. Director of Pastoral Care, Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital, New Orleans, LA

I've had tinnitus for nearly 50 years now, starting when my eardrum had to be punctured by a doctor. I have what I consider to be mild but chronic ringing, plus infrequent pulsing sounds matching my heartbeat. As with many tinnitus sufferers, I've been told to "learn to live with it." In searching the internet about tinnitus, I found many of the "send me money and I'll give you a miracle cure" type offers, but in one chat site, someone said this book, "Tinnitus: Turning Down the Volume" by Kevin Hogan, was by far the best book on the subject. So I found and ordered it on Amazon.

After reading the book, I must admit I was very happy with what I got out of the book. It promises no "instant cures" and in fact urges patience and months long efforts. Dr. Kevin Hogan suffered from tinnitus, and writes about his expensive and extensive efforts to relieve his own problem, and offers suggestions to the reader on actions to try. He guarantees no cure, but suggests plans of action. I am trying two of the suggestions now (prescription prescribed by my doctor, and the use of an iPod. Yes, and iPod.) Right now, I will wait and see if my volume does indeed get turned down over the next several months.

There were at least three instances Dr. Hogan discusses in the book that I thought were quirks of mine alone. Reading about them made me realize that they were indeed tinnitus related and not just me! The biggest surprise moment in the book for me was his contention that the ringing is not necessarily just in the ear, but also could be programmed into the brain. Over the course of the book, he makes sense.

Dr. Hogan does offer to sell cd's for very severe cases as part of his own Tinnitus Reduction Program, but the majority of the book discusses how to appproach the program on your own (or with the help of a good doctor.) There is no "You can't be helped without buying these" type of sales pressure.

One final comment. In his book, Dr. Hogan highly recommends "Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life" by Martin Seligman, Ph.D. After reading the Tinnitus book, I bought this book, which was a REAL eye opener about my own attitude (which according to Dr. Hogan, can have a major effect on dealing with tinnitus.) I learned that while I thought I was a fairly optimistic person, I was far from it, and I learned how to become aware of my negativism and counter it. Now I am looking forward to dealing with both my known tinnitus and my previously unknown negativeness. I very highly recommend BOTH books.