A Positive Tinnitus Story

[J Cowan Hill]

I had moderate tinnitus for 16 years then severe tinnitus for 4 years where I couldn't hear the phone ring or hold down a job. Craniosacral therapy turned it around for me and got me on the road to recovery.
Six months after starting treatment I woke up one morning with silence. This moment changed my life and I vowed to do my best to help other people let go of their tinnitus from this moment onwards and became a craniosacral therapist and tinnitus consultant myself.
Over the last 15 years I have worked with over 600 people with tinnitus from all over the world and enjoy seeing many of them get better.
Feel a strong need to improve the way tinnitus is managed in the UK and want to stop health practitioners telling tinnitus people that there is nothing they can do about tinnitus. This is not true. This causes a lot of unnecessary harm. We need to get people on track with learning how to lower the adrenaline levels in their nervous system, de-stress, let go and enjoy symptoms backing off as a result.

 

[J Cowan Hill]

PS I wanted to join this forum for a few weeks just to find out what it is like. I had a few clients over the years who have really appreciated the support.

 

[DebInAustralia]

Thankyou and welcome Julian.

I have seen your videos on youtube, and appreciated them.

what helped you ?

 

[Jeff M.]

@J Cowan Hill to TT!! Glad you joined us here!! Are you still T free??? This is quite intriguing! I am not familiar with Craniosacral therapy. I will have to look into. Possibly you could point me (us) in the right direction?? I have Subjective Idiopathic Tinnitus. Have you found this therapy effective for people with SIT??

Great people here on TT! Explore around and check out all the great threads and discussions!! Stoked you are here!!

Cheers from Southern California!!

Jeff

 

[awbw8]

It's pretty nice to see and "end date" in someone's "tinnitus since" section, I must say.

What caused your T @J Cowan Hill?

 

[Dana]

Hi, Julian and welcome! I've also seen your videos and, believe me, they consist my ONLY HOPE that I will get rid of T some day. I used to go to an osteopath but I had an appointment only once a month and i'm not sure that I went 6 times, maybe i did, I don't remember.
A few queastions, please:
1) how often you had to go for the treatment, how many times a month?
2) are you actually saying that you started the treatment after 18.5 years of T and obtained results? (I read somewhere that if you don't start soon after the onset of T the therapy doesn't have results)
3) if I'm not indiscreet, what is your story of the onset of T? In what circumstances you got it?
4) do you know of other methods of lowering adrenaline levels and determine the nervous system leave the "red alarm" state? (medicines, herbs, exercises, anything)

Very interesting your observation that adrenaline levels must go down, I got my tinnitus also when my adrenaline got really high and apparently it remained at high levels.

Looking forward for your reply.

 

[Karen]

Welcome to Tinnitus Talk, Julian! We are glad you've joined us, and are excited to hear your message of hope for tinnitus sufferers. I tried cranial sacral therapy about a year ago, as part of the treatments offered by a chiropractic neurologist. It was soothing, and maybe if I had had more treatments, I would have begun to notice the benefits of it on my tinnitus.

I also think it's interesting that tinnitus and high adrenaline levels may go together. When my tinnitus first became severe, I found that I was suffering from adrenal fatigue, too. Four years later, as I have recovered from the adrenal fatigue, my tinnitus has improved. I do believe there is a connection, and would like to learn more about it.

I'm glad you've joined us, and will look forward to your posts.

 

[Stacey427]

Thank you for your post Julian!

I think all of us here are going to find your information extremely helpful!

Do you know or have any contacts within Australia that practice as you do?

Many thanks and a warm welcome!

 

[Katkin]

Welcome Julian, it's great to see you here.

 

[J Cowan Hill]

Thanks for your responses.
My tinnitus started due to acute family stress and a challenging work situation.
I had a whole history of ear infections as a child and far too many antibiotics.
I also grew up with bullies and became far too compliant and put on a smile or a brave face and behind the scenes my resentment and anger was building up like a pressure cooker. These are ideal conditions for developing tinnitus.

Years later I was interpreting in a wine tour company and needed to hear for a living, but I was hard of hearing and my tinnitus was drowning out the ability to hear properly. So I was frequently listening out far too acutely which pushed an oversensitive hearing system over the edge into hypersensitivity mode. Basically I was listening out so much my hearing was tuning into the nervous impulses of my nervous system - what most tinnitus is.

I had craniosacral therapy once a week for about 6 weeks and then roughly once a month. I reacted so positively to this hands on work that I decided to do a training course. In my experience, no matter what causes tinnitus, it can back off with careful handling, lowering adrenaline, and training the mind to refocus onto well-being and other body sensations. Our mind and nervous system is totally plastic and changeable.

I recommend anyone with tinnitus to find a good body-based practitioner to help settle the nervous system, and to develop a body-based practice like yoga or tai chi. In order to cut through the twitter in the mind, and the over focus on the hearing system there is nothing better than just practicing something that puts you in touch with a totally different part of you. Try making a cup of tea but very slowly, barely moving. Take 10 minutes to do it, and I can guarantee it takes so much focus that you will not be able to pay attention to your tinnitus. It is also deeply relaxing, which can help undo the tinnitus pattern.

I was on a Tibetan meditation retreat last week., These days I don't have tinnitus, but I do have tension in my chest and diaphragm. I was reminded that I needed to shift my overfocused mind off this tense part of the body, and spent a week doing breathing meditation. I was reminded that it takes time and practice to shift our attention off something. Hanging out with breathing practice I was able to slowly take the mind off this body-sensation, just like I used to do with letting go of tinnitus. It will probably take me a couple of months to get there completely ie letting go of my overfocus on a tense chest and breathing area so that it has freed up.

People with tinnitus can do very well by learning to focus their attention into a sustained focus on something else in the body and then hang out there. In my experience tinnitus hates this and struggles to stay in the limelight!

 

[amandine]

@J Cowan Hill

Forgive me if this sounds wrong and dont mean it to but was just wondering - if needed, then if one bruised a part of the body, then ones focus would be where is the pain of the bruise and then not on the noise in the head? Would that work? Or if one became stessed about other things, then one would be concentrating on another stress? Tried both of these and they work for a while but then the T seems to be there again and or gets stronger. So how to distract oneself especially if where I live there are no therapists (unless by skype but no money to pay him or her) or TRT clinics or anything really - only medication from the doctor which I dont want to take. Otherwise find it very difficult to not focus on the intruding sound high pitch higher by the day....Can you help please? Alone here with this and trying to get on and get better but trying to do it alone and not succeeding.
Any ideas, advice or help really appreciated....

 

[J Cowan Hill]

Help from others is very helpful but I understand money problems.

So learning to soothe the self with baths, showers, self-massage, slow movement, stretching, yoga tai chi etc is absolutely essential. When my T was bad I was hopeless at this and didn't know how to look after myself. But swimming became a really helpful daily activity. Took my mind off the T, helped destress the body, and shift the focus.

The worst thing with pain and suffering is to get stuck in the middle of it with no space or sense of way out. When it is overwhelming I always get help from my therapists or teachers.

 

[Stacey427]

@J Cowan Hill

Hi julian!

I was just wondering, would this therapy work on any type of tinnitus? Whether it be noise induced, ear infection induced, tmj, neck and stress induced?

I have no idea what caused my tinnitus and I'm still trying to figure it out, but if it was caused from any one individual thing, would the therapy still work?

It's sounds very interesting, I've been on your website and am very interested!

Thanks in advance and I'm so glad you joined the forum! Thank you

 

[amandine]

@J Cowan Hill,
Thank you for your very prompt reply.
Yes I used to go swimming and to quiet places round here but cannot go to these places anymore due to the noise. That was my favourite thing to do. When the water was running I found that helped a lot but when silent and no running water, then far too quiet to stay there. Maybe with an mp3 player might work.
However now turning to winter time and so too cold damp etc...to go to these places so no swimming coming up any time soon.
Because of a real lack of stimulation round here, I have no way of escape or distraction.
How can I learn Tai chi or something like that alone here.
By the way, this suddenly blew up when I moved house and having moved I absolutely hate this house. No bath and a horrible bathroom. Moved from a nice house to this horrible house - cheaper rent. Did not want to move at all not to here but made a bad decision and now stuck here and now with this terrible noise that seems to be getting more intrusive daily. I really think that I need some help here desperately please? My situation is different to most as I moved house temporarily until I would leave this country (I am in rural south west france) but moving country would actually be quite an insecure and stessful event so now feel trapped here in france in this house. No family and no social network here. No places to volunteer to do things as everything very far away and fuel costs to and fro are restrictive. No way to do anything -- not move forward or back but just stuck here treading time - if it was not for this Tinnitus I would be able to handle all of this and more. I go for walks with the dog and do cycle. I am being quite negative in thoughts.
Any advice or some practical things that I can do or you can help me with please? Thanks Julian

 

[Lisa88]

Hi @Markku and Gang.
Just a thought ... maybe this post could be archived in the success story section eventually.
Chronic t that went away. Very inspiring.

 

[Carloflogical]

All,

I'm not convinced this therapy works for all types of tinnitus.
As Julian mentioned in his post, his tinnitus came on though family stress, and challenging work situations.

There are so many different reasons why people get tinnitus.
Hearing loss being one of them.
This therapy does not do anything for noise induced hearing loss,as I've tried it,and it didn't work for me.

I do believe in what Julian says that stress can play a major part in tinnitus and you should look at ways of reducing stress.
If like Julian, your tinnitus was brought on as a result of stress then maybe Julian's advice will help.

Focusing your mind on differnt parts of the body will not get rid of the ringing in your ears if you have clearly damaged your hearing, like I have.

I just want to put this into perspective for a lot of people on here before they all go running off to try this treatment.
There is nothing worse than building your hope up for that something is going to work, for it not to.
That is just as depressing, and I've been there.

For the record,I have met Julian several times and he is a genuine lovely man, and really wants to help fellow tinnitus sufferers.
He has very strong beliefs in the way our healthcare system in the Uk manages people with tinnitus and I hope that one day he recieves the recognition he deserves for it.
There nothing worse than going to see your local doctor, Gp, ENT specialist, and being told there is nothing that can be done.
This is not the news that you want to be hearing (no pun intended)especially when you gone to them to seek help.
What they should tell you is there is nothing they can personally help you with, however there are people who may be able to help you, and then you should be referred.

We all live in hope that one day, we will all experiencing silence again.

Peace and love to you all.

Carl.

 

[amandine]

@J Cowan Hill
@Carloflogical

I wouild love to see or know the proof that T can be caused by stress.
I can see no evidence for this anywhere.
Please can anyone advise on this?

 

[Carloflogical]

Hi Amandine,

I,m afraid I can't provide you with proof that T can be brought by stress, as I do not know how this is possible.
What I do know is that whilst searching for remedies and cures, I have read articles where people have stated that there stress bought there tinnitus on.
Things like finically worries, job loss or even a berievement.
I'm certainly no Doctor.
There is a book from Thomas Coleman which is all about Tinnitus, and it's mentioned in there too.
Some people have allergies to food which can also cause tinnitus.
Remember we are all different, and our bodies respond to differnt things.

Maybe Julian can shed a bit more light in this subject.

Regards,

Carl.

 

[Katkin]

All,

I'm not convinced this therapy works for all types of tinnitus.
As Julian mentioned in his post, his tinnitus came on though family stress, and challenging work situations.

There are so many different reasons why people get tinnitus.
Hearing loss being one of them.
This therapy does not do anything for noise induced hearing loss,as I've tried it,and it didn't work for me.

I do believe in what Julian says that stress can play a major part in tinnitus and you should look at ways of reducing stress.
If like Julian, your tinnitus was brought on as a result of stress then maybe Julian's advice will help.

Focusing your mind on differnt parts of the body will not get rid of the ringing in your ears if you have clearly damaged your hearing, like I have.

I just want to put this into perspective for a lot of people on here before they all go running off to try this treatment.
There is nothing worse than building your hope up for that something is going to work, for it not to.
That is just as depressing, and I've been there.

For the record,I have met Julian several times and he is a genuine lovely man, and really wants to help fellow tinnitus sufferers.
He has very strong beliefs in the way our healthcare system in the Uk manages people with tinnitus and I hope that one day he recieves the recognition he deserves for it.
There nothing worse than going to see your local doctor, Gp, ENT specialist, and being told there is nothing that can be done.
This is not the news that you want to be hearing (no pun intended)especially when you gone to them to seek help.
What they should tell you is there is nothing they can personally help you with, however there are people who may be able to help you, and then you should be referred.

We all live in hope that one day, we will all experiencing silence again.

Peace and love to you all.

Carl.

Hi, if you read Julian's history on his website or book, you will see that he has hearing loss, has suffered infections, allergies, overuse of antibiotics, and noise damage as well as stress, all of which he believes induced his tinnitus. It is so encouraging to know that he no longer hears tinnitus.

 

[Steve]

There is a book from Thomas Coleman which is all about Tinnitus,

Hi Carl, just a quick note on that book. I'm pretty sure that Thomas Coleman is fictional, check out the tinnitus miracle thread for more information.

It's commonly thought that stress is a trigger for tinnitus and not an actual cause in itself, but the two are very closely linked. Of course we can't be 100% about this, it's based on what is known at this point in time, but they're fairly sure.

Stress without doubt makes it a lot worse and managing the stress will help you. I'm always aware of how I do pretty much nothing to really relax and I'm sure most people are the same.

 

[bodhisattva]

@J Cowan Hill
@Carloflogical

I wouild love to see or know the proof that T can be caused by stress.
I can see no evidence for this anywhere.
Please can anyone advise on this?

I'm not sure how to explain the causality but i am living proof that T can be caused by stress. Mine hit me during a post-job loss episode of depression/anxiety. No acoustic trauma to speak of. Just woke up one morning after ridiculous amounts of anxiety and panic attacks with a glorious new ringing in my head/ears.

 

[Martin69]

Hi Amandine,

I,m afraid I can't provide you with proof that T can be brought by stress, as I do not know how this is possible.
What I do know is that whilst searching for remedies and cures, I have read articles where people have stated that there stress bought there tinnitus on.
Things like finically worries, job loss or even a berievement.
I'm certainly no Doctor.
There is a book from Thomas Coleman which is all about Tinnitus, and it's mentioned in there too.
Some people have allergies to food which can also cause tinnitus.
Remember we are all different, and our bodies respond to differnt things.

Maybe Julian can shed a bit more light in this subject.

Regards,

Carl.

My T was definitely caused by stress. I had a period of much stress at home, at work, everywhere. Developed different symptoms like vertigo, headache, tiredness. In modern terms, in Germany they call it "burnout". During this phase, I had so much anxiety, in particular regarding the vertigo, that I developed T. It switched on from 0 to 100 within a second. Never ever had anything with my ears before, not even fleeting T.
I reduced stress as much as possible in my life, but T is the biggest stressor I have.
Unfortunately there is no such like a stress-less life. The world is demanding.
Although my T was caused by stress, I have hearing loss. I think, many at the age of 45 and older have some kind of hearing loss. But I hear perfectly fine in the speech area. My T is much higher, at 14-15 kHz. Awful.

 

[J Cowan Hill]

Sure life is stressful.
When things build up it is good to go and get support from a therapist which helps us let go.
We can also practice a body-based approach like tai chi or yoga which destresses us.
Diverting the attention away from our ears is helpful.
Grounding ourselves in body-based practice helps reduce adrenaline and hypersensitivity which starts to undo the tinnitus pattern.
For a lot of people it is quite challenging to sit and "be" with ourselves.
The more we settle into this on a regular basis the more we start to create the conditions for letting go of tinnitus.

By stress I mean conditions that lead to the central nervous system becoming activated and the perceptions becoming hypersensitive.

 

[Sjoerd]

@J Cowan Hill

I read somewhere that your are almost deaf...? Is that true?

 

[Sjoerd]

Sure life is stressful.
We can also practice a body-based approach like tai chi or yoga which destresses us.
.

The thing I have learned in the past year is that if you are anxious and you need to calm down. the only real way to do it is through your body. Tai Chi, Chi Kung or yoga are very effective, but they required regular and consistent practice.

For me, it has proven nearly impossible to battle my anxiety through cognition. I cannot tell myself to calm down, or use logic to calm down.

 

[J Cowan Hill]

Yes. I'm severely deaf in my left ear and moderately deaf in my left ear.
I walked in front of a loud speaker at the Notting Hill Carneval and damaged my right ear in a split second.
Lip reading really helps me survive in social situations.
I can hear plenty and so it doesn't seem like I'm very hard of hearing - I think the mind makes up for the short-fall!

 

[Sjoerd]

Yes. I'm severely deaf in my left ear and moderately deaf in my left ear.

You do have an ear on the other side...?

In someway this is good to know, even with severe hearing problems tinnitus does not have to stay.

 

[J Cowan Hill]

LOL

sorry severe on right and moderate on the left!

Yes. Even from hearing loss it is possible to let go of tinnitus.

 

[dan]

@J Cowan Hill , did your tinnitus develop slowly from mild to severe in loudness starting in 1982 (if so in what year did it become severe) and, when (at what point since onset) did you begin the therapy which led to your tinnitus going away in 2001. Thank you.

 

[J Cowan Hill]

Started when I was 16.
Got very bad when I was 30.
In 1999 when I was 33 I started craniosacral therapy.
It stopped 6 months later.