Oh yeah I already know doctors, therapist and especially ENT's advise people with tinnitus and hearing problems to stay off the Internet about Googling there conditions. (especially because of people like me) The ATA would literally refer to me as an amateur posing as an expert. (which I never claimed and openly say I'm not) but let's move along so the point being doctors tell patients not to browse the internet about tinnitus, I get that your average simpleton loves homeopathy, religious dogma, Organic/Natural garbage, motivational conmen and other things that should be rightfully criticized. But how does that relate to actual scientist that talk about the biology of the inner ear, brain, and novel cutting edge science like signal timing, epilepsy drugs, GABA increasement, NMDA blockage, neutrophins to repair ribbon synapses, cochlear hair cell regeneration to reduce or prevent tinnitus? That's totally different using the internet to find factual information as opposed to being in the dark.
When I first got tinnitus I was confused why people were saying bent hair cells, others were saying phantom hair cells,others were saying specific audiotory nerve damage, others were saying the central gain model for any form of hearing loss. There was so much crap floating around and no direct answer. I wanted to an explanation and I knew the no one knows crap didn't add up with what I was hearing from some sources.