Your experiences when you ask for help with tinnitus

Hi

Is it the case that people who have tinnitus can go to their GP and find lots of useful information about tinnitus and the help there is locally? Or is it just the opposite? What sort of information do you think would be helpful for GPs to have to be able to point people in the right direction?

What have your experiences been when you visited your GP? And what have your experiences been when/if you went to an ENT or Audiology Department or in the UK a Hearing Therapy department?

Have you found them helpful or otherwise? If otherwise, how do you think things could be improved in terms of access and information? If you found them helpful, how did they help you?

It will be really interesting to hear from you if you have an opinion about any of the above, and any ideas that might make useful information about tinnitus and how to "manage it", "cope with it" or just understand it more readily available locally.

The Tinnitus E-Programme was set up because of what appeared to be a dearth of locally accessible help - and I soon discovered this to be the case not only in England and the Home Countries but worldwide. Did you know that the E-Programme is being used by individuals from across the world - it has spread from here in Lancashire, England to Australia, New Zealand, America, India..... and many more countries.

We look forward to reading your stories

Best wishes

Debbie Featherstone
Tinnitus E-Programme
www.tinnituseprogramme.org

The Placebo "problem"

I have come across a very interesting article this week concerning the pharmaceutical companies and the placebo "problem". Although it isn't specifically about tinnitus, it IS about drug trials including those for antidepressants and "mood enhancing" drugs that are sometimes prescribed for people who have distressing tinnitus of course. I have drawn my own conclusions about the information herein, and I have read many other materials that the information in this article supports; it is quite a lengthy piece to read, but I hope you find it informative.

The link is from the Wired UK magazine October 2009 issue and was cited as reading for my MSc. and as such in my personal opinion, gives the article further justifiable credibility. The full URL for the link is: http://www.wired.co.uk/wired-magazine/archive/2009/10/features/the-placebo-problem-big-pharma%27s-desperate-to-solve.aspx

Best wishes to all

Debbie Featherstone
Tinnitus E-Programme
www.tinnituseprogramme.org

Is the E-Programme really free to access and if so, why?

The Tinnitus E-Programme is free to access. All the materials for the programme are freely downloadable including 4 x 30 minute recordings of relaxation exercises. There are no hidden charges - everything in the www.tinnituseprogramme.org website is freely available including a Handbook that can be downloaded and used as you progress through the programme.

The reason the E-Programme materials are free to access is so that as many people as possible can have access to a way of helping them reduce tinnitus distress and habituate to tinnitus. The materials have been available to patients in Debbie Featherstone's NHS clinics in England for some 16 years, have been and continue to be used very successfully by hundreds of people.

Since launching the on-line Tinnitus E-Programme in June 2009, hosted by the Clitheroe Therapies website, it has been accessed by people across the world and it was time that the E-Programme had its own dedicated website.

In addition to the free to access materials, there is a Support Forum that individuals can join at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/tinnitusprogramme The support forum is moderated by 3 Hearing Therapy/Audiology professionals and one lay person who herself has tinnitus, found her own way of managing it effectively and now helps support others to habituate to their distressing tinnitus. This Blog can also be used to help support those undertaking the E-Programme.

The Tinnitus E-Programme is NOT A CURE for tinnitus. There is no cure, however, through gaining an understanding of what tinnitus is, learning how to reduce levels of stress arousal that perpetuate it and putting this learning into practice, many hundreds of people benefit from undertaking this structured programme over a 6 - 10 week period.

To get started on the Tinnitus E-Programme, just copy and paste this URL into your browser: www.tinnituseprogramme.org

Debbie Featherstone
Tinnitus E-Programme

New dedicated website for the Tinnitus E-Programme

The Tinnitus E-Programme now has a dedicated website where all materials including information and recorded relaxation exercises are free to access. The address of the website is www.tinnituseprogramme.org

This new Blog site has only been set up today so it's very early days plus, I am new to "blogging" so please bear with me if there are any teething problems at these initial stages

Best wishes

Debbie Featherstone
Tinnitus E-Programme
www.tinnituseprogramme.org