About DTL

The Deutsche Tinnitus-Liga e.V. (DTL) is the only Tinnitus association in Germany. Its head office in Wuppertal (13 employees) is the base for all the activities. Some activities are furthering of research and development, instructions for professionals, socio-political improvements. For eight hours daily a telephone helpline is provided from the head office and a journal, "Tinnitus-Forum", with quarterly 27,000 copies is sent to all members, fellow organisations and 3,000 scientists, practitioners and other professionals.

The PR work is immense. The press statements and commentaries sent to newspapers, TV and radio stations result in monthly 3,000 enquiries, in phone calls, e-mails and letters, each answered at least with a brochure designed for information with international standard. About 10 - 15% of the enquiring people apply afterwards for membership. DTL has now about 22,000 members, 1,200 of them being professionals: scientists, medical and psychological practitioners, audiologists, hearing aid dispensers and clinics. So, DTL has the highest number of members world-wide, compared to other Tinnitus organisations, even to the American Tinnitus Association (20,000 members).

DTL's budget is up to more than 95 percent covered by membership fees and donations which guaranties the organisation's independence. Public subsidies are only granted for holding seminars. The annual membership fee (including 4 issues of Tinnitus-Forum) is 45 EUR for sufferers and 75 EUR for professionals. It can be reduced if members cannot afford to pay this amount.

DTL is fostering and supporting local self-help groups, especially those which were set up by members and offer support to members of that region. There are more than 150 groups of this kind. Beside this there are nation-wide 120 members acting voluntarily as "friendly ears" by listening to the problems of sufferers on the phone.

Beside Tinnitus DTL is increasingly involved in the care for people who suffer from Menière's disease (more than 2,000 of DTL members). DTL has had a close working relationship to the German association for hard of hearing (DSB = Deutscher Schwerhörigenbund) and other associations in Germany, for years. Furthermore, DTL has a good relationship to most Tinnitus organisations world-wide. At the moment, she tries to achieve a co-operation with physicians and other professionals in Eastern Europe, e.g. in Poland. For many years, prevention has been an important goal of DTL. It was due to its work that a decade ago the German army (Bundeswehr) started to use effective hear protection.

Comment:

Since the foundation of DTL, a registered charity, in 1986 the situation on Tinnitus in our country has dramatically changed to the better, although it is still far away from being satisfactorily. Our activities have made the word "Tinnitus" a well known term. (25% of the German population know the word and its meaning). Now, the word stands for a real challenge to the medical and psychological profession, the universities, the health insurance and social security system. But with the increasing public attention and awareness of Tinnitus the workload of a support organisation is soaring, but on the other hand it is wonderful to see how things are developing in our country and sufferers being treated much more humane. Even the private and the state-run health insurance and the state pension authority really try to do something beneficial.

During the last years a number of textbooks and nearly 20 self-help books on Tinnitus have sprung up. Among those the German translation of "Living with Tinnitus" by Richard Hallam, which has become a best-seller in this field. Meanwhile the media, like radio and TV, newspapers, magazines of all sorts report more often on Tinnitus and in a more qualified way than before - and even allow our criticism if not having done so. This is all good news! But there are still ENT-practitioners in this country who do not know how to treat a Tinnitus patient. They continue to tell the sufferers "There is no help - you have to live with it". Hence the fight against this ignorance has to go on.

Some topics of DTL's present activities:

• Encouraging schools to enlighten their pupils about hearing discipline and hygiene.
• Furthering and demanding a treatment while Tinnitus is in an acute state.
• Furthering an intensive interdisciplinary diagnosis (joint efforts) and a systematic (or standardized) treatment or rehabilitation during the first year of chronic Tinnitus.
• Furthering of rehabilitation instead of nearly useless therapies in case of chronic Tinnitus.
• Evaluation of alternative methods in order to implement those which have proved effective (but are not yet accepted) into the standards of Tinnitus therapy.
• Encouraging and urging physicians and scientists to do more within the framework of research, teaching, education and instruction of and for practitioners.