Tinnitus in Germany
General Situation:
In Germany we know that there are more than one
million people suffering severely or very severely from Tinnitus
and that every year there are 270,000 additional cases of chronic
Tinnitus.
Experience has shown that the probability of a recovery follows
the rule the sooner the treatment begins the better and that,
at the onset of Tinnitus, the appropriate treatment should be
the same as that for sudden hearing loss. Hence the primary treatment
of acute Tinnitus is to stimulate the blood circulation by means
of infusions to improve the oxygen delivery to the inner ear (by
a plasma expander with cortisone and/or lidocain). To keep the
patient away from any private or job-stress situations during
this time treatment in a hospital, as an in-patient, is advisable,
except in those cases where the stay in the hospital would be
the stressor.
Up to now there is no proof whether a success is due to the stimulated
blood circulation or to a soothing, tranquil surrounding and a
doctor's empathy. If failing to succeed sometimes treatment in
a barometric chamber is beneficial which is often used as the
primary treatment in cases of noise-induced trauma.
Of course a number of diagnostic procedures will
be run along with this "first aid" measures to find
out the possible cause of the Tinnitus. This check should include
the cervical vertebras and the temporomandibular. The costs of
all medical treatments, and even some alternative ones, are normally
covered by either the national health insurance or by private
insurance companies. The oxygen therapy in a barometric chamber
(HBO) is not accepted by the insurer.
In Germany a three to six months period is considered
to be the time frame in which a certain chance for a cure or an
alleviation seems possible. Of course with a decreasing tendency
as time goes by. After this time Tinnitus is considered to be
chronic.
The treatment of chronic Tinnitus is mainly a psychosomatic one.
At present there are more than 30 clinics, that in all can treat
approx. 8,000 Tinnitus patients per year (by stationary treatment
for at least 3 weeks). The national health insurance willcover
the costs if they have a contract with the clinic. These achievements
are the result of nearly ten years of hard work of the DTL. Nowadays
the clinics and DTL are in close contact for mutual information
and consultation.
Meanwhile, the TRT (Tinnitus-Retraining Therapy)
is applied by approx. 75 TRT-teams but often as a "neurophysiological
based management with a special concept.
In Germany the application of maskers for Tinnitus suppression
has never reached the importance it should have, as it has or
had reached in Britain. The professionals are very reluctant to
prescribe and offer masking devices. Despite this, after a long
struggle, DTL has achieved that the insurers accept masking as
a therapeutic means and agreed to contribute to the cost up to
approx. 400 EUR under the condition that the device is prescribed
by an ENT-practitioner, has been used and tested over a period
of at least four weeks and has proved beneficial. Principally,
this applies to TRT masking, too.
For information about Deutsche Tinnitus-Liga please click
here
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