The Complete Guide to Tinnitus by Bill Habets

This book gives a thorough grounding in how hearing works, ear anatomy, causes of tinnitus, and possible treatments. According to the author, many experiences of tinnitus are not phantom sounds, but hypersensitivity to sounds created by your own body. For instance, humming might be caused by the movement of body fluids - blood travelling through the arteries. This can be caused by elevated blood pressure, and a wide variety of other possible causes. These are discussed, from noise, to stress.

The types, experiences, and explanations of tinnitus are numerous, and in many cases, tinnitus is considered to be a symptom of something else, rather than a diagnosis in its own right. Identifying that something else, however, is frequently very difficult, even impossible, and 95% of cases of reported tinnitus are medically untreatable, according to the author.

The book outlines what you can expect from the medical fraternity, in terms of the tests available and the processes that your consultant might employ in trying to identify causes for your complaint. It also looks at tests for hearing loss that might accompany your tinnitus, and even has a chapter on hearing aids.

I found it very useful for providing information about the workings of the ear and detailing therapies that might help. There is also a list of medicines that might be helpful and medicines to avoid, because they are known to make tinnitus worse.

The book certainly provides a greater understanding of the tinnitus condition to the layman. The book's biggest weakness is lack of graphics to show ear anatomy - that would be very useful. And typos - lots of them! It's also quite old: 1995. I picked it up from a charity shop, and couldn't understand the publication date because it's written in Roman numerals: MCMXCV. So things may have moved on somewhat, but it was still interesting.