I have a great admiration for those who work in primary care. Nurses, doctors, receptionists who deal every day with people who are frightened, worried and are looking for answers for a myriad of health issues.
Our General Practitioners have more and more people under their care, and less and less time to help them. More form filling, more government health priorities and naturally our expectation is that our GP is expert in everything.
It’s no surprise then, that at The Tinnitus Clinic we often hear that a GP has told a patient that ‘there is nothing that can be done’, and that they should ‘learn to live with it’.
I believe that many of these comments, whether entirely accurate or not, reflect the frustration that many health professionals feel with tinnitus.
We would all like a magic bullet for tinnitus – something which cured people of the very distressing symptoms people with tinnitus have. But such a treatment for all types of tinnitus is many years away.
What all healthcare professionals could do now is provide good education and understanding for people with tinnitus so that the anxiety about the condition is reduced.
There is a great deal of evidence that by reducing the anxiety levels of a person with tinnitus, the symptoms themselves may reduce alongside.
Education is not a cure – but understanding the tinnitus can make it easier to live with.
