Neurofeedback for Tinnitus

1st week of neruofb. Still figuring the protocol that should be used for me. Done 3 sessions so far no change in anything. 20 sessions more to go. Still early stages.

My qeeg found too much delta and lack of alpha throughout my brain. Similar to what has been found in research paper. So we will see how it goes.

 

Which research paper was that?

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17956812

This is the one. Decreased alpha and increased delta for people who suffered from tinnitus.

But there are papers who found otherwise. But who knows who is right. However my qeeg has areas that is different from 'normaltive data'

 

We have a user who posted 2 months ago in the Success Stories section who was cured of their 11 year old tinnitus using Neurofeedback

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/after-11-years-tinnitus-almost-gone.11326/

 

@Champ Yup there is. And i heard of a few others too. But the protocol used is actually the most important. We can be doing nfb but yet training the wrong parts of the brain.

 

@Marcuseva03 How is the Neurofeedback working for you??? Hope it helped! Please report.

 

ERIK,

You said that Neurofeedback and Biofeedback "Not much diff between the two".

I would disagree.
Biofeedback is about teaching yourself how to relax.
Neurofeedback directly changes brain waves.

..AND...it worked for me...10 years of tinnitus...GONE.

I hope more people use it, and hopefully it will get cheaper.

 

I've done the treatment and it did nothing for me. How bad was your tinnitus? Do you have a lot of hearing loss?

 

@heyhey who are you? We don't know you .you have joined TT today.

 

Neurofeedback (NF) takes a minimum of 10 sessions, and I noticed a little difference, but a more pronounced difference after 20 sessions. It could take longer for others. The protocol is different for each person, as there are not treating just the tinnitus, but other areas of the brain causing anxiety, depression, etc. You just need to do your research on your Counselors/Doctors that are performing NF, and check to see if they are properly trained., and how long they have been doing NF. You could ask for some references as well, and follow up. I had my counselor, who has LCSW & LFMT certifications, for over 20 years. I've had complete trust in him. When he began doing NF, I didn't need to do any research.

p.s. The requirements are different in the USA & Canada, for Counselors/Therapists/Physchologists, etc. that might be trained in NF.

 

Very expensive and without scientific basis. To be evaluated.

 

Happy for you but you know being a sufferer means also being skeptical about anything we hear.

Can we ask some questions to you?

1-What is your T story?

2-How bad was your T?

3-Can you describe your T? Was it tonal? Was it constant or fluctuating?

4-Did you take any drugs while you having this treatment?


Thank you

 

what would be more important to know was exactly what the neurofeedback treatment that @heyhey had was. There are a lot of different kinds of NF. The main schism right now in the industry seems to be between conventional high-frequency NF and low-infra which is trying to work with slower brainwaves. Most (all?) of the published research on NF and tinnitus uses conventional high-frequency feedback. However, a person who has tinnitus and runs a NF clinic in Alaska (who has posted in this thread at some point) recommended low-infra to me, and said that while he personally has not been able to impact the intensity of his tinnitus with NF, he has had patients respond to it.

It's all pretty complicated and poorly understood. Needs a lot more study; the thing is, the correlation between different kinds of brain waves, and brain structures, and the fundamental nature of consciousness isn't understood at all. So we're stabbing around in the dark flipping switches. Given enough time and empiricism, it seems likely to me that this kind of work is going to lead us to all kinds of useful, reproducible knowledge about consciousness itself... but right now it's all kind of a crapshoot.

I'll probably attempt a course of low-infra NF over the next couple months principally because I can do so in the area I presently live, and I'm aiming to move (to somewhere a lot quieter ) by the end of the year.

 

Any details?

 

Does neurofeedback help tinnitus?

 

Neurofeedback for the treatment of chronic tinnitus : Review and future perspectives.
[Article in German]
Kleinjung T1, Thüring C2, Güntensperger D3, Neff P3, Meyer M3.
Author information
1Klinik für Ohren‑, Nasen‑, Hals- und Gesichtschirurgie, UniversitätsSpital Zürich, Frauenklinikstraße 24, 8091, Zürich, Schweiz. tobias.kleinjung@usz.ch.
2Klinik für Ohren‑, Nasen‑, Hals- und Gesichtschirurgie, UniversitätsSpital Zürich, Frauenklinikstraße 24, 8091, Zürich, Schweiz.
3Psychologisches Institut, Universität Zürich, Zürich, Schweiz.
Abstract
Neurofeedback is a noninvasive neuromodulation technique employing real-time display of brain activity in terms of electroencephalography (EEG) signals to teach self-regulation of distinct patterns of brain activity or influence brain activity in a targeted manner. The benefit of this approach for control of symptoms in attention deficit disorders, hyperactivity, depression, and migraine has been proven. Studies in recent years have also repeatedly shown this treatment to improve tinnitus symptoms, although it has not become established as routine therapy. The primary focus of this review is the rational of EEG neurofeedback for tinnitus treatment and the currently available data from published studies. Furthermore, alternative neurofeedback protocols using real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements for tinnitus control are considered. Finally, this article highlights how modern EEG analysis (source localization, connectivity) and the improving understanding of tinnitus pathology can contribute to development of more focused neurofeedback protocols for more sustainable control of tinnitus.

KEYWORDS:
Electroencephalography; Hearing disorders; Neurofeedback; Neuromodulation; Source localization

Source : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29143096
Unfortunately, this abstract does not have a clear conclusion.

 

I am interested in trying neurofeedback for my Tinnitus but feel confused about all the different types of neurofeedback programs practitioners use. I am interested in hearing from anyone who has had some success with neurofeedback and what type of program their practitioner used. Thanks!

 

I have been doing the neurofeedback therapy. I have had about 14 treatments. After my sixth treatment the following morning when I woke up it was amazing. I was no longer depressed I no longer had anxiety. I felt like I got 20 years of my life back. I still have the tinnitus, but I look at it in a different way today. I am still going through the therapy because I believe it can at least lower the noise if it doesn't end it all together. This is the best I have felt in seven years!

 

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10484-018-9420-6

Extracts from this article:

In another higher quality study, Vanneste et al. (2016) researched the effects of LNFB on tinnitus related distress. A total of 58 subjects were included, 23 received LNFB of the posterior cingulate (alpha up and beta down), 17 LNFB of the lingual gyrus and 18 were part of a wait list control group. The findings showed no significant change on tinnitus loudness, but distress was diminished in the posterior cingulate trained group with a large ES (ES = 0.70) but not for the other groups. This effect was explained by a select number in that group; close to half of those with grade iv distress moved to a lower level of distress. Analysis of the brain change data showed no change of the targeted activity at specific regions, but rather a decrease in connectivity between the posterior cingulate and dorsal anterior cingulate. These findings are fascinating, also due to the protocol specific effects and did include appropriate control groups.
(...)
For tinnitus, no effects were found for tinnitus loudness, whereas a protocol specific effect was found for distress with a large effect size. Replication and expansion of these findings would clearly be important.

Link (study from Vanneste) related to this review:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352289515300424?via=ihub

 

Recent dissertation on neurofeedback for tinnitus at the university of Zurich.
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/158283/1/158283.pdf

Key findings (page 119):
The neurofeedback protocol used in this project has been found to be apromising treatment option for chronic tinnitus. Patients benefited greatly from the training as their tinnitus-related distress has been permanently, loudness of their tinnitus at least temporarily, reduced. Furthermore, none of the patients reported persisting side effects due to application of the training. [...]

 

Any opinion on the treatment offered by this centre in London?
http://www.braintrainuk.com/other-conditions-that-neurofeedback-supports/neurofeedback-for-tinnitus/

@linearb and All, if I were to ask questions to check whether operators are trained on the right protocols, what would you suggest to ask specifically? Thanks.

 

For me Neurofeedback didn’t work, even I tried approx 50 sessions and tried several protocols. I can’t believe this helps severe or moderate suffering patients at all after my experience.
However some patients claim some improvement, even though I believe the effect is due to care of the therapist and believe of doing something for their symptoms.

Perhaps Neurofeedback does help to enhance somebodies self healing power - not sure.
also the Placebo might play a role.
They say you change brain patterns, but this can be achieved also with other techniques and it’s not proven that this is the root cause of tinnitus.

Also my reaction to tinnitus didn’t change at all. All the nice brain pictures and wired connections by EEG looks sweet but were not really helpful.
It’s similar to mri imaging, you see some blood flow increase and that’s it. Doesn’t mean anything. All the experts told me not to over interpret such pictures...

 

Dr. Shulman mentioned brain imaging to me. QEEG/LORETA and CBT. If neurofeedback doesn't help your tinnitus I don't see the reason to try it myself.

What did it cost you for 50 sessions or was it covered by insurance?

 

A recent paper stating that the protocol has to be tailored.
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/np/2019/3540898/
This is probably the same work as in the dissertation posted above.

"However, unlike the previous studies, the frequency range for the rewarded alpha band was not fixed between 8 and 12 Hz but rather individually determined according to each patient’s specific alpha peak frequency (IAF)"

Interestingly, they say that while distress remained lowered for six months after end of treatment, loudness reverted back.

"While distress remained on a low level even 6 months after the completion of training, loudness returned to baseline levels in the follow-up period."

 

I know with my insurance, Neurofeedback is only covered for certain diagnoses and tinnitus is not one of them.

 

I practiced neurofeedback every week for a few months! I can say that it is very useful FOR THE DOCTOR!

They pus the electrode on your head, you listen to good quality music for one hour, in the meantime the doctor could play with his phone or do other stuff......... Pay attention it is mandatory that this delicate procedure must only be carried out by a professional, a trained doctor or a psychologist!!!

 

I just got my QEEG yesterday, and I'll be reviewing my results today along with my first treatment.

I decided to try neurofeedback because I've noticed something rather intriguing about my tinnitus. If I go into a deep meditative state, very close to asleep, I get into this really zen alternate reality--it feels pretty otherworldly--and my tinnitus evaporates. As in, it pretty much dies down.

I've been able to get into this state about 6-7 times now. I'm not always successful in getting myself into this state when I meditate (I do imagery meditation lying down on my side). But each time, my tinnitus vanishes, and I can maintain this state for about an hour each time.

However, about 20 minutes after I get up, my tinnitus resumes. But it's a pretty nice break in an otherwise miserable day.

I enrolled in this Biofeedback place. The owner also has tinnitus very similar to mine. She used neurofeedback to help her push her tinnitus to the background. She said she still has it, but she has to concentrate to hear it.

The place uses video and sound as part of the therapy. I get electrodes clipped onto my earlobes and put headphones on and watch anything I want on Netflix for half an hour. If my brain is "doing the right thing", the video is bright and the sound is normal. If my brain is not doing the right thing, the video fades and the sound lowers. So my brain gets the instant feedback. I think "doing the right thing" is exhibiting the right brain wave patterns for my particular therapy.

Anyway, I can report back on how it goes. I do two 30-minute sessions a week, and I enrolled for 20 sessions (and they threw in 5 free ones, for a total of 25).

 

I'm starting a Neurofeedback program in a couple of months to attempt to help with my tinnitus. I was initially seeing a therapist for CBT to help with habituating which worked well for me as I've been down that road in the past. After a few sessions I felt good and he mentioned that another therapist in the same practice offers Neuromodulation to help treat a range of symptoms and that it could be an option to look into.

So I booked to see him. I was a bit skeptical at first but he claimed he has personally treated patients with tinnitus and that he trained under and worked with others who have used it to help with tinnitus. He welcomed and understood my skepticism. I found some research papers online that I brought along on my laptop for his insight on. We had a good chat about it all and he explained as much of the process and theory as he could to an uneducated folk like me. There's a 10-15% chance it won't work for me at all, but there are some parameters that can be tweaked as well.

Ultimately he said that if I wasn't noticing any change in around 5 sessions, then it would be unlikely to work for me, and it's my call to stop sessions at any point if I don't feel I'm getting anything out of it. I was happy with all of that. Now's the waiting game until it starts. Fingers crossed.

 

There is someone @ my work that suffers from tinnitus and tried Neurofeedback but was not successful. Since his tinnitus was the result of a work injury, it was covered by WCB.