Completed Safety and Effectiveness of rTMS in the Treatment of Tinnitus

Tinnitus Talk submitted a new resource:

Safety and Effectiveness of rTMS in the Treatment of Tinnitus (version 1.0) - The aim of this study is to test safety and effectivity of 4 weeks of daily bilateral TBS.

Read more about this resource...

 

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00518024
Status: still completed. No information about study completion date.

Protocol:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2739195/

Results:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22539568

 

I am interested in how this plays out. I actually went through TMS for a mental health diagnosis, not tinnitus. Not sure how different the protocols were between the two, but I didn't happen to experience the unexpected side effect of lessened or cured tinnitus. (The jury is still out on the mental health help as well, though it probably helped a bit.)

 

A director of a Tinnitus Research Center at Harvard-affiliated Mass Eye and Ear does not recommend rTMS or tDCS to treat tinnitus. He says it can make tinnitus worse.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/closing-in-on-tinnitus-treatments

 

I'm right there with you! I am currently undergoing TMS for mental health as well, and am almost finished. I can't say for sure if it has helped my mental state and it definitely hasn't helped my tinnitus at this point, so I'm interested as well to see where this goes.

Interesting article, thanks for posting! The first few weeks of TMS (for my depression) I didn't notice any affect on my tinnitus at all, but lately I do tend to hear it a little bit louder after each session. That being said, it may just be a temporary thing and I'm not finished with treatment yet, so we'll see what the end result is.

 

I know someone that tried rTMS for his tinnitus. I think it was all cash for him (40-50 thousand dollars) and no improvement in his tinnitus. I didn't think insurance paid for TMS as it's "experimental" but maybe some do?

 

Yeah, I ended up paying quite a bit but my insurance covered most of it. For that, I had to prove that I’d been on dozens of antidepressants over the years with no success before they would cover it. I didn’t even mention my tinnitus so I don’t know what the criteria is for that, mine was just for depression.

 

Has anyone gone through TMS treatment before and did it make the tinnitus worse?

I am doing TMS now and my tinnitus seems to be louder today. This sucks because I feel my tinnitus had lowered to the point where I no longer heard it anymore.

 

I had 25 TMS sessions at $150.00 a session, at first 3 times a week, then 2 times a week. I see a psychiatrist who also is the founder of the Brain Wellness Center who told me he could help me with my tinnitus. Well I now see him once a month and my tinnitus has not gotten any better. Some days it is very low but most days the hissing I hear is really loud like right now as I post this.

In my opinion TMS is not making my tinnitus any better.

I also went to an audiologist who sold me a $6,000 pair of hearing aids saying these would help, well nothing has helped. This is horrible!

 

I know we are all trying and looking but I would advise to save your money until the big things come out (FX-322 / Otonomy / ...) Hang in there. Don't give up so close to a possible cure (or at least reduction).