Tinnitus Therapy

Hi Everyone,

I am a student currently working on a research on the therapy for tinnitus treatment. I have heard about different treatment options available but I would like to know a little bit more about it.

Below are some questions that if you could help me share your thoughts on. This really helps me to focus on what is needed and what could be beneficial in regards to therapy.

1.What do you like and/or dislike about the device that you are using/used before?
2.How often do you hear noise/ringing in the ears?
3.Do you wear your current device or sound mask all the time? How comfortable/heavy it is?
4.How would you describe the sound coming from the device? Any space for improvement?
5.How often do you meet the doctor for advice and follow-up? How often would you like the visit to occur in a month/week for example?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Could you tell us more about your research? University affiliation? What type of product are you trying to develop?

 

What therapy? We have a couple potential ones in trial. I don't exactly consider masking devices therapy.

 

Sure, it is for a new product development course. I am exploring the opportunities. The research is more on the Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) and using music in place of sound. The devices I was referring to was the sound maskers and how that is helping compared to sound habituation.

 

Okay. So you're doing an informal query to see if people would prefer music instead of white noise for TRT therapy?

 

Yes.

 

Obviously, you do know about Widex Zen and its use of chimes in TRT. What type of music are you referring to? Just normal music from an iPod or something that's been structurally modified for an individual's tinnitus?

 

Yes, I have heard about the Zen program for tinnitus relief. Those are the questions, I would like to know. Does the music (chimes with different pitch and tempo) in the Zen program feel enough? Do they prefer to hear different relaxing music personalized to them? How often do they listen to the sound for therapy?

 

Well, you might be disappointed with these queries on this board.

Few on this board have tried or are doing TRT. Few have also tried Widex Zen.

Most people are actually masking their tinnitus through iPods and smart phones. And some are trying/have tried psychological approaches.

 

Oh okay. I appreciate your help though. Thanks !!

 

A fan is the oldest trick in the book. Seriously, nothing masks better.

 

A solution that strikes the source of the problem would be the ultimate treament. Not to be discouraging, but we already have plenty of options for masking it... and clearly there needs to be more done. Handling the auditory system itself and manipulating it into going back to it's calm, non-ringing state is the ideal solution!

 

yes, sound therapy is not the way to go. There is enough out there and it only masks the problem. It`s like having pain in you finger but sqeeuzing your toe really hard so you have less attention for the finger ... it isn`t even pain management let alone curing the cause.

 

Sound masking and sound therapy are not necessarily the same thing. Masking is based upon the principle that you can obtain relief from T by listening to some other noise which is louder than T. Some people find masking helpful and others do not. Sound therapy can encompass a number of different things. Certain types of sound are known to produce residual inhibition. People with T find that the T becomes quieter while listening to these sounds and remains quiet for a short time after listening. As I understand it, ACRN purports to stimulate inner ear hair cells in such a way that healthy cells will compensate for damaged ones, thereby re-supplying the brain with input from the missing sound frequencies and quietening T in the long term. I do not know whether the long term beneficial effects of ACRN will be proven by clinical trials but there is no doubt that many people (including myself) find the residual inhibition effects of ACRN to be helpful in making T easier to deal with day-to-day. So I do not think that sound therapy should be so easily dismissed. It also has the advantage of being easily self-administered by anyone with an iPod or MP3 player.

 

Understand what you're saying Nills but as someone who has suffered tinnitus for close to 30 years, and only having recently discovered 'masking' I will take 'squeezing my toe' in a heartbeat. Especially when a cure seems a long way off. And I don't agree that masking has to be louder than the tinnitus - I purposely do not do this, the level is set BELOW my T and before sleep I focus on the masking sounds, which makes the tinnitus seem to recede in volume, and then the masking plays all night. Admittedly it hasn't helped my T but it is giving me the only relief I have found in 30 years - at least my tinnitus doesn't wake me up 5 times a night like it used to. So for me, at the moment, masking is definitely the way to go simply because there's nothing else out there yet that promises anything positive. Lots of theory, not much practical.
Also, could you people please not assume guys like me, new to this stuff, automatically understand what the acronyms stand for - ACRN?
But thanks for the discussion and also for this forum - something else it's taken me 30 years to find.

 

ACRN = Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation
There is a good explanation at http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/acoustic-cr-neuromodulation

 

For what its worth, guys - several years ago I embarked on a tinnitus therapy course which cost me $5000 for a fancy mp3 player (that packed up after three months anyway!). This machine played pieces of classical music. There was no counselling - only monthly meetings which consisted of a hearing test (I have some loss in one ear but overall for a 68yo my hearing is not too bad, and it was better back then). So I consider I may as well have thrown my $5000 into the east wind for all the help it was, and that's why I am not chasing any other programs. Masking sounds such as chimes, the Bellbird (Bell Miner) is excellent, as is pink (no not punk) noise, and rain works best for me. Music does little - apart from taking my mind off my tinnitus, so I do listen to the radio at night for a short while before I switch to masking, but I consider it only relaxation and entertainment value as it also used to wake me up (music). Maybe when they played some punk as opposed to pink!

 

Thanks PhilB - I'm on a steep learning curve here and us old fellas have problems with slopes...

 

Yes the machine was a Neuromonics Markku - can't recall who was running the show but I've seen some posts on the forum from people who have used Neuromonics now with some success - maybe back then (probably 12-15 years ago) was early days for them and obviously they've developed the program to provide some benefit now. Also I think it depends a lot on who is providing the program. The mob I went to gave no counselling - just told me to use it for several hours a day and the visits were, as I said, just hearing tests over about six months. I don't want to knock what the program offers now, the main point I was making was that the music was of no benefit - they said it was customised but as far as I was concerned there was no attempt to match pitch or sounds - no advice on what it was supposed to do, it was just music, familiar pieces to me which I had on CDs anyway so I knew the stuff and there was nothing else on it, unless it was subliminal. Had absolutely no effect anyway, although it did mask, but not within a bulls roar as good as what I'm doing myself now. As I said, it was early days Markku.

 

It is stories like yours that make me wonder why cold laser therapy has such a bad reputation; because with cold laser therapy you at least get something - and for half the price...! (See attachment).

Admittedly, my tinnitus was pretty much the same before/after, but at least my hearing improved significantly...

 

This has happened a few times here at Tinnitus Talk: People come on the board, say they are researchers or journalists and want our opinions... and don't identify themselves. They have every right to do this. But I am personally not comfortable giving information to anyone under these conditions, even for an informal survey.

I put out such inquiries all the time in my work. But: I give people my full name, tell them what organization I am affiliated with (what newspaper, magazine, university, etc), a brief synopsis of not only what information I am seeking but in what context it will be used, and how they can contact me for more information.

Everyone here at TT can respond to these inquiries as they choose. (And thanks to @jazz for asking good clarifying questions regarding this post). But those seeking MY input regarding research or an article need to provide what I mentioned above.

As to Neuromonics and@Ray Seddon: I am about halfway through Neuromonics myself. My guess is the program has improved since you used it. Although it is not all quite that I hoped, I have gotten better. Whether it is Neuromonics or the tincture of time, as Dr. Nagler says, I will never know.

The counseling part is critical, as you said @Ray Seddon. I went with a university-based program, and feel I have received good counseling and treatment management. But there are plenty of providers out there who still are just handing the patients the device and saying, good luck. If anyone is considering Neuromonics, I would say a good provider is critical to success. While Neuromonics requires audiologists and technicians to be trained before they can offer the device, I sense there isn't a lot of follow up in terms on how well those providers adhere to the protocols.

The Neuromonics music is just noise that they wrap around the signal that is matched to the frequencies that your ears no longer can hear, due to the inner ear damage. It's not really masking. Also, did I understand that you "packed up" the device after three months? People really do need to give Neuromonics a year. I didn't feel any improvement until about two-three months in. I have seen several posters here mention they tossed the device after a few months, which kind of defeats the purpose, since you must pay for the full course of the therapy in advance.

Having said all this: Neuromonics certainly isn't for everyone. If anyone is considering this, or tinnitus retraining therapy, I suggest you read @Dr. Nagler's excellent post that compares the two.
https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/neuromonics-vs-trt.4288/#post-46144

And it sounds like masking works for you, @Ray Seddon. That's all that counts.
Sorry, know I wandered off topic here.

 

Sure, it is for a new product development course. I am exploring the opportunities. The research is more on the Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) and using music in place of sound. The devices I was referring to was the sound maskers and how that is helping compared to sound habituation.

From memory TRT with music has been investigated before:

Tinnitus retraining therapy using portable music players.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21601395

Using Fractal Music as Sound Therapy in TRT Treatment
http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/using-fractal-music-as-sound-11623

I have a feeling that the ATA also funded a study maybe 10 or more years ago but I can't find any details.

 

Also, did I understand that you "packed up" the device after three months? People really do need to give Neuromonics a year.

LadyDi...... I think RaySeddon meant that the actual machine packed up(busted or went kaput on him) so that's why he stopped using it!

But please correct me if I am wrong.

Rich

 

Further to my post #22 I seem to recall the ATA study was in the order of $100,000 and Richard Tyler may have been the recipient of the grant. It created a bit of discussion at the time on the Ezboard tinnitus board. Now I'm a bit hazy on this and I'm not sure if the ATA archives go back 10 or more years but I was always interested in reading the results of the study and to my knowledge they were never published.

 

Yes Ladydi and RichL - the program I paid for only ran for six months, and the machine stopped working before the end of it. I was so sick of just going in for hearing tests with no information on what it was doing and with no reference to T, only my hearing, that I didn't bother to get a replacement; went onto my own player and radio at night. I notice now that Western Hearing Services here in WA are advertising Tinnitus treatment, and they quote Jastreboff and the TRT program, so if this is the same mob (I can't really remember but it is likely) then they have definitely come a long way and now seem to be on the right track. Maybe I should revisit, especially as Ladydi you describe the machine and what it does now, it now seems much more sophisticated and aimed at treatment not just masking. Thanks for your comments guys.

 

Hello Ray seddon -can you please tell me little bit about your life with T in past 30 years ? How has life changes because of T? did you have to give up a lot ?
I am just curious because I am 40 years old and some times I get real scared as to what sacrifices I am going to have to make .