Why Aren't We Researching for Better Diagnostic Tools to Identify the Tinnitus Mechanism?

Why aren't we all researching for the best of the best diagnostic tools to identify the tinnitus mechanism? Until then, we're merely hypothesizing and putting all the effort into that.

Seems to me like a much slower go of curing tinnitus.

Not to mention, superior diagnostic tools will aid in the cure of many other diseases.

 

@Justin De Moss any ideas?

 

One word: Money.

 

What type of tools are you thinking of @Rb86? Cellular/molecular for drug development? Specific brain regions for neurostimulation protocols? Cognitive/emotional mechanisms for attentional control, stress improvement and/or disorder subtyping? Or improved ways of measuring tinnitus, so that we can actually determine how severe a given person's tinnitus is?

 

Let's start with the ability to see the inner ear.

I'm tired of ENTs looking at the ear drum and saying welp, everything looks fine!

That's the equivalent of a plumber coming to your house and looking at the faucet. "Everything looks good here at the faucet... Good luck with your water not coming out".

Couldn't we get a camera up the eustachian tube to see what's going on?

Sure, tinnitus goes beyond physical issues, but I bet there's some physical things going on at onset.

 

Do you even understand the basic anatomy of the human ear?

Good luck getting a camera into the inner ear!

 

Beyond that, yes, anything else to identify mechanisms or bio-markers present in tinnitus.

 

Lot of good it would do too - it would just have more GPs sticking more things into more ears, and saying "looks okay to me!".

But point taken RB - in this day and age of MRI and CT and PET and all that, you'd think we'd have some way to image the inner workings of the ear. Sadly, the most effective techniques are all invasive.

 

I'm actually considering taking up the cause, using my lab to initiate some new lines of tinnitus research. I might shortly be putting a [non-binding, but hopeuflly instructive] poll to the group, to identify realistic preferences for research goals. Stay tuned.

 

It's mainly due to the fact, that Tinnitus is considered to be just a minor annoyance by majority of the medical professionals, whom at some point might have seen a grainy half hour video on Tinnitus in med school.

One quick look at the ATA/BTA websites will just confirm this, just in case there was any doubt on their part.

If it wasn't for the pioneers such as Susan Shore, Hubert Lim and handfull of others who understand the need for a real medical solution ,we would still be in the dark ages for long time to come.

We need more than masking sounds or some therapist (who likely never had Timnitus), telling us to pretend that the loud, sharp, screetching metallic sounds inside our heads are coming off some household appliance, or from the rustling leaves of a tree in the wind.

Also the chump change, that is being thrown at solving the Tinnitus puzzle is very discouraging to any new scientists, whom will jump on the cancer train instead.