Brain training to control tinnitus

Q: Lately, my ears have been ringing so loudly at night that I have trouble sleeping. During the day it’s distracting. I have tried several treatments to no avail. Will anything help? – Steven M., Los Gatos, Calif.

A: There are new treatments that show a lot of promise, and you’re not alone.

Roughly 50 million people know just how irritating tinnitus – the frequent or constant perception of a ringing, whooshing or hissing sound that’s not coming from an external source – can be.

Twenty million Americans find it a burden, and it’s debilitating for two million, according to the American Tinnitus Association.

Often, the sounds interfere with sleep, learning, memory and attention.

Up to now, treatment has included a wide range of hit- ormiss techniques:

Getting a hearing aid may ease symptoms. Tinnitus sometimes is associated with hearing loss and researchers speculate that as hearing ability declines, the brain makes changes to neurons that process sound, and that triggers tinnitus.

Behavioural therapies that change your reaction to the constant din also can help lessen tinnitus- related distress.

Brain training is perhaps the most intriguing approach. Using external sound to distract a person from the internal noise or calming tinnitus- related neural hyperactivity sometimes is effective. Now the newly devised Brain Fitness Program- Tinnitus hopes to take it a step further.

The eight- week program, designed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, uses the brain’s ability to change how it approaches thinking and memory skills ( brain scans showed the changes) and then strengthens them so that they can overpower distraction from tinnitus.

Fifty per cent of those who completed the program reported improvements in their tinnitus, memory, attention and concentration.

The study used a memory strengthening program from www.brainhq.com; there are others online that may help, too.

Give it a try.