Break the silence on tinnitus therapies
TINNITUS AFFECTS more than five million people in the UK but it often goes untreated, due to a lack of awareness among the public and some healthcare professionals. There are ways to manage tinnitus. It is not something you just have to put up with.
Tinnitus can sound like a whistle or a constant hiss. Others experience a low-frequency buzz, while some hear a high-pitched ringing.
Every individual has their own tinnitus tone. The condition can be caused by exposure to loud noise, ear or head injuries, ear diseases or infections or emotional stress, or it can be a side effect of medication. It often occurs in conjunction with an auditory impairment.
While there is currently no cure for tinnitus, there are therapies to reduce the effects. Despite this, a recent poll of patients at The Tinnitus Clinic found 91 per cent had been told by their healthcare professional that their tinnitus was something they would have to learn to live with. More than 80 per cent also reported feeling disappointed about their options for treatment after consulting their doctor, while 90 per cent did not feel they were given sufficient health guidance.
Treatments are designed to work either at the origin of the phantom sounds or on the negative effect they have on the patient.
Acoustic CR Neuromodulation, for example, is a sound-based therapy that works on the nerve cells in the brain’s hearing centre. It reduces the hyperactivity of the nerve cells producing tinnitus sounds, aiming, over time, to sustainably reduce the loudness and annoyance.
The new Levo system has been developed for patients who have tinnitus that is very high or very low in pitch; it uses iPod technology to deliver a personalised tinnitus sound straight to the brain while the patient sleeps. During sleep, our brains are more likely to be responsive to and influenced by sound therapies. As a result, the brain learns to ignore the hissing or buzzing and the patient notices the tinnitus less during the day.
Not only can patients find relief from tinnitus, they can also remedy the hearing loss often associated with it. There are now bespoke devices including “invisible” in-the-ear-canal instruments that use an advanced processor to maximise speech clarity in challenging environments. These have helped transform lives.
Josephine Swinhoe is managing director at The Tinnitus Clinic, which has centres across the UK and has published a guide to the condition for GPs. thetinnitusclinic.co.uk