A user of ours has sent the following e-mail, voicing her reasons for skepticism about the efficacy of AudioNotch. Verbatim (with her identity removed), her e-mail reads as follows:
I have had tinnitus for nearly twenty years and have spent much money trying various remedies.It appears to me that money is more important than all of those remedies. None of them have done what they claim. I checked the American Tinnitus Association for support of your claim and found none.Your research sounds promising, but I am sceptical. If I could find someone who has had success with AudioNotch, I would be grateful. Testimonials are ok if they are true. If I was more assured of their results, I might try AudioNotch. Till then I’m spending no money. Disclaimers tend to make me shy away from these claims. If the FDA would approve the method, I would be willing to try it.
1) We’re not familiar with the ATA’s internal process of making a decision to recommend a particular treatment. That said,
TRT has been around for many years. Notched Sound Therapy has only recently been discovered. I certainly agree with you that they are a credible organization, and one that doesn’t appear to have been swayed by commercial interests (to my knowledge).
2) Research is better than testimonials for providing evidence that a therapy works. The problem with testimonials (although they are convincing) is that they are really just anecdotes – the best evidence comes from carefully designed experiments that are created in order to eliminate human bias. The testimonial on our front page is true – and we’re currently collating internal survey data on treatment results.
3) FDA approval is not needed. Notched Sound Therapy is a special case of medical treatment – as far as I understand it, FDA approval is only need for pharmaceutical treatments and medical implants. Because our therapy is non-invasive no such approval is relevant or needed. Listening to sounds via headphones (even if they are specialized customized sounds) is not something that requires FDA approval.
Best,