The AudioNotch Tinnitus Treatment Blog

Tinnitus is a phantom auditory sensation which may be a transient or chronic condition. There are a number of factors that CAN cause tinnitus, but excessive exposure to noise and aging are the two most common. There are various theories concerning the biological processes that produce the sound that only the person with tinnitus can hear. One of the most accepted says that a large number of nerve cells in the hearing brain fire spontaneously, repeatedly and all at once. Various methods of treatment have been tested, but one that has proven effective in many cases is the Acoustic Coordinated Reset Therapy for tinnitus, also referred to as Acoustic CR Neuromodulation.

Treating Ringing in the Ears

The Acoustic Coordinated Reset Therapy was originally developed to treat people experiencing continuous sound in a single tone which many refer to as ‘ringing in the ears.’ The constant sound can be irritating at the least and daily life disrupting at the worst. The Acoustic CR Neuromodulator is a small non-invasive device that has:

• Medical earphones that do not block external sounds (non-occluding)
• A neurostimulator
• A programming station with software and computer
• A console

The device delivers tones through the earphones, disrupting the pattern of neuron firing believed to be creating the phantom sound. The patient simply wears the earphones while the neurostimulator delivers tones programmed by an audiologist to treat a person’s specific tinnitus. The person being treated can adjust the frequency of the tones and their loudness as the audiologist programs the device.

Simple Process

The Acoustic Coordinated Reset Therapy is a simple, painless, non-drug treatment for tinnitus.

• Patients wear the medical earphones, attached to the neurostimulator, for 4-6 hours a day for 4-6 months
• The audiologist, utilizing patient feedback, programs the device by first setting a pitch that matches what the person hears and then programming the appropriate sequence of tones
• The audiologist will re-program the device as the tinnitus frequency changes over the course of treatment
• Acoustic Coordinated Reset Therapy is used while the patient also takes advantage of other therapies for tinnitus like a hearing aid, relaxation exercises and cognitive behavioral therapy
• Patients can wear the device while continuing their normal routines

Needed Relief

Acoustic Coordinated Reset Therapy has been especially helpful to people who meet certain conditions like limited hearing loss, constant perception of tinnitus and hearing no more than one or two tones. The sound stimulation forces different nerve cells associated with different tones to fire, breaking up the pattern of synchronous nerve cell firing. The therapy brings much needed relief to thousands of people who thought they had to live with tinnitus the rest of their life.