The AudioNotch Tinnitus Treatment Blog

Consider the following abstract:
The hearing sensitivity and psychological profile of 18 young subjects with tinnitus and normal hearing were investigated by pure-tone and high-frequency audiometry, notched-noise tests, auditory-brainstem responses, evoked otoacoustic emissions and Crown-Crisp experiential index. Psychoacoustical and brainstem tests were comparable to those of 19 normally hearing subjects without tinnitus. Otoacoustic emissions were worse in ears of tinnitus subjects. Neurotic personality traits were stronger in the tinnitus subjects. These traits may be secondary to otological dysfunction, or may contribute to complaint behaviour.
There is a documented association between anxiety and depression and tinnitus. Anxiety (basically a … Continue Reading

Disturbing news from a new Flemish study on hearing damage in youth and subsequent tinnitus:
For the new study, almost 4000 Flemish high school students completed a questionnaire about temporary and permanent ringing in the ears, also answering questions about their attitudes toward loud noises and hearing protection.
Three out of four kids experienced temporary tinnitus, and one in five heard ringing all the time.

Only 5% of the kids said they used any kind of hearing protection against loud noise, such as ear plugs, according to results in the journal PLOS ONE. “Tinnitus on its own … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

Some of you may have tinnitus that does not sound like a pure tone sine wave (like a peep or a whistle).

There are different terms for this:

• Atypical tinnitus sounds
• Atonal tinnitus sounds
• Non-tonal tinnitus sounds

The American Tinnitus Association has a list of sounds which includes examples of these tinnitus sounds which do not sound like “pure tones.” You can listen to the different tinnitus sounds on the list.

The list is available here.

AudioNotch is developing a tinnitus tuner … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

Here’s another press article on Acoustic Co-ordinated Reset Therapy for tinnitus. The study funded by the corporation yielded promising results, but the British Tinnitus Association wants to see a larger, independently funded study:

Trials of the new therapy, called called Acoustic Coordinated Reset (ACR), have shown that it reduces the loudness and annoyance caused by tinnitus in seven out of 10 patients.

The treatment is now being made availabe to British patients at a Harley Street clinic…

The Tinnitus Clinic, based in Harley Street, is introducing … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

In Evidence Based Medicine, there exists a hierarchy of evidence. This means that the higher a particular treatment is in the hierarchy, the more likely it is to actually be effective in real life. As you go higher and higher in the hierarchy, from lower quality evidence to higher quality evidence, you can be more sure that a therapy is truly effective.

The hierarchy of evidence based medicine

AudioNotch sits somewhere in … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

For the most part, there’s a fair amount of anecdotal evidence linking tinnitus volume to tinnitus severity: namely, the higher the tinnitus volume, the greater the distress caused by the tinnitus. Obviously, other factors come into play, but it’s an important variable. When tinnitus gets really bad, it can be highly disruptive to an individual’s functioning. Consider the following tragic case:
An ear condition has prompted the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire Richard Everard to stand down after ten years.

Mr Everard OBE, of East Farndon, says … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

Several months ago, AudioNotch gave a talk to the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association – Hamilton branch. The talk was a great discussion about Notched Sound Therapy, and the audience members asked thoughtful, informed questions. The members were  well educated on the subject of tinnitus and hearing loss, and were a highly engaging audience that provided a warm welcome.

The talk was featured in their newsletter as as a local news article.

For anyone suffering from hearing loss … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

There’s an excellent blog that I recommend many of you read – it’s called Science Based Medicine. It’s a blog advocating the use of scientific plausibility to evaluate the prior probability of a given treatment being effective, and not just relying on experimental evidence alone. In this vein, treatments like homeopathy should be evaluated based on their scientific plausibility – and in the case of homeopathy, the plausibility is basically zero (since the mechanism of action … Continue Reading

Brought to you by AudioNotch, the leading Tinnitus Treatment program worldwide:

Medical implants that offer a targeted drug delivery to the ear are a possible therapeutic model for treating tinnitus. The US department of defense is funding one such study that uses an implant to deliver a drug in a targeted manner:
To address the problem, the U.S. Department of Defense has commissioned Draper Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass., to spend the next year fleshing out a concept for a small delivery device inserted near the membrane-covered window—no more than three millimeters … Continue Reading

From Australia, the tragic case of a girl with Meniere’s Disease and associated tinnitus:
IN every hour of the day and night, Jessica Gaye has a constant beeping in her ears.

The 19-year-old Devonport woman woke up suddenly one night to discover the noise.

Ms Gaye said it stopped after a couple of days, but started again a week later, and has not stopped since.

“In my right ear I have a beeping noise which sounds like Morse code, in my left ear I have a high-pitched whine, and inside my head it sounds something similar to heavy rain falling on the … Continue Reading