Tinnitus Frequencies and Sound Therapy
Sound therapy may help alleviate tinnitus by masking it with an audio signal, according to clinical practice guidelines for treating those suffering from it.
This exploratory study examined 10Hz AM sounds (pure tones, noise, music and FM sounds) against unmodulated sounds to assess their temporary suppression of subjective tinnitus loudness in participants suffering from chronic subjective tinnitus.
1. High Frequency
Tinnitus that falls above the highest note on a piano often sounds sharp and screeching, often as the result of localized cochlear damage, often increasing in loudness similar to how an eardrum may feel full. Screeching tinnitus may also result from the breakdown of inhibitory controls within auditory and thalamic networks that usually regulate sensory gating as well as prompt higher-order hearing and salience networks into producing responses.
Tinnitus sound therapy targeting this frequency range works to mask or cover up the pitch of tinnitus by creating a wide spectrum of frequencies that mask its pitch. Broadband noise such as white noise (with all frequencies present at equal intensity, like static on TV) or pink noise, which emphasizes lower frequencies over upper ones (think rain) can help mask high-frequency tinnitus effectively.
Numerous audio modulation techniques such as notch filters and AM music have been found to reduce patients’ perceptions of tinnitus. A 10Hz notch filter centered around the pitch was found to inhibit frequency bands surrounding it, leading to more soothing sounds than those normally associated with their normal tinnitus (Okamoto et al. 2010; Wunderlich et al. 2015b).
These non-specific background enrichment sounds do not follow a structured treatment protocol that is intended to foster long-term habituation, making them useful only as short-term relief measures; long-term habituation benefits may not be realized through these options alone. It is therefore vital that individuals seek tailored treatments tailored specifically to their tinnitus symptoms with established protocols.
2. Low Frequency
The cochlea converts sound waves into nerve signals using sensory “hair cells.” If these hair cells become damaged due to noise exposure, aging, or disease – whether due to noise exposure, ageing, or disease – their neural activity produces the perception of tinnitus – usually matching its pitch with where hearing loss exists and can range from high frequency ringing through hissing hissing; tone-type tinnitus indicates more diffuse loss and hissing hissing suggests focal injury.
Many tinnitus sufferers describe their experience as a buzzing, electrical, or humming sound that vibrates deep within their bodies and feels similar to physical discomfort. This suggests a substantial hearing loss at lower frequency levels which may contribute to its intensity. Natural sounds like streams and waves as well as broadband noise and forest can provide effective masking sounds; in our study participants’ poll, stream was the preferred masking sound choice with 34.8% choosing it; waves (33.6%) came next (33.6%) before broadband noise (29.6%), forest (17.4%), fan rain & brown noise preferred less than 5%.
Previous sound therapies for tinnitus have relied heavily on “masking”, where external sounds reduce or mask the loudness of internal sounds, thus masking their loudness. But effective masking requires several key considerations, including lateral inhibition, spectral contrast and being able to control for asymmetrical hearing loss. Recent evidence indicates continuous modulated sound with a notch filter to eliminate frequencies around tinnitus pitches can promote lateral inhibition and alleviate symptoms in human subjects (Okamoto et al. 2010).
Effective tinnitus treatment aims to normalize its sound so it becomes background noise rather than an object of immediate focus. Tinnitus that fluctuates, spikes in volume or texture changes could signal instability within its regulatory systems that control filtering, attention, emotional responses and autonomic balance.
3. Middle Frequency
Tinnitus frequencies typically fall in the midrange frequency range between 8000 Hz and 10,000 Hz; to put this into context, the highest note on a piano is 4,186 Hz. Tinnitus in this frequency range tends to manifest itself cochlear region with stable tones which occasionally become louder (tinnitus spikes). Red noise has proven most effective at suppressing this type of tinnitus.
To assess short-term tinnitus suppression effects, we created sounds with notch filters centered around the pitch of tinnitus and modulated in amplitude by 10Hz. AMPinknotch and AMMusic sounds showed strong suppression potential while maintaining excellent tolerance (all patients preferred AMFM over all other stimuli in block 2 of our study). Amplitude modulation aimed at inhibiting frequencies close to tinnitus pitch in order to undo maladaptive plasticity caused by long-term sound therapy treatment.
Comparative to pure tone, both AMPINKNOTCH and AMMusic sounds were significantly more effective at masking tinnitus, likely due to their reduced energy presence around filtered frequency ranges present in music and reduced masking effect. AMFM stands out in particular because all sounds were presented at 60dB SL in block 1. Future studies should evaluate this approach on a neural level using electrophysiological methods in order to better investigate putative mechanisms behind its success.
4. Low Intensity
Sound therapy may help with hearing noises that have no external source, like ringing, buzzing or clicking in your ears that has no external source. By adding noise, sound therapy reduces contrast between your tinnitus and its ambient background and gradually trains your brain to ignore it over time. Listening to masking audio for long periods may take some time before becoming effective; but consistent daily use will improve quality of life and sleep.
Not all forms of tinnitus respond to sound therapy. Hissing tinnitus, for instance, could indicate abnormal activity in auditory and thalamic networks which regulate filtering, attention and emotional responses; further assessment and treatment might include cognitive behavioral therapy. Musical or voice-like tinnitus could indicate hearing loss that requires medical evaluation as it could also contribute to anxiety, stress and poor sleep patterns.
At our clinics, the sound therapies we employ for treating tinnitus are wide-ranging, including white noise, pink noise, brown noise and nature sounds such as fan noise or rainfall. Some therapies are tailored specifically to reduce loudness while others provide general acoustic stimulation – the optimal therapy will depend on both your individual tinnitus condition and individual preferences.
Overall, participants with tinnitus reported less annoyance and distraction from their tinnitus after exposure to tinnitus sound therapy compared to no exposure or standard instruments alone. This finding was supported by TPFQ scores comparing responses before and after sound exposure; specifically those for concentration, emotion, and hearing showed improvement after being exposed to tinnitus sound.
5. High Intensity
Tinesitus can be defined as an auditory noise that typically sounds ringing but could also include buzzing, hissing, clicking, roaring or engine sound. While no cure exists for it, sound therapy can help manage symptoms by creating sounds similar to your own tinnitus so your brain becomes used to hearing it as background noise instead of assigning more importance to it. 50 million Americans currently experience tinnitus – while there’s no one solution, sound therapy may offer some relief by making sounds similar to what you hear tinnitus sound like your own so eventually assign less importance for its presence compared with how prominent it initially seems compared with what it otherwise would normally sound like.
Recent studies have reported that AM sounds with frequencies near or within the relevant frequency for tinnitus provide stronger tinnitus suppression than unmodulated pendants or white noise, however longitudinal research is required to validate these results in real life settings and uncover any neural associations between modulation rate in an acoustic signal and observed tinnitus suppression.
One recent study employed an innovative noise therapy strategy by creating an individual noise spectrum tailored specifically for each patient’s tinnitus symptoms. To create this spectrum, first the patient and their clinician agreed on initial frequencies and intensities associated with their tinnitus, before creating an audio file with those parameters – producing modified white noise with frequencies above and below their tinnitus that provided additional relief.
This treatment method has proven successful at decreasing both intensity and frequency in mild to moderate cases of tinnitus in patients, as well as its perceived loudness and distress levels, leading to improvements in several domains of the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36), such as physical functioning, bodily pain management, general health vitality social functioning mental health.

