About 50 million Americans suffer from tinnitus, an uncomfortable sensation of noise in the ears that may include ringing, buzzing, hissing, roaring or clicking. Although no cure exists for tinnitus, sound therapy may provide some relief.
Participants selected nine stimuli displayed in Table 2, selecting masking sounds most frequently from stream/wave sounds followed by broadband noise as potential maskers.
Nonwearable Sound Generators
Sound therapy is one of the most widely utilized approaches for managing tinnitus, with nonwearable sound generators playing audio signals designed to alter perception and divert focus away from it. Studies have proven it’s effectiveness at decreasing loudness and annoyance as well as improving concentration in those suffering chronic tinnitus [1-6].
Unfortunately, many patients still report distressing tinnitus despite receiving normal or even positive hearing tests results. This is likely because hearing tests only measure certain frequencies; traditional testing instruments don’t detect many of the specific sounds associated with tinnitus that often exist at specific frequencies that could potentially trigger its manifestations.
Turtle Beach Corporation developed the HyperSound acoustic system as a solution to this issue, offering an alternative method of producing high-frequency sounds. It features two emitters connected by digital signal processing to produce up to 16kHz of sound that is highly directional. Participants can create customized tones or broadband noises through headphones or speakers and present these to themselves during gameplay.
11 adult participants suffering from chronic bilateral or unilateral tinnitus took part in a small, sponsored study where they were exposed to sound generated by the HyperSound device for 60 minutes and were asked to rate its loudness and annoyance at various intervals; typically before sound exposure began (pre-exposure rating), during exposure itself and post exposure – these ratings were then analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni-adjusted multiple comparisons.
Results from this study demonstrated that HyperSound sound treatments significantly reduced both loudness and annoyance for participants during sound exposure; however, its effect did not last after it stopped.
The TPFQ questionnaire revealed that sound therapy significantly reduced tinnitus-related annoyance but did not have an impactful reduction in concentration, emotion, or hearing subscales of this test (concentration, emotion or hearing). This suggests that masking tinnitus may help with concentration and function in areas like work and sleep; however further research may be required to ascertain this specific frequency treatment option’s success.
Custom-Made Tone Generators
Tone generators are electronic devices used to produce audio tones at specific frequencies and amplitudes, serving numerous purposes like music production, scientific research, testing audio equipment calibration and calibrating it with others. When applied to treating tinnitus with sound therapy, tone generators can help identify its frequency while providing tailored masking sounds to reduce or eliminate it altogether. Sound Relief Tinnitus & Hearing Center in Highlands Ranch and Fort Collins Colorado utilize this revolutionary new tool in order to better understand your tinnitus while devising treatment plans designed to gradually diminish it over time.
About 50 million Americans experience tinnitus, a buzzing or ringing noise in the ears that often interferes with work, concentration and sleep; it can interfere with memory, speech and hearing as well. Tinnitus cannot be cured; however there are treatment options like sound therapy to provide temporary relief.
The Hypersound system employs two emitters and digital signal processing to generate a highly directional beam of sound up to 16kHz, and participants were exposed for 30 minutes. They were asked to rate loudness and annoyance of their tinnitus using a scale from 0-100 before and after exposure, as well as report how long it took for their tinnitus to return to its usual level post experiment.
Sound therapies have been demonstrated to alleviate tinnitus by altering or suppressing one’s perception of it and diverting attention away from it. White noise, raindrops, ocean waves and soft music are common examples of such therapy approaches.
Results from a recent study indicate that Tinnitus Sound Therapy can significantly decrease both its loudness and annoyance by using high frequency stimulation to mask or reduce intensity of tinnitus tones. Though more research needs to be conducted, these initial results look promising; for more information about Tinnitus Sound Therapy contact your audiologist in Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks to see how it could benefit you.
Custom-Made S-Tone Generators
Sounds are an effective way of diverting one’s brain away from tinnitus’ irritating noise, often called masking or “masking noises”. They range from white noise (known as “masking”), tone or frequency-specific music or hearing aids combined with noise generators – your Simi Valley or Thousand Oaks-area audiologist will work closely with you to develop an approach tailored specifically to your symptoms and level of tinnitus.
Tinnitus sound therapy uses neutral and relaxing sounds such as waterfall or ocean waves, raindrops, or soft music as masking noises to provide additional auditory stimulus to the brain in order to reduce perceptions of tinnitus while at the same time decreasing stress and anxiety levels. The overall goal is to decrease perceptions of tinnitus perception while at the same time decreasing overall stress and anxiety.
However, these types of sounds may be too soothing for patients with particularly high-pitched or harsh tinnitus noises. Studies have demonstrated that using a more tailored and personalized frequency generator may be much more successful at alleviating tinnitus symptoms.
Augustana College conducted a study where 23 participants were exposed to customized S-Tone generators for 30 minutes, during which time they were asked to rate loudness and annoyance of tinnitus loudness and annoyance at multiple points during and after the session. Multiple stimuli were employed; stream and wave sounds were the top choices with 34.8% and 30.4 percent choosing them respectively. Rain/forest noise/noise were next most frequently selected at 13.0% each while fan noise, brown noise/wind were chosen by less than 5% of participants.
Brainwave Entrainment or Isochronic Tone Entrainment (ITER), is another approach to sound therapy for tinnitus that has proven highly successful. This technique sends frequencies at regular intervals with their frequency gradually increasing or decreasing to induce cortical responses that reduce tinnitus intensity.
Custom-Made Notch Generators
At least 20% of residents living in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks suffer from tinnitus, an unpleasant ringing in the ears. Unfortunately there is no permanent solution; hearing aids and sound therapy may help lessen its severity while new techniques such as frequency therapy can mask its presence by using different frequencies to mask its sounds.
Atom Packs uses this technology to allow customers to customize their packs according to panel colors, accessories and front mesh type – as well as create a tinnitus-muffling swag called the Notch Generator.
This generator employs a notch filter to cut specific frequencies, creating an opposite tone from that which causes your tinnitus. You can wear it either on your head or collar clip; powered by a rechargeable battery and equipped with microphone to pick up and record your voice to cancel out tinnitus tones by speaking directly into it.
Before testing began, researchers asked participants to sit quietly in a lab for five minutes to establish a tinnitus baseline and complete a questionnaire covering demographic and tinnitus background information such as pitch rating (0-105) loudness level and location rating (1 ear equal, both ears equally or in head). Hearing tests were then administered on all participants along with another questionnaire about tinnitus background details and questions about pitch rating (0-101). Once this step had been completed successfully, hearing tests were then given before conducting hearing tests as well as asking participants to fill out another tinnitus questionnaire – before hearing tests were given and their questionnaire.
