Ilmari Pyykko, M.D., from Tampere University in Finland, and colleagues analyzed the symptom profile of MD with a focus on the cessation of episodic vertigo, the longitudinal disease course, and the impact of major symptoms on quality of life (QoL). The analysis included 365 patients with definite MD.

The researchers found that the onset of MD was characterized by simultaneous hearing loss, vertigo, and tinnitus in 38% of participants. Many experienced a significant delay in diagnosis, with 20% experiencing a delay of more than five years. Over time, the frequency and duration of vertigo attacks generally decreased, with attacks becoming shorter and less severe as the disease progressed. One-third of patients (34%) had spontaneous remission from episodic vertigo.

Additionally, 65.5% of participants reported balance issues, 34% mild vestibular drop attacks (VDAs), and 10% severe falls. Longer disease duration was associated with VDAs. More than one-third of patients (34.5%) developed bilateral hearing loss, with a higher risk associated with younger age at onset, migraines, and family history of MD. Participants with constant dizziness and with factors like fatigue, depression, VDA, and hearing loss experienced lower QoL.

“Assessing MD solely on primary symptoms like vertigo and hearing loss is insufficient; a comprehensive evaluation is necessary for effective management,” the authors write.

Article originally appeared on Medical Xpress

Jianli Wu, from the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine in Harbin, China, and colleagues examined the relationship between tinnitus and cognitive impairment using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database.

Data were included for 684 participants who had undergone a total tinnitus survey and underwent a cognitive function test. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Consortium for the Establishment of Alzheimer’s Disease Word Learning Xi Registry, the Dynamic Logistics Proficiency Test (AFT), and the Digit Sign Substitution Test (DSST).

The researchers found that compared with the healthy group, individuals with tinnitus had lower AFT and DSST scores, indicating reduced cognitive function. Tinnitus was significantly associated with a decrease in AFT and DSST scores after adjustment for other covariates.

“There was a significant correlation between tinnitus and impaired cognitive function, consistent with previous research, indicating an association between tinnitus and cognitive impairments,” the authors write.

Article originally appeared on Medical Xpress

Colloquially, tinnitus is often referred to as a “ringing in the ears.”

There are a number of underlying causes for tinnitus, including hearing loss, ear infections, thyroid problems, and a condition of the inner ear called Meniere’s disease.

There is currently no cure for tinnitus. Past studies suggest there are ways a person can reduce their risk of developing tinnitus, including protecting your hearing from loud noise, such as music at concerts or when using power tools, as well as stress management, getting enough sleep, and maintaining healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Previous research has also examined the role that following a healthy diet plays in tinnitus risk. For example, a study published in February 2020 found that a higher intake of vitamin B12 and a high-protein diet helped reduce tinnitus risk.

And a study published in December 2024 found that consuming tuna fish, light-meat fish, and shellfish was linked to a lower risk of developing persistent tinnitus in women.

Now a new study recently published in the journal BMJ Open reports that increasing levels of fruit, fiber, dairy products, and caffeine in the diet may help reduce tinnitus risk.

Consuming fruit, dietary fiber, dairy helps reduce tinnitus risk

For this study, researchers analyzed medical data from eight studies that examined tinnitus and diet in adults ages 18 years or older for a total of more than 301,000 study participants.

Within these studies, scientists looked at 15 specific dietary factors:

• caffeine
• carbohydrates
• dairy
• eggs
• fat
• fiber
• fish
• fruits
• margarine
• meat
• protein
• sugar
• varied diets
• vegetables
• water.

At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that participants who consumed fruit, dietary fiber, dairy products, and caffeine had the lowest risk of developing tinnitus.

Fruit reduced the risk by 35%, dairy products by 17%, caffeine by 10%, and dietary fiber by 8%.

The researchers reported they did not find any associations between the remaining 11 dietary factors and tinnitus risk.

Reinforcing how lifestyle factors impact tinnitus risk

MNT had the opportunity to speak with Rachel Artsma, AuD, CCC-A, senior audiologist at Hear.com, about this study, in which she was not involved.

“I found the study quite intriguing, as it reinforces the idea that lifestyle factors may play a role in tinnitus risk,” Artsma commented. “Given how challenging tinnitus can be for patients, it’s encouraging to see evidence suggesting that certain dietary habits — such as consuming more fruit, fiber, dairy, and even caffeine — could potentially lower its incidence.”

“Tinnitus is a condition that significantly impacts quality of life, often leading to anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances,” she continued.

“While treatments like hearing aids and sound therapy can help manage symptoms, prevention is always preferable. If we can identify modifiable risk factors such as diet, then I believe it gives patients more control over their health. Plus, incorporating these findings into broader tinnitus management strategies could enhance patient outcomes in a way that goes beyond traditional interventions,” the expert suggested.

Bringing awareness to importance of leading a healthy lifestyle

Virginia Toth, AuD, CCC-A, manager of audiology for Tinnitus and Balance Program at Hackensack Meridian JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in New Jersey, similarly not involved in the recent study, told MNT that while any research that provides information on how to reduce the risk of developing tinnitus is always positive, readers do need to be cautious with interpreting this research.

“Although this research identified a potential link between diet and tinnitus, further research [is needed] to determine if this diet leads to healthier individuals with the secondary benefit of less damage to the auditory system resulting in less hearing loss/tinnitus,” Toth explained.

“Tinnitus can be very debilitating to many people who suffer from it, impacting their mental health, their relationships and their work,” she continued. “Although not everyone’s tinnitus is debilitating. Some people who develop tinnitus go about their daily life with little to no impact on their lives.”

“Additional research heightens awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle by minimizing conditions that have the potential to impact your life,” Toth added. “These lifestyle changes can also reduce your risk of developing hearing loss, which is generally a precursor to tinnitus.”

Need for further research

MNT also spoke with Rebecca Lewis, AuD, audiologist and audiology director of the Adult & Pediatric Cochlear Implant Program at Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, not involved in the study, who commented that she did not find it surprising that a healthy diet could potentially help with tinnitus, as it does with most health conditions.

“It would be nice to see clinical trials to assess the impact of dietary patterns on tinnitus severity to help clarify whether modifying diet could slow or halt tinnitus progression,” Lewis said. “Additionally, longitudinal studies tracking dietary patterns and tinnitus symptoms over time to establish stronger causal relationships.”

She continued by noting that:

“In medicine we are moving toward personalized approaches to treatment and prevention,” Lewis added. “Learning more about tinnitus based on the individual’s genetics, pre-existing conditions, and diet could have a great impact on how we manage tinnitus and prevent it.”

Article originally appeared on Medical News Today

Not only can the condition be annoying for sufferers, it can also have a serious effect on mental health, often causing stress or depression. This is especially the case for patients suffering from tinnitus over months or years.

There’s currently no cure for tinnitus. So finding a way to better manage or treat it could help many millions of people worldwide. And one area of research that may help us better understand tinnitus is sleep. There are many reasons for this.

First, tinnitus is a phantom percept. This is when our brain activity makes us see, hear or smell things that aren’t there. Most people only experience phantom perceptions when they’re asleep.

But for people with tinnitus, they hear phantom sounds while they’re awake.

The second reason is because tinnitus alters brain activity, with certain areas of the brain (such as those involved in hearing) potentially being more active than they should be. This may also explain how phantom percepts happen. When we sleep, activity in these same brain areas also changes.

Our recent research review has identified a couple of brain mechanisms that underlie both tinnitus and sleep. Better understanding these mechanisms – and the way the two are connected – could one day help us find ways of managing and treating tinnitus.

Sleep and tinnitus

When we fall asleep, our body experiences multiple stages of sleep. One of the most important stages of sleep is slow-wave sleep (also known as deep sleep), which is thought to be the most restful stage of sleep.

During slow-wave sleep, brain activity moves in distinctive “waves” through the different areas of the brain, activating large areas together (such as those involved with memory and processing sounds) before moving on to others.

It’s thought that slow-wave sleep allows the brain’s neurons (specialized brain cells which send and receive information) to recover from daily wear and tear, while also helping sleep make us feel rested. It’s also thought to be important for our memory.

Not every area of the brain experiences the same amount of slow-wave activity. It’s most pronounced in areas we use most while awake, such as those important for motor function and sight.

But sometimes, certain brain areas can be overactive during slow-wave sleep. This is what happens in sleep disorders such as sleep walking.

A similar thing may happen in people with tinnitus. We think that hyperactive brain regions might stay awake in the otherwise sleeping brain. This would explain why many people with tinnitus experience disturbed sleep and night terrors more often than people who don’t have tinnitus.

But even though tinnitus patients have less deep sleep on average than people without tinnitus, the research we looked at in our review suggests that some deep sleep is hardly affected by tinnitus. This may be because the brain activity that happens during the deepest sleep actually suppresses tinnitus.

There are a couple of ways the brain may be able to suppress tinnitus during deep sleep. The first has to do with the brain’s neurons. After a long period of wakefulness neurons in the brain are thought to switch into slow-wave activity mode to recover. The more neurons in this mode together, the stronger the drive is for the rest of the brain to join.

We know that the drive for sleep can get strong enough that neurons in the brain will eventually go into slow-wave activity mode. And since this especially applies to brain regions overactive during wakefulness, we think that tinnitus might be suppressed as a result of that.

Slow-wave activity has also been shown to interfere with the communication between brain areas. During deepest sleep, when slow-wave activity is strongest, this may keep hyperactive regions from disturbing other brain areas and from interrupting sleep.

This would explain why people with tinnitus can still enter deep sleep, and why tinnitus may be suppressed during that time.

Sleep is also important for strengthening our memory, by helping to drive changes in connections between neurons in the brain. We believe that changes in brain connectivity during sleep are contributing to what makes tinnitus last for a long time after an initial trigger (such as hearing loss).

Treating tinnitus

We already know that intensity of tinnitus can change throughout a given day. Investigating how tinnitus changes during sleep could give us a direct handle on what the brain does to cause fluctuations in tinnitus intensity.

It also means that we may be able to manipulate sleep to improve the wellbeing of patients – and possibly develop new treatments for tinnitus.

For example, sleep disruptions can be reduced and slow-wave activity can be boosted through sleep restriction paradigms, where patients are told to only go to bed when they’re actually tired. Boosting the intensity of sleep could help us better see the effect sleep has on tinnitus.

While we suspect that deep sleep is the most likely to affect tinnitus, there are many other stages of sleep that happen (such as rapid eye movement, or REM sleep) – each with unique patterns of brain activity.

In future research, both the sleep stage and tinnitus activity in the brain could be tracked at the same time by recording brain activity. This may help to find out more about the link between tinnitus and sleep and understand how tinnitus may be alleviated by natural brain activity.

Article originally appeared on Science Alerts

But that theory hasn’t explained the problem for people with normal hearing tests who still have tinnitus. What causes tinnitus in those cases?

Mounting evidence

Increasingly, Harvard Medical School scientists are finding evidence that some people have “hidden” hearing loss: damage to the auditory nerve — which carries sound signals from the ear to the brain — that isn’t picked up by conventional tests.

Researchers first discovered the phenomenon in lab mice in 2009. “From there, it wasn’t difficult to add two and two by suggesting that the loss of these nerve fibers in people with normal hearing tests could be associated with tinnitus,” says Stéphane Maison, a tinnitus researcher and associate professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

Subsequent studies began making the connection. The latest — believed to be the largest and most nuanced to date — was published Nov. 30, 2023, in Scientific Reports. Maison and his colleagues at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear recruited almost 300 people (ages 18 to 72) with normal hearing tests who had chronic tinnitus, no tinnitus, or intermittent tinnitus.

Scientists measured participants’ auditory nerve responses and brainstem activity. Compared with not having tinnitus, having chronic tinnitus was associated with a loss of auditory nerve fibers as well as increased brain activity. “That fits with the idea that as a result of hearing loss, the brain increases its activity, which is possibly why you perceive a tone or a sound that isn’t there,” Maison says.

What this means for treatment

For people with measurable hearing loss, getting hearing aids sometimes reduces the perception of tinnitus. But hearing aids aren’t recommended for people with normal hearing test results — even if your doctor suspects hidden hearing loss — since we don’t have tests outside of research labs to measure it.

Still, the new evidence linking hidden hearing loss and tinnitus offers hope for people with tinnitus. “When you have hidden hearing loss, only a portion of the auditory nerve has degenerated. Another portion remains alive for years or decades. And a number of experiments by others have found that it’s possible to regenerate nerve fibers in animal models,” Maison says. “If we can one day regenerate those fibers in humans, perhaps it might bring back missing information to the brain, reducing its hyperactivity and the perception of tinnitus.”

Until that day comes — and it’s unclear when or if it will — we have only limited ways to cope with the problem.

What you can do

If you have tinnitus despite a normal hearing test, report it to your primary care doctor or ear, nose, and throat specialist. In rare cases, the noise can be caused by a tumor or cyst pinching the auditory nerve, a buildup of earwax, or blood vessel damage. Sometimes treating underlying conditions like these can reduce or even eliminate the noise.

More often, we can only learn to how to live with or reduce tinnitus. The following strategies may help.

Distract your brain. Listening to white noise or nature sounds might make tinnitus seem quieter. Use a white noise machine, sleep headphones, earbuds, or a wearable sound-masking device.

Use mind-body therapies. Cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based tinnitus treatment, and biofeedback can help you redirect negative thoughts and emotions linked to tinnitus.

Reduce stress. Stress may increase both your perception of tinnitus and your reaction to it. Try yoga or tai chi to help manage stress; since you’ll be concentrating on movement and breathing, you might not focus on the tinnitus as much.

Live a healthier lifestyle. Practice good sleep hygiene, exercise daily, and limit alcohol intake. Each one of those healthy habits can help reduce the frequency and intensity of tinnitus, and also reduce stress.

Consider trying bimodal stimulation. These new devices for home use provide two types of stimulation — for instance, sound along with gentle taps to the wrist delivered by a bracelet. “They aren’t yet widely recommended as there’s not enough evidence that they work, but preliminary results are encouraging,” Maison says. “Ask your physician about your options.”

Article originally appeared on Harvard Medical School 

A University of Miami study offers new insights into language development in children with hearing loss, suggesting language learning strategies that may help children with cochlear implants overcome initial language development delays.

A new study from MIT and Massachusetts Eye and Ear provides evidence that the virus can indeed infect cells of the inner ear, including hair cells, which are critical for both hearing and balance. The researchers also found that the pattern of infection seen in human inner ear tissue is consistent with the symptoms seen in a study of 10 Covid-19 patients who reported a variety of ear-related symptoms.

The researchers used novel cellular models of the human inner ear that they developed, as well as hard-to-obtain adult human inner ear tissue, for their studies. The limited availability of such tissue has hindered previous studies of Covid-19 and other viruses that can cause hearing loss.

“Having the models is the first step, and this work opens a path now for working with not only SARS-CoV-2 but also other viruses that affect hearing,” says Lee Gehrke, the Hermann L.F. von Helmholtz Professor in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, who co-led the study.

Konstantina Stankovic, a former associate professor at Harvard Medical School and former chief of otology and neurotology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, who is now the Bertarelli Foundation Professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, co-led the study. Minjin Jeong, a former postdoc in Stankovic’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, who is now at Stanford Medical School, is the lead author of the paper, which appears today in Communications Medicine.

Models of ear infection

Before the Covid-19 pandemic began, Gehrke and Stankovic began working together on a project to develop cellular models to study infections of the human inner ear. Viruses such as cytomegalovirus, mumps virus, and hepatitis viruses can all cause deafness, but exactly how they do so is not well-understood.

In early 2020, after the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged, the researchers altered their plans. At Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Stankovic started to see patients who were experiencing hearing loss, tinnitus, and dizziness, who had tested positive for Covid-19. “It was very unclear at the time whether this was causally related or coincidental, because hearing loss and tinnitus are so common,” she recalls.

She and Gehrke decided to use the model system they were working on to study infection of SARS-CoV-2. They created their cellular models by taking human skin cells and transforming them into induced pluripotent stem cells. Then, they were able to stimulate those cells to differentiate into several types of cells found in the inner ear: hair cells, supporting cells, nerve fibers, and Schwann cells, which insulate neurons.

These cells could be grown in a flat, two-dimensional layer or organized into three-dimensional organoids. In addition, the researchers were able to obtain samples of hard-to-obtain inner ear tissue from patients who were undergoing surgery for a disorder that causes severe attacks of vertigo or for a tumor that causes hearing loss and dizziness.

In both the human inner ear samples and the stem-cell-derived cellular models, the researchers found that certain types of cells — hair cells and Schwann cells — express the proteins that are needed for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to enter the cells. These proteins include the ACE2 receptor, which is found on cell surfaces, and two enzymes called furin and transmembrane protease serine 2, which help the virus to fuse with the host cell.

The researchers then showed that the virus can actually infect the inner ear, specifically the hair cells and, to a lesser degree, Schwann cells. They found that the other cell types in their models were not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The human hair cells that the researchers studied were vestibular hair cells, which are involved in sensing head motion and maintaining balance. Cochlear hair cells, which are involved in hearing, are much harder to obtain or generate in a cellular model. However, the researchers showed that cochlear hair cells from mice also have proteins that allow SARS-CoV-2 entry.

Viral connection

The pattern of infection that the researchers found in their tissue samples appears to correspond to the symptoms observed in a group of 10 Covid-19 patients who reported ear-related symptoms following their infection. Nine of these patients suffered from tinnitus, six experienced vertigo, and all experienced mild to profound hearing loss. Damage to cochlear hair cells, which can cause hearing loss, is usually evaluated by measuring otoacoustic emissions — sounds given off by sensory hair cells as they respond to auditory stimulation. Among the six Covid-19 patients in the study who underwent this testing, all had reduced or absent otoacoustic emissions.

While this study strongly suggests that Covid-19 can cause auditory and balance problems, the overall percentage of Covid-19 patients who have experienced ear-related issues is not known. “Initially this was because routine testing was not readily available for patients who were diagnosed with Covid, and also, when patients were having more life-threatening complications, they weren’t paying much attention to whether their hearing was reduced or whether they had tinnitus,” Stankovic says. “We still don’t know what the incidence is, but our findings really call for increased attention to audiovestibular symptoms in people with Covid exposure.”

Possible routes for the virus to enter the ears include the Eustachian tube, which connects the nose to the middle ear. The virus may also be able to escape from the nose through small openings surrounding the olfactory nerves, Stankovic says. That would allow it to enter the brain space and infect cranial nerves, including the one that connects to the inner ear.

“This article provides very compelling evidence that Sars-CoV-2 infects the inner ear, and may be causally related to the hearing and balance symptoms in a number of patients with Covid-19 infection,” says Yuri Agrawal, a professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. “Another exciting advance for our field is the use of 2D and 3D in vitro organoids to observe Sars-CoV-2 infection of the inner ear.  This provides a powerful platform to study the impact of a number of other exposures, including other infections, toxins, and cancers, on the inner ear.”

The researchers now hope to use their human cellular models to test possible treatments for the inner ear infections caused by SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Remondi Foundation, the Nancy Sayles Day Foundation, and the Barnes Foundation.

Article originally appeared on MIT News

Subjective tinnitus can also occur in individuals with normal hearing. In these cases, a link has been found between tinnitus and various physical conditions, including pain, infection, sleep quality, anxiety, and depression. Subjective tinnitus can also be associated with diseases that cause structural or functional changes in the brain through chronic inflammation.

Some studies have found significant tinnitus associations with body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage in obese individuals. These associations might be due to obesity-related increased inflammatory responses.

In this study, scientists have investigated the association between tinnitus and body composition in individuals with normal hearing.

Study design

The study analyzed physical, otological (related to ear and its diseases), and body composition data of individuals who had participated in the ninth Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey.

A total of 2257 participants were included in the analysis. Of them, 204 were classified into the tinnitus group, and 2125 were classified into the non-tinnitus group. Among participants with tinnitus, 152 had chronic tinnitus, and 47 had acute tinnitus.

Important observations

A significantly higher prevalence of tinnitus was observed in men than in women. The percentage of individuals with hypertension and a history of dizziness was higher in the tinnitus group compared to that in the non-tinnitus group. Moreover, the tinnitus group showed higher levels of depression and anxiety and worse hearing levels than the non-tinnitus group.

The analysis controlling for age and mean hearing level revealed a significantly higher percentage of fat in the total body, arms, trunk, and legs and a significantly higher waist circumference among male participants in the tinnitus group compared to that in the non-tinnitus group.

The male participants with tinnitus also exhibited a lower percentage of leg muscle mass, total body fluid, and intracellular fluid compared to those without tinnitus. However, no significant differences in these body composition-related parameters were observed between female participants with and without tinnitus.

Among male participants with chronic tinnitus, a significantly higher trunk fat percentage and waist circumference and a significantly lower intracellular fluid percentage were observed compared to those without tinnitus.

A significant difference in leg muscle percentage was observed between the female population’s chronic and acute tinnitus groups. However, this association disappeared after controlling for different confounding factors, including age and mean hearing level.

Prevalence of tinnitus in obese and non-obese participants

A significantly higher percentage of tinnitus was observed in male participants with obesity compared to those without obesity. However, no such difference was observed between obese and non-obese female participants.

A significant positive association was also observed between tinnitus and central obesity only among male participants.

Prevalence of acute and chronic tinnitus in obese and non-obese participants

A significantly higher prevalence of both acute and chronic tinnitus was observed among obese male participants compared to non-obese male participants.

A significantly higher prevalence of chronic tinnitus and a lower prevalence of acute tinnitus were observed in males with central obesity compared to those without central obesity.

No significant association was observed between tinnitus and obesity or central obesity among female participants.

Further statistical analysis found a significant association between chronic tinnitus and obesity in males.

Study significance

The study finds significant associations of tinnitus with body fat percentage, leg muscle mass percentage, body fluid percentage, and intracellular fluid percentage, particularly in males.

The study also finds significant associations between chronic tinnitus and obesity or central obesity in the male population.

Given the strong correlation between tinnitus and systemic inflammation, scientists suggest that tinnitus may be a side-effect of upper body obesity and that the chronicity of tinnitus may be more influenced by visceral obesity.

Available literature indicates that obesity can affect the fronto-temporal brain regions involved in the noise cancellation pathway. The structural changes in the brain regions due to obesity may also contribute to the onset and persistence of tinnitus.

Article originally appeared on News Medical Life Sciences

It offers some hope for millions affected by tinnitus, who have been told that there is nothing they can do about it, face long queues waiting for treatment, or can’t afford the costs of specialist support.

The initial trial worked with 30 sufferers, of whom almost two-thirds experienced a “clinically significant improvement.” The team is now planning larger trials in the UK in collaboration with the University College London Hospital.

The app, MindEar, is available for individuals to trial for themselves on a smartphone.

Tinnitus is common, affecting up to one in four people. It is mostly experienced by older adults but can appear for children. For some, it goes away without intervention. For others, it can be debilitatingly life-changing: affecting hearing, mood, concentration, sleep, and in severe cases, causing anxiety or depression.

“About 1.5 million people in Australia, 4 million in the UK and 20 million in the U.S. have severe tinnitus,” says Dr. Fabrice Bardy, an audiologist at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland and lead author of the paper. Dr. Bardy is also co-founder of MindEar, a company set up to commercialize the MindEar technology.

“One of the most common misconceptions about tinnitus is that there is nothing you can do about it; that you just have to live with it. This is simply not true. Professional help from those with expertise in tinnitus support can reduce the fear and anxiety attached to the sound patients experience,” he says.

“Cognitive behavioral therapy is known to help people with tinnitus, but it requires a trained psychologist. That’s expensive, and often difficult to access,” says Professor Suzanne Purdy, Professor of Psychology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

“MindEar uses a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness and relaxation exercises, as well as sound therapy to help you train your brain’s reaction so that we can tune out tinnitus. The sound you perceive fades in the background and is much less bothersome,” she says.

“In our trial, two-thirds of users of our chatbot saw improvement after 16 weeks. This was shortened to only 8 weeks when patients additionally had access to an online psychologist,” says Dr. Bardy.

How does it work?

Even before we are born, our brains learn to filter out sounds that we determine to be irrelevant, such as the surprisingly loud sound of blood rushing past our ears. As we grow, our brains further learn to filter out environmental noises such as a busy road, an air conditioner or sleeping partners.

Most alarms, such as those in smoke detectors, bypass this filter and trigger a sense of alert for people, even if they are asleep. This primes the fight-or-flight response, and is especially strong for sounds we associate with bad prior experiences.

Unlike an alarm, tinnitus occurs when a person hears a sound in the head or ears, when there is no external sound source or risk presented in the environment, and yet the mind responds with a similar alert response.

The sound is perceived as an unpleasant, irritating, or intrusive noise that can’t be switched off. The brain focuses on it insistently, further training our mind to pay even more attention even though there is no risk. This offers the pathway for patients. By training and actively giving the tinnitus less attention, the easier it becomes to tunes out.

MindEar aims to help people to practice focus through a training program, equipping the mind and body to suppress stress hormones and responses and thus reducing the brain’s focus on tinnitus.

Tinnitus is not a disease in itself but is usually a symptom of another underlying health condition, such as damage to the auditory system or tensions occurring in the head and neck.

Although there is no known cure for tinnitus, there are management strategies and techniques that help many sufferers find relief. With the evidence of this trial, the MindEar team is optimistic that there is a more accessible, rapidly available and effective tool available for the many of those affected by tinnitus still awaiting support.

Article originally appeared on Medical Xpress