Posted on 03/24/2023 1:11:50 PM PDT by Red Badger
A new treatment for tinnitus using vibrations created by synthesised music, improved symptoms in almost all patients during its first trial.
The sonic brain reprogramming treatment, based on sound vibrations that pass through a bone behind the ear, helped eight out of ten of the patients who had twice-weekly sessions of the therapy.
Its inventors, who are planning larger trials, say the technology could be a real breakthrough for the one in ten people who suffer with the debilitating condition at some time.
Tinnitus is the sensation of a sound in the ear, usually a hissing, whooshing or ringing noise.
Once, it was thought tinnitus was caused by a physical problem, but one new theory is that in some people it's the result of the brain turning up its sensitivity, while in others it's a consequence of a change or loss in hearing.
Although it can be triggered by underlying problems, including earwax, respiratory and ear infections, exposure to loud noise, and high blood pressure, the cause is often unknown.
In some cases it is linked to ageing and deteriorating hearing, but it can occur where there is no hearing loss.
'A third of people I see have some hearing loss and tinnitus is strongly associated with that. In another third of cases, the tinnitus appears to have started at a time of great stress, bereavement, redundancy, mugging, or some other kind of a big life event.
'In another third we don't know,' says David Baguley, head of audiology at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge.
One theory to explain some cases of tinnitus is that we all have these sounds in our ears, but that we are conditioned to them, in much the same way that people who live next to a road become oblivious to traffic noise.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
So true!
Have you had your hearing checked?
If you have hearing loss, Google has a phone app called “Live Transcribe”. It types what it hears, like having closed captions for personal conversations. It works for me in church if the pastor is talking too fast. Great app, and free.
Thank you. From 2005
I, too, am 68. I have had problems hearing all my life. Some of it I was born with.
But as I get older it becomes even more difficult. My tinnitus varies- sometimes it sounds like someone’s car horn is stuck. Sometimes it’s a mixture of different sounds. And sometimes it’s like a low frequency musical tone that is somewhat loud.
Just a couple of days ago, one of my hearing aids stopped working. I still have one working, but when that one stops working I’ll have to start shopping again…
I know just enough about science and physics to be skeptical about hearing ‘aids’. I concede that with tinnitus they might have merit. But if hearing problems are due to noise floor and other sounds in the airspace, it’s hard to believe that anything in my ear can overcome that.
I have to start with the wife looking away when talking to me. Talking from other rooms. My having a fan sound near me and her talking not loud enough to overcome obvious physics limitations.
Got grand kids that grow up in a home where the parents slur and have horrible diction. Got a son who has lost all his teeth and almost never puts his false teeth in. His speech is abominable.
I saw them live in concert on the Brain Salad Surgery tour.....................
I know a woman who suffers from this. Beautiful, bright, lovely heart and gracious to a fault. She uses hearing aids which create white noise to offset whatever the changing tinnitus tone happens to be.
A sudden loud noise and her knees buckle and she nearly collapses from the shock. It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch. I just want to scoop her up each time.. Certainly for her and those who love her this parody would be quite unwelcome and cruel.
While I understand you never intended to be cruel, the parody may be unsettling to some.
Respectfully
Sorry for your friend. This is not a parody. This is my daily life. I “hear” tinnitus every night and every morning and sometimes even in my dreams. Every word in this song is part of my experience. Sometimes singing these words (silently) helps me when I can’t sleep. Usually before I get to the end of the song I am asleep. The words of the song give my mind something to focus on instead of the noise. Your friend might appreciate it.
I’ll share it and your post, with a caution that it isn’t intended to mane fun of her.
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