Are You Suffering From Any of These Symptoms as a Result of Tinnitus? Call Today for a Consultation.
■ Mild to severe anxiety
■ Depression
■ Insomnia
■ Negative thinking
■ Triggered fight or flight
■ Crying spells
■ Hopelessness
■ Ringing in the ears
■ Suicidal thoughts
Are you growing more isolated? Do you feel like life will never be the same? Are you refraining from activities that you enjoy? Are you fearful of losing your job? Do you find that your thoughts tend to be negative?
If you answered yes to 3 or more of these questions or symptoms, then we can help. You may be a candidate for Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy, or TCRT.
With over 20 years of clinical experience, Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R developed Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy and founded the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ in response to the growing number of Tinnitus sufferers coming to his private practice.
He discovered that by helping people to retrain and reinterpret the thoughts around their Tinnitus, anxiety and depression symptoms began to improve. But even more important so did the Tinnitus.
Technological advances in tinnitus treatment have provided new hope for those suffering from this condition. From innovative devices to cutting-edge therapies, technology is revolutionizing how tinnitus is managed.
Technological Advances in Tinnitus Treatment
Sound Therapy Devices
Sound therapy devices, including white noise machines and specialized tinnitus maskers, have been enhanced with advanced features. These devices emit soothing sounds that help mask the ringing or buzzing associated with tinnitus. Newer models are customizable, allowing users to adjust the sounds to their specific needs.
Hearing Aids with Integrated Tinnitus Management
Modern hearing aids are now equipped with integrated tinnitus management features. These hearing aids not only amplify external sounds to improve hearing but also include sound therapy options to help mask tinnitus. The customization capabilities of these devices allow audiologists to tailor the settings to each patient’s unique tinnitus profile.
Neuromodulation Techniques
Neuromodulation techniques, such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), have shown promise in treating tinnitus. TMS involves using magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain, which can help reduce tinnitus symptoms. TENS uses electrical currents to target specific nerves, providing relief by altering the neural activity associated with tinnitus.
Mobile Apps for Tinnitus Management
Mobile apps designed for tinnitus management offer various features, including sound therapy, relaxation exercises, and tracking tools. These apps provide a convenient way for individuals to manage their symptoms on-the-go. Some popular apps include Tinnitus Relief and myNoise, which offer a range of customizable sound options.
Virtual Reality (VR) Therapy
Virtual Reality (VR) therapy is an emerging field in tinnitus treatment. VR can create immersive environments that distract users from their tinnitus and promote relaxation. Studies have shown that VR can effectively reduce the perception of tinnitus and improve mental well-being.
Genetic and Molecular Research
Advances in genetic and molecular research are uncovering the underlying causes of tinnitus. By identifying specific genes and molecular pathways involved in tinnitus, researchers hope to develop targeted therapies that address the root causes of the condition. This personalized approach could revolutionize the future of tinnitus treatment.
Technological Advances in Tinnitus Treatment: Conclusion
Technological advances in tinnitus treatment offer new and effective ways to manage the condition. From sound therapy devices and modern hearing aids to neuromodulation techniques and mobile apps, these innovations provide hope for improved quality of life for those affected by tinnitus.
For expert guidance on the latest technological advances in tinnitus treatment, contact Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R, at The Tinnitus Cognitive Center™. Dr. Katz specializes in comprehensive tinnitus management and can tailor a treatment plan to your needs.
Tinnitus Cognitive Center Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R Phone: 646-213-2321
All sessions are conducted online. Dr. Katz speaks 5 languages.
In this blog post, we will explore some of the latest advances in tinnitus research and treatment. Tinnitus is a condition that affects millions of people around the world, causing ringing, buzzing, or other noises in the ears. While tinnitus is a common condition, it can be challenging to diagnose and treat. However, advances in tinnitus research have led to exciting new treatment options that can help people manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
The Latest Advances in Tinnitus Research
Tinnitus research has made significant strides in recent years, shedding light on the underlying causes of the condition and identifying new treatment options. Here are some of the latest advances in tinnitus research:
Neuromodulation Therapies
One of the most exciting areas of tinnitus research is neuromodulation therapies. These therapies involve stimulating the nervous system to reduce or eliminate tinnitus symptoms. Researchers have been exploring different types of neuromodulation therapies, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and vagus nerve stimulation. These therapies have shown promise in clinical trials, with some studies reporting significant reductions in tinnitus symptoms.
Drug Therapies
Researchers have also been exploring the use of drugs to treat tinnitus. Some of the drugs being studied include antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and NMDA receptor antagonists. While there is still much research to be done in this area, some studies have shown promising results.
Genetic Research
Another area of tinnitus research is genetics. Researchers are studying the genetic factors that may contribute to tinnitus and exploring ways to use this information to develop new treatments. While this research is still in its early stages, it could lead to a better understanding of the condition and more effective treatments in the future.
The Latest Advances in Tinnitus Treatment
In addition to new research, there are also several new treatment options available for people with tinnitus. Here are some of the latest advances in tinnitus treatment:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT is a type of talk therapy that has been shown to be effective in treating tinnitus. CBT helps people change negative thoughts and behaviors related to tinnitus and teaches coping strategies to manage symptoms. Research has shown that CBT can improve quality of life and reduce tinnitus severity.
Sound Therapy
Sound therapy is another effective treatment option for tinnitus. This therapy involves listening to sounds that can help mask or distract from tinnitus symptoms. There are several different types of sound therapy available, including white noise, pink noise, and nature sounds. Some people find that sound therapy can help reduce tinnitus symptoms and improve sleep quality.
Combination Therapy
Researchers have also been exploring the use of combination therapy for tinnitus treatment. This involves using multiple therapies, such as CBT and sound therapy, to achieve better outcomes. Combination therapy has shown promise in clinical trials, with some studies reporting significant reductions in tinnitus severity.
Latest Advances in Tinnitus Research and Treatment: Conclusion
Tinnitus can be a challenging condition to manage, but advances in tinnitus research and treatment offer hope for people with the condition. From neuromodulation therapies to combination therapy, there are many options available for people looking to manage their tinnitus symptoms. If you are struggling with tinnitus, it’s essential to work with a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in tinnitus treatment.
As a licensed clinical social worker and tinnitus treatment specialist, Stephen Geller Katz LCSW is dedicated to providing compassionate and evidence-based care to his patients. If you or a loved one is struggling with tinnitus, don’t hesitate to reach out for help.
Call the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ today to schedule a consultation and take the first step towards relief.
Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R 646-213-2321
All sessions are conducted online Dr. Katz speaks 5 languages
Have you heard about the neuromonics tinnitus treatment? Experts describe tinnitus as a common sound disorder that affects the lives of millions of people around the world. It refers to a condition where you involuntarily hear a constant ringing in your ears that leads to mental health issues such as additional stress, anxiety, depression, etc.
In coping with tinnitus and symptoms, you may have to go through multiple treatment options to learn which one suits you the best for tinnitus management. While all treatment options aim to reduce the effect of tinnitus in your daily life, not all methods might be suitable for you, depending on your health, mental health, and physical issues.
Common Causes for Tinnitus
Learning what causes tinnitus and its symptoms will give you an advantage in coping with the condition and managing it to prevent further progression. While tinnitus is incurable for now, it is possible to alleviate the symptoms to a negligible level. Here are some of the most common causes of tinnitus, including health conditions with multiple other reasons that lead to tinnitus in healthy individuals (children, adults, and elders).
Brain tumors
Auditory nerve tumors
Noise-induced hearing impairment or loss
Sinus infections
Ear infections
Blood vessel diseases
Heart diseases
Thyroid abnormalities
Meniere’s disease
Pulsatile tinnitus is a rare type of tinnitus that causes additional symptoms. It refers to tinnitus, where auditory phantom sound hallucinations (tinnitus noises) occur in sync with the pulse. As the tinnitus noises synchronize with your heartbeat, it can get quite difficult to focus and concentrate. Moreover, pulsatile tinnitus occurs when tinnitus doesn’t receive early treatment or if you leave it untreated intentionally for a long time.
However, let’s discuss how modern medical technology and the latest treatment developments can help with tinnitus management. You may not be familiar with Neuromonics tinnitus treatments. Nevertheless, they are extensive research and may carry the potential to reduce the symptoms and help you cope with tinnitus similar to other effective methods.
Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatments
Neuromonics tinnitus treatment is still a relatively new concept under constant development like many other treatment options for tinnitus and hearing loss. It involves the tinnitus-affected person listening to acoustic signals that experts customize according to their distinctive hearing profile.
The sounds (acoustic signals) combine with music to deliver a relaxing and pleasant hearing experience. Hence, they do not impose significant hardship in going on with this treatment for hours. The target of this treatment is the neural pathways in your brain. These acoustic signals help re-program and re-construct the neural pathways to strain out tinnitus noises. Overall, it reduces the disturbance of tinnitus sounds on your daily life activities.
When you consider this treatment approach for six months, effective results can deliver the long-desired outcomes. Listening to the acoustic signals daily for hours is not difficult, especially with the Neuromonics processor. It is easy to feature in your daily routines, and experts believe it might be as effective as the top tinnitus treatment methods, including therapies.
What Does Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment Aim to Establish?
You have to work closely with an expert audiologist who has the experience of working with tinnitus patients. They guide your progress through the treatment procedures and help you sustain the right amount of acoustic signal listening periods.
Neuromonics tinnitus treatment serves the primary purpose of preventing the tinnitus disturbance cycle, which results in negative thought processes leading to negative reactions and emotions. There are three main things that neuromonics tinnitus treatment aims to establish.
Firstly, it stimulates your auditory pathways (nerves) that experienced severe damage due to hearing loss, tinnitus, and related issues. Moreover, it aims to provide a positive and enjoyable stimulus that aids in managing tinnitus perception through intermittent exposure. Thirdly, it involves your emotional response system (the limbic system) responding to the tinnitus perception. Therefore, neuromonics tinnitus treatment leads to desensitization against tinnitus sounds and symptoms. Furthermore, this causes an extreme reduction in the awareness of tinnitus sounds, which drastically lowers the disturbance associated with it.
Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment: Conclusion
Do you wish to discuss the latest tinnitus treatment options according to your tinnitus symptoms severity? Well, you should get in touch with Tinnitus Cognitive Center that helps patients with tinnitus and multiple related disorders, issues, diseases, and conditions.
At the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™, Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R, offers specialized and individualized attention to all patients. Treating tinnitus and helping patients cope with the tinnitus sound through effective approaches is his specialty. With an experience of more than 30 years in clinical practice, he is one of the best tinnitus treatment specialists in the world.
Call us at 646-213-2321 for more information and to schedule a convenient online consultation.
What are some of the latest treatments for sound disorders? Medicinal Technology is continuously developing more effective means of treatment and disease management. The latest treatment options offer a range of additional benefits, from healing diseases to coping with major symptoms of severe/chronic health conditions. However, our focus in this article will be on sound disorders, also referred to as hearing disorders in this article.
It is a rare type of hearing disorder that affects the functions of the auditory nerves in our ears. The disorder refers to the inability of auditory nerves to send electrical impulses to the brain after hearing sound through the ear. It can result in hearing loss which varies in effect from person to person. In this disorder, the affected person perceives distorted external sounds and noises that are difficult to comprehend in the form of speech. Through continual monitoring of the condition’s status, experts provide treatment for this type of disorder.
· Conductive Hearing Loss
This disorder is often temporary and leads to partial or full hearing impairment. In simple words, because of this disorder, when you receive sound through your middle or outer ear, it appears muffled. Normally, this can occur due to wax, fluid, or foreign substance buildup in the eardrum or canal. It can also be a birth deformity that might require surgical treatment. Irregularity of the small bones more likely leads to conductive hearing issues.
· Tinnitus
Tinnitus itself is a symptom, but many people perceive it as a disease. When you have tinnitus, you will experience different internal sounds in the ear that create a ringing sound. The ringing sound is the most common, but there are also other sounds such as humming, hissing, clicking, buzzing, and roaring. The intensity of these sounds can vary as they start with a low pitch before reaching high frequencies. These sounds interfere with your ability to hear properly and concentrate on other sounds in the environment, such as the sound of another person speaking. Sometimes, you may also experience whooshing sounds that go along with your heartbeat. Pulsatile tinnitus is when the person standing next to you can hear the sounds as well, and it signals that you should undergo a proper medical examination.
· Mixed Hearing Loss
As the name suggests, this disorder or hearing loss occurs when the person experiences a combination of sensorineural and conductive hearing issues. Therefore, treatments also involve the use of multiple techniques and medical intervention. Moreover, hearing aids can also work for this hearing loss issue.
· Central Auditory Processing Disorder
This central auditory processing disorder affects the hearing sensitivity in an individual. While a person may hear external sounds in this disorder, they are unable to cope with the condition. In short, it means that they do not fully understand and perceive the information that they are receiving. It can involve trouble in detecting the essential parts of what was said. Further, it can get difficult to listen fully when there is excessive background noise.
· Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss issues occur when the cochlea in the ear suffers from damage. It has hair cells that move when we receive sounds. This movement sends impulses along with the nerves to the brain to comprehend what you heard. In this disorder, a person requires the sounds to be loud for them to understand. Hence, the medical treatments for this disorder revolve around hearing aids, therapies, and more.
Latest Treatment Options for Sound Disorders (Hearing Disorders)
For the hearing disorders discussed above, here are some of the latest treatment options. Keep in mind that these treatment methods are not only for the hearing disorders above, but they can potentially help to treat an array of different hearing issues.
· Implants in the Middle Ear
Your surgeon will place a tiny device inside your ear (middle ear) to make sure that the middle ear bones move with more strength to produce strong vibrations for the inner ear. This implant treatment is effective for sensorineural hearing loss disorder. They are a recent advancement in tinnitus and other hearing loss issue treatments. They stick right in the middle of your ear, which keeps them hidden for as long as your specialist would suggest.
Hearing aids are a common name for treatments that deal with placing devices in, on, or over the ear to aid in listening and comfortably comprehending noise. Bone-anchored hearing aids fit behind the ear. This is from where these implants pass on sound through your skull to your inner ear. As they offer nearly the same hearing assistance and sound transmission to the inner ear as surgical implants, the non-surgical implantation feature is a success as the latest treatment option.
· Hearing Aids: Analog
Analog hearing aids convert external sounds into electrical signals. They also make these sounds louder through electrical signals before transmitting them to the inner ear and brain. Think of this as a microphone in an amplifier.
· Hearing Aids: Digital
Digital hearing aids give you more flexibility since you can adjust the hearing loss and electrical signal transmission for the specific frequencies you have issues with.
· Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implants in the inner ear bypass the damaged inner parts of the area to stimulate your hearing nerves in the ear directly. This helps to reduce the hearing loss that occurs due to hearing disorders.
· Surgical Procedures
Abnormalities of the ear (inner and middle ear) are not easily treatable with only hearing aids or implants. Therefore, surgical procedures correct congenital hearing disorders by removing infections, excess fluids, and other types of damages to the inner ear.
· Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) CBT is a form of psychotherapy used to treat people with anxiety disorders. Do you or someone in your family have an anxiety disorder? CBT helps change the way you might think, behave, and finally, react in a fearful or anxiety-causing situation (or an object). CBT employs social skill practices that assist in treating disorders similar to social anxiety. Read more about CBT therapy here.
· Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy (TCRT)
The major goal of the tinnitus retaining therapy is to manage your response towards the stimulus. There is no evidence, which shows that the therapy has completely cured the situation. Many healthcare providers will also suggest tinnitus masking if you suffer from such chronic disorder. Tinnitus masking is, using music or any sound to mask the tinnitus. The healthcare provider might suggest you wear a hearing aid. Read more about TCRT therapy for sound disorders here.
Latest Treatments for Sound Disorders: Conclusion
Do you suffer from any hearing disorders? Is tinnitus a growing concern for your physical and mental health? Do you feel any of the symptoms of hearing disorders (sound disorders)?
Is there A Cure For Tinnitus? Tinnitus is a condition with which you can live your life normally if it occurs occasionally, but in some cases, this condition is so severe that it affects daily life and leads to anxiety or depression. For such people, looking for a cure is natural but finding a permanent solution is difficult.
Unfortunately, there is no proven treatment or cure for Tinnitus. Various therapies can avoid or reduce the effect, but these treatments cannot completely cure Tinnitus.
Help from Counseling and Therapies
Many people have found support through different therapies and counseling using various strategies to cope with Tinnitus. The primary support that people living with Tinnitus use is psychological. Many types of techniques can help you in reducing the condition. (Source)
1. Masking Devices:
Masking devices can work as therapy. Various pleasant sounds like white or pink noise in the background can bring this conscious ringing to the unconscious. Your mind considers the ringing sound of Tinnitus important while playing such frequencies, and relating it to ringing your mind makes you realize that it is unimportant and treats it like habitation.
2. Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a technique from an ancient Chinese medicine that entails fine needles placed at various spots on your body, in this case, on ears. Many people have found no improvements with this technique, but the recovery is not long-lasting.
3. Gingko biloba
Gingko Biloba is another therapy that many people know. Some people claim that this therapy has a reducing effect on their Tinnitus, but again, all the research, and the results are unsatisfactory.
Help by Understanding the Cause
As you know, the causes of Tinnitus may vary as it is a symptom of different conditions. To know more about how to reduce the Tinnitus effect, it is better if you consult a Tinnitus specialist, so he can examine the real reason causing you Tinnitus.
If your Tinnitus is due to any other disease, or injury, curing that can help you fight with ringing. Some of the reasons are mentioned below, and treating those conditions can bring you back to normal.
In most of the patients, head, or neck injury is the reason for Tinnitus. If this is the case, you can cure Tinnitus by curing that injury. People often waste time and try different techniques to avoid Tinnitus, but the main reason for examining was due to head or neck injury. Only treating your injury can cure Tinnitus if your injury is the reason for ringing.
2. Ear Infections
Ear infections can also lead to Tinnitus. You can only cure this type of Tinnitus with treating your ear infection. Visit our clinic to check if your Tinnitus is due to your ear infection, or any other reason.
3. Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Disorder
TMJ is a joint near your middle ear, and its function is to hold your lower jaw, and skull together. Your sensory nerve passes through this joint, and on dislocation, this joint can cause Tinnitus. To avoid Tinnitus, you need to visit a doctor so that he can realign your joint.
4. Bone Stiffness
Sometimes due to abnormal growth of your middle ear bone can cause your ear ringing. With the help of surgeries, it is possible to fix this abnormality and cure Tinnitus.
Conclusion
Tinnitus has been a mystery as doctors are unable to figure the science behind it. That is the reason why in many conditions, curing Tinnitus isn’t easy, but a specialist can help you live with it. To know more about Tinnitus, you can contact us at (646) 213-2321.
Our Tinnitus treatment specialist, Stephen Geller Katz LCSW, can help you examine the cause of your Tinnitus.
What is the future of tinnitus treatment? Tinnitus is a hearing loss or auditory condition that many people suffer from. Sufferer’s feel immense displeasure and irritation due to a constant ringing sensation in their ears that they cannot manage to get rid of. Although, there are immediate solutions like listening to ‘white’ music that exist, they are only temporary. Doctors and researchers are actively looking for permanent and long term treatment options for tinnitus.
In addition to that, current treatment options that most specialists recommend also exist. Therapies likes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Tinnitus Retraining therapy have proven to be successful in this regard. However, engineers, scientists, and doctors are researching to find better ways to treat this problem. The existing solutions are good but they need a lot of improvement for the perfect resolution of the problem.
The Future of Tinnitus Treatment
This condition is a noise induced hearing loss that can result from listening to heavy metal music or working in an extremely loud environment. It is important to know and understand how we hear and process sound. There are tiny hairs present inside our ears, namely cilia. These hairs are responsible for translating sound waves and sending them off to your brain, which then interprets them and you are able to hear.
According to research by the University of Arizona, the target is the brain and not the ears. It suggests that neuro-inflammation is the real cause behind tinnitus. Inflammation is your body’s way of letting you know that there may be an infection trying to develop in your body. This leads us to the conclusion that inflammation in auditory pathways triggers tinnitus. This also means that anti-inflammation drugs can be useful in treating tinnitus in the near future.
The central nervous system of your brain tends to activate its immune cells (microglia) when infectious germs invade. However, in case of hearing damage or auditory loss, pro inflammatory cytokines start working immediately. These cytokines don’t always seem to be helpful. One specific cytokine TNF, tumor necrosis factor tends to trigger tinnitus. Therefore, anti-inflammatory medication will help in future to regulate its activation and to reduce inflammation.
Another future treatment option is, TMS Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. (Research by Oregon Health & Science University).This procedure involves producing a cone like magnetic field inside your skull to form a connection with your brain tissues. As a result, they affect the activity of the brain neurons. This procedure is perfect for curing depression. Participants of the study who were tinnitus sufferers stated that TMS worked for them and helped reduce their tinnitus symptoms to a great extent.
Other than that, masking devices and high-quality white sound producing hearing aids in the making that will help tackle tinnitus. These white sounds target the ringing and hissing by drowning out the background noise.
Bottom-Line
To conclude, it is vital to know which type of Tinnitus you are suffering from and what kind of treatment it requires. Treatment options are specific to your condition and the specialists will recommend them after thoroughly investigating your condition. If you have identified tinnitus symptoms in yourself and you want to get rid of them, schedule your appointment with the best Tinnitus specialist in NYC today. We will help you with a solution that meets your needs and helps you live your life like any other normal person.
Breakthroughs in tinnitus treatment continue to offer people suffering from this condition a way out of pain and frustration. Dr. Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R’s groundbreaking tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy. Researchers found other methods for treatment, but cognitive retraining remains the most effective means for dealing with symptoms.
What breakthroughs have been made in Tinnitus treatment?
Researchers devised the Tinnitus Handicap Index in 1996. Based on this advancement and starting in the 2000s, tinnitus treatments began to form around the idea of cognitive retraining. These methods target behavior related to flare up with some technology serving to supplement therapy.
Cognitive retraining methods such as our Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy, seek to allow patients to learn how to deal with phantom noises and the resulting frustration, depression, and anxiety.
These therapies work by targeting the negative thoughts and responses to tinnitus. By focusing on core beliefs and intermediate thoughts, clinicians have found a way to alleviate symptoms. Esteemed journals such as the Korean Journal of Audiology and a wide array of studies support this method.
Other recent advancements surrounding hearing aids offer a significant degree of relief, particularly when coupled with behavioral therapy. Signia and Oticon both offer devices which target the frequencies related to tinnitus and can even help strengthen the audial nerve.
Have any medicines been found that can help with my Tinnitus Symptoms?
Medication can help with tinnitus. Alprazolam has been particularly effective. However, these medications tend to have unwanted side effects such as nausea, dizziness, and addiction. Like cognitive retraining, but with more risk, medicines do not present a cure for tinnitus.
Alternative medicines have not been proven to work. These solutions include acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, and dietary supplements or vitamins. Despite a large amount of hype, no studies support their effectiveness.
Who benefits most from recent breakthroughs in Tinnitus research?
Most people can cope with tinnitus on their own. However, 20% of sufferers report a degree of debilitation that significantly impacts their lives. These individuals benefit most from treatments such as Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining.
Others may benefit from advances in hearing aid devices. Ninety percent of people suffering from tinnitus report a degree of hearing loss. A visit to an audiologist may be advisable in addition to cognitive retraining if the loss is problematic.
Allowing the side effects of tinnitus to persist is not advisable. When tinnitus becomes unbearable, anxiety can worsen to clinical depression or even suicidal thoughts. If left unchecked, this tends to deepen in a crippling cycle.
Has a cure been found for Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is an incurable condition, not a disease. Damage to the inner ear is irreparable. Instead, every form of treatment aims to help afflicted individuals deal with their symptoms.
Despite a lack of a cure, it is not necessarily impossible to devise. Scientists continue to find new information regarding how the ear is affected by tinnitus. In doing so, they hope to improve on medications and therapies that will solve the condition.
Despite recent advancements, many new experimental therapies and treatments are incredibly invasive. Every new treatment listed under the American Tinnitus Association website utilizes electrodes implanted in the body and even directly on the brain to provide a degree of control.
To figure out if you can benefit from breakthroughs in tinnitus treatment, contact the Tinnitus Cognitive Center and schedule an appointment.
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References:
Managing Tinnitus with sound. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.oticon.com/professionals/brainhearing-technology/tinnitus New Treatment Options for Tinnitius Sufferers. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.ata.org/news/news/new-treatment-options-tinnitus-sufferers Tinnitus. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/symptoms-causes/syc-20350156
The future of treating tinnitus grows brighter every year. After gradual acceptance among audiologists, the condition is now well known and even being worked on by the major hearing aid companies. The Tinnitus Cognitive Center can help you grapple with your symptoms and improve quality of life with our advanced cognitive retraining therapy.
When did Tinnitus Research begin?
Tinnitus research is relatively new, making major headway in the 2000s. The Tinnitus Handicap Index, the most common diagnostic tool allowing audiologists and professionals to diagnose the condition, was developed in 1996.
Since then, MRI research found that the areas of the brain related to fear and anxiety are unusually active in tinnitus patients. Other studies eventually linked this activity to psychological effects in the 20 percent of sufferer scoring highly on the handicap index.
By 2008, cognitive retraining and behavioral conditioning were identified as a promising solution for the currently incurable disease. Our founder, Dr. Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R formulated a set of exercises and psychotherapies to help you get control of your life. Psychotherapies tackle negative thoughts to reduce symptoms and control the numerous side effects ranging from depression and suicidal thoughts to sleep exhaustion.
What advances are being made in Tinnitus Research?
Simply going home and dealing with the symptoms is no longer a requirement. Self-management strategies remain the most advanced approach to dealing with the predicament.
Meanwhile, tinnitus research has become a mainstay of audiology. The major hearing aid manufacturers now produce devices which target the condition. Oticon and Signia both offer options which attempt to strengthen and train the inner ear to deal with phantom noises.
Other approaches with proven results include sound therapy and even TMJ treatments. More recent advances are leading to experimental treatments include the implantation of electrodes on the brain to provide a consistent and direct current. The American Tinnitus Association recommends these options as a last resort as they are extremely invasive.
Will there ever be a Tinnitus Cure?
There is no current cure for tinnitus. Some companies promise a solution which may be years away if available at all.
Damage to the audial nerve and cilia is irreparable. While the hearing aid approach is promising, there is no definitive proof that utilizing these products acts as a cure. Instead, professionals agree that it is better to develop coping mechanisms to deal with any related negative thoughts, anxiety, and reactions.
Still, scientists in Australia have discovered the area of the auditory brainstem responsible for sound processing and the genes responsible for regulating the nerve cells. The related study found that some pathways controlling nerve signal transmission were blocked while others were overstimulated.
The future of treating tinnitus is bright with potential drugs and new treatments looming on the horizon. Cognitive retraining remains one of the leading treatments for the condition.
What is the best way to deal with Tinnitus?
A variety of alleviating mechanisms are available to help sufferers cope with pain, anxiety, and negative thoughts. The most promising treatment is a combination of specialized hearing aids and cognitive retraining. Alternative medicines have proven to have no impact and medications have significant downsides ranging from nausea and dizziness to addiction.
The Tinnitus Cognitive Center offers specialized retraining therapy to help afflicted patients return to normalcy. Contact us today to set up a consultation and discover how Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy can help you.
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References
Managing Tinnitus with sound. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.oticon.com/professionals/brainhearing-technology/tinnitus
New Treatment Options for Tinnitius Sufferers. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.ata.org/news/news/new-treatment-options-tinnitus-sufferers
Tinnitus. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tinnitus/symptoms-causes/syc-20350156
Tinnitus Cognitive Center™
Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R 19 West 34th Street Penthouse Floor New York, NY 10001
