I created a groundbreaking app to cure tinnitus using the proven ‘notch therapy’ treatment, backed by scientific research. Got to #4 in the charts for Health & Fitness apps recently!

What is Tinnitus?

Tinnitus is the hearing of sound when no external sound is present, most often described as a ‘ringing’ sound. It can have various causes and people have tried many different treatments in the past, with limited success.

Magnetoencephalography scan overlaid on MRI showing brain activity due to Tinnitus. Research by Dr. Michael Seidman director of the division of Otologic-Neurotologic surgery at Henry Ford Hospital.

How does the treatment work?

The science behind my tinnitus treatment app is that noise or music, EQ modified with a spectral notch, reduces cortical activity around the Center Frequency of the notch. When we set the notch around your ‘tinnitus frequency’ (best for tonal tinnitus), this reduces your tinnitus symptoms with just a few uses – used every day, my app could keep your tinnitus away forever.

 

Why use this app?

There are similar therapies available out there as downloaded desktop applications, but they charge upwards of $30 per month to use! I also wanted the therapy to be convenient and portable, so I made it into an app. I’ll leave it up to you 🙂 Get the app here. You can check out all my other apps here.

References

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• Powers, L., dos Santos, G.M., & Jons, C. (2016, September). Notch Therapy: A new approach to tinnitus treatment. AudiologyOnline, Article 18365.
• Adamchic, I., Tass, P.A., Langguth, B., Hauptmann, C., Koller, M., Schecklmann,…Landgrebe, M., (2012). Linking the tinnitus questionnaire and the subjective clinical global impression: Which differences are clinically important? Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 10, 79.
• American Tinnitus Association (n.d.). Retrieved Sept 9, 2016
• Baguley, D., (2016). Clinical aspects of tinnitus. Hearing Review, 23(1), 40.
• dos Santos, G.M., Bento, R.F., de Medeiros, I.R., Oiticcia, J., da Silva, E.C., & Penteado, S. (2014). The influence of sound generator associated with conventional amplification for tinnitus control: randomized blind clinical trial. Trends in Hearing, 18, 1-9.
• Eggermont, J. (2012) Cortex: Way station or locus of the tinnitus percept? In J. Eggermont, F. Zeng, Popper, R. Fay (Eds.), Tinnitus (137-162). New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media.
• Haab, L., Lehser, C., Corona-Strauss, F., Bernarding, C., Seidler, H., Strauss, D., & Hannemann, R. (in submission). Six-month evaluation of a hearing aid supported tinnitus treatment using notched environmental sounds.
• Hannemann, R., Haab L., Corona-Strauss, F., & Strauss, D. (2016, September). Long-term evaluation of a new hearing aid supported tinnitus treatment. Poster presented at the meeting of the World Congress of Audiology, Vancouver, Canada.
• Henry, J.A., Zaugg, T.L., & Schechter, M.A. (2005) Clinical guide for audiological tinnitus management I: Assessment. American Journal of Audiology, 14, 21-48.
• Hiller, W. & Goebel, G. (2004). Rapid assessment of tinnitus-related psychological distress using the Mini-TQ. American Journal of Audiology, 43(10), 600-604.
• Hoare, D.J., Searchfield, G.D., Refaie, A.E., & Henry, J. (2014). Sound therapy for tinnitus management: J Am Acad Audiol. 2014 Jan;25(1):62-75. doi: 10.3766/jaaa.25.1.5.
• Jastreboff, P. & Hazell, J. (1993). A neurophysiological approach to tinnitus: Clinical implications. British Journal of Audiology, 27, 7-17.
• Jastreboff, P. & Jastreboff, M. (2000). Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) as a method for treatment of tinnitus and hyperacusis patients. J Am Acad Audiol, 11(3), 162-177.
• Kochkin S., Tyler R., & Born, J. (2011). MarkeTrak VIII: The prevalence of tinnitus in the United States and the self-reported efficacy of various treatments. Hearing Review, 18(12), 10-27.
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• Melcher, J. (2016). Tinnitus: A multifaceted condition. Audiology Today, 28(1), 32-37.
• Moller, A.R. (2011). Epidemiology of tinnitus in adults. In A.R. Moller, B. Langguth, D. DeRidder, & T. Kleinjung (Eds.), Textbook of tinnitus (29-37). New York, NY: SpringerScience+Business Media, LLC.
• Okamoto, H., Stracke, H., Stoll, W., & Pantev, C. (2010). Listening to tail-made notched music reduces tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related auditory cortex activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(3), 1207-1210.
• Pantev, C., Wolbrink, A., Roberts, L.E., Engelien, A., & Lutkenhoner, B.B. (1999). Short-term plasticity of the human auditory cortex. Brain Research, 842(1), 192-199.
• Powers, L., & Munhoes, G. (2015). Acoustic therapy for the treatment of tinnitus: A primer. Hearing Review, 22(6), 22.
• Reavis, K,. Chang J., & Zeng, F. (2010). Patterned sound therapy for the treatment of tinnitus. The Hearing Journal, 63(11), 21-24.
• Searchfield, G.D., Kaur, M., & Martin, W.H. (2010). Hearing aids as an adjunct to counseling: Tinnitus patients who choose amplification do better than those that don’t. International Journal of Audiology, 49(8), 574-579.
• Strauss, D.J., Corona-Strauss, F.I., Haab, L., & Hannemann, R. (2015). Notched environmental sounds: a new hearing aid-supported tinnitus treatment evaluated in 20 patients. Clinical Otolaryngology, [Epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1111/coa.12575
• Surr, R.K., Montgomery, A.A, & Mueller, H.G. (1985). Effect of amplification on tinnitus among new hearing aid users. Ear Hear, 6(2), 71-5.
• Sweetow, R.W., & Sabes, J.H. (2010). Effects of acoustical stimuli delivered through hearing aids on tinnitus. J Am Acad Audiol, 21(7), 461-473.
• Teismann, H., Okamoto, H., & Pantev, C. (2011). Short and intense tailor-made notched music training against tinnitus: The tinnitus frequency matters. PLoS ONE, 6(9). e24685. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0024685
• Tunkel, D.E., Bauer, C.A., Sun, G.H., Rosenfeld, R.M., Chadrasekhar, SS., Cunningham, E.R….Whamond, E.J. (2014). Clinical practice guideline: tinnitus. Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, 151(2S), S1–S40. doi: 10.1177/0194599814545325
• Turner, J.S. (1990). Auditory dysfunction: tinnitus. In H.K. Walker, W.D. Hall, & J.W. Hurst (Eds.), Clinical methods: The history, physical, and laboratory examinations. Boston: Butterworths.
• United States Department of Affairs (n.d.). Retrieved Sept 13, 2016
• Vernon, J. (1976). The use of masking for relief of tinnitus. In H. Silverstein & H. Norrell (Eds.), Neurological Surgery of the Ear: Volume II (104-108). Birmingham: Aesculapius Publishing.
• Wolf, V. (2016). How to use primax tinnitus therapy options. Signia Whitepaper.
• Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Stein, A., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C., & Pantey, C. (2015, September). Impact of spectral notch width on neurophysiological plasticity and clinical effectiveness of the tailor-made notched music training. PLoS ONE, 10(9).

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