Tinnitus is not a disease but a disorder that can affect hearing. No one can really tell what went wrong when you just started to hear the annoying buzzing in your ear. The underlying causes may range from neurological damage to oxidative stress. However, tinnitus researches are underway to help patients get relief or treatment.
Latest tinnitus researches include studies from the University of Regensburg in Germany on the effectiveness of a treatment for chronic tinnitus involving mindfulness and body psychotherapy.
The study was performed on 36 patients and the treatment involved the use of meditation components, imagination exercises, exercises which target the moment to moment awareness of body and self perception, self massaging together with individualized gentle movement exercises of the body as well as breathing exercises which concentrate on expiration to treat muscle tension and promote relaxation. The end result claims that the mindfulness and body psychotherapy-based technique is effective for curing tinnitus and should be continued for further evaluation through clinical studies on a greater number of individuals.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
The Medical Center of Loyola University has also produced one of the latest tinnitus researches by studying the reliability of transcranial magnetic stimulation on individuals who suffer from depression and who developed tinnitus. The study, which has been approved 4 years ago, will involve about a maximum of 15 patients to undergo five treatments for each week lasting for four to six weeks for a total of 20 to 30 treatments. A physician will evaluate the procedure three times within the treatment course.
Stress reduction program
A mindfulness based tinnitus stress reduction program performed in the University of California in San Francisco enrolls eight patients who are taught to use their inborn resources to redirect their perspective and relationship with tinnitus including any life stressor that they encounter. All eight patients show improvement in their symptoms and on how they are aware of their illness.
Some latest tinnitus researches also include the use of an acoustic CR modulation sound therapy on tinnitus sufferers in Great Britain and the use of an endovascular stent to ease tinnitus.
The endovascular stent was placed in the transverse sinus and has been found to significantly reduce the pressure change of pseudotumor cerebri, improving visual function while reducing effects of tinnitus.
All twelve patients in the study performed by Dr. Martin Radvany of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda showed improvement in visual function while experiencing reduced headaches.
Sonic brain reprogramming treatment
A new treatment for tinnitus which uses vibrations created by synthesized music showed improved symptoms for almost all patients aged 35 to 72 with mild to moderate high frequency hearing loss during the first half of a program. The sonic brain reprogramming treatment involves passing sound vibrations through a bone behind the ear. The improvement is known as residual inhibition and it has changed for up to several weeks which is much longer than the relief provided by masking techniques.
A new tinnitus device has been developed by the Neuromod Devices. Mutebutton,a multi-sensory medical device, is designed to decrease the symptoms of ringing ears or tinnitus. The new tinnitus device is expected to create 50 more jobs in Dublin in the next 5 years.