Ever heard the phrase “fight fire with fire”? How about “treat like with like’? These are the principles behind successful treatment of tinnitus with sound therapies.
Tinnitus is the experience of ringing, tones, buzzing or other sounds that are not present in the environment. It affects around 12% of adults though the proportion rises to 30% as we age.
Tinnitus can be highly disruptive to quality of life as it impairs sleep and concentration, and masks hearing. Tinnitus can also affect mental health, it is related to anxiety and depression in those who live with it day to day. There is no known cure for tinnitus although hearing aids, medication and earwax removal can help.
It seems counterintuitive, but music therapies are also achieving success in reducing tinnitus, making it less noticeable and disruptive.
Binaural beats are an auditory illusion that can be embedded within soundtracks . They sound like soft beats or rhythms. Scientists are reporting a positive impact of binaural beats in many tinnitus sufferers.
Tinnitus may be up to twice as prevalent in military populations, likely due to loud noise exposure. A 2022 study required veterans to listen to music tracks with or without binaural beats for one month.
The binaural beat group ONLY reported significant improvements in their Tinnitus handicap inventory and Tinnitus handicap questionnaire scores.
The binaural beat group emotional wellbeing score improved by 30%; the music without binaural beats group showed no improvement at all.
This is one of a growing number of studies showing significant positive life impacts of binaural beats for people living with the distress than can be induced by chronic tinnitus.
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David JB, Naftali A, Katz A. Tinntrain: A multifactorial treatment for tinnitus using binaural beats. The Hear J. 2010;63(11):25-6,28.
Ibarra-Zarate DI, Naal-Ruiz NE, Alonso-Valerdi LM. Binaural sound therapy for tinnitus treatment: A psychometric and neurophysiological evaluation. Am J Otolaryngol. 2022;43(1):103248. [DOI:10.1016/j.amjoto.2021.103248]
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