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Medical Breakthrough: Cured of the Rings (tinnitus)
Discover Magazine ^ | Aug 10, 2002 | Fenella Saunders

Posted on 08/14/2002 3:28:07 PM PDT by The Raven

Some 20 million people in the United States have tinnitus, a chronic ringing or whooshing in the ears, and about 4 million of them experience such severe symptoms that "they wonder if they're going insane," says Martin Lenhardt, a biomedical engineer at Virginia Commonwealth University. The cause of the ailment is, in essence, a biological computer error. So Lenhardt has found a way to reprogram the brain and make the maddening sounds go away, temporarily at least.

When people lose the ability to hear very high frequencies— whether due to aging, disease, or exposure to loud noise— the neurons in the brain that used to process those sounds start to respond to a lower frequency instead. At the same time, those neurons may also increase how often they fire without any input, leading to phantom ringing. Lenhardt and his colleagues at the Martha Entenmann Tinnitus Research Center in New York City are reprogramming the neurons to proper functioning by exposing them to high-frequency vibrations.

This audio spectrum shows, in yellow, the frequency range of the vibrations used to treat tinnitus. Courtesy of Martin Lenhardt.

The researchers place a quarter-sized piezoelectric disk behind the patients' ears, which sends the vibrations through the skin and into the temporal bone of the skull. Although these motions bypass the middle ear, they stimulate the neurons, which respond if they were once again being exposed to high-pitch sounds coming from the ear itself. Lenhardt uses music that has been modulated to high frequencies to guide the action of the disk, so that its vibrations have a pattern. "We wanted a rhythmic source, that wasn't too boring," says Lenhardt. Pulsed sound is also a better neural stimulator than steady sound, he says: "We think it has to pulse a little bit to be effective, or you're not paying attention to it." After receiving two months of half-hour-long vibration sessions, conducted twice a week, most of the patients in a small pilot study said their tinnitus had vanished. Symptoms returned within two weeks, however, so Lenhardt expects that repeated sonic treatments will be needed to keep the neurons properly programmed. "But if you can do it in a non-invasive way and only need a little bit of time, this could be a real breakthrough for people who just go crazy with tinnitus," he says. His group has just received FDA approval for the device, called UltraQuiet.

Lenhardt and his colleagues are also working on Tactaid, a complimentary treatment that could relieve tinnitus symptoms immediately but that wouldn't provide long-term relief. Tactaid uses a very low-frequency vibrating disk to stimulate the muscles around the ear. In about a third of tinnitus cases, the symptoms seem to be influenced by a link between the brain's auditory system and the somatosensory system, which is involved in movement and automatic reactions. This connection makes a certain amount of sense: The phantom ringing of tinnitus is much like a type of phantom limb phenomenon, whereby a person can feel that his arm is moving, even when it is not, if the correct part of the brain is stimulated. Hearing is connected to the somatosensory system because some muscular movement occurs when we hear -- something that is more obvious in animals such as cats and dogs that can swivel their ears as they listen.

Tactaid's low-frequency vibrations stimulate the muscles around the ear, creating a signal that travels through the somatosensory pathways. Some of these pathways, in turn, connect to the cochlear nucleus, the part of the brainstem that is first to process sounds. The vibratory signal inhibits the cochlear nucleus, causing a cascade of neural reactions further up in the brain, which ultimately blocks the nerve impulses that people hear as phantom ringing. But as soon as the muscle vibration stops, the tinnitus comes back. Thus Tactaid is a bit like an aspirin for tinnitus, giving spot relief when the ringing is severe but not addressing the cause of the pain. The hope, Lenhardt says, is that Tactaid and UltraQuiet will address both halves of the problem, removing the symptoms right away while reprogramming the neurons in a way that will permanently cancel the ringing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RELATED WEB SITES: "Cured of the Rings." "Vibrotactile suppression of tinnitus." Martin L. Lenhardt. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol 111, No 5, Pt 2, May 2002. Presented at the 143rd meeting in Pittsburgh, June 3-7, 2002. See http://asa.aip.org/web2/asa/abstracts/search.apr02/asa177.html.

"High-Frequency Sound Treatment of Tinnitus" by Martin L. Lenhardt, Douglas G. Richards, Alan G. Madsen, Abraham Shulman, Barbara A. Goldstein, and Robert Guinta is at www.acoustics.org/press/142nd/lenhardt.html.

See more at Lenhardt's Web page: www.tinnitus.vcu.edu.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: lenhardt; tinnitus; tinnituscure
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To: Diver Dave; Brucifer

*Divers with tinnitus ping*


81 posted on 10/14/2007 11:10:32 AM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life :o)
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To: The Raven

Snickersnee finds that at least half his returning veterans from “the sandbox” and “the rockpile” complain of tinnitus. He tells them to include it in their VA disability claim. An easy 10%! Pass it on.


82 posted on 10/14/2007 11:11:10 AM PDT by Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?)
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To: SierraWasp

IIRC Tylenol and Aspirin in high doses can worsen the symptoms also.

I have it also but usually can ignore it. Except when it drowns out the voices. :^)


83 posted on 10/14/2007 11:16:35 AM PDT by Vinnie (You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Jihads You)
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To: watcher1
OK, so they have a cure for the "rings"
Now, how about the voices?

What? And lose all that valuable advice???

84 posted on 10/14/2007 11:22:33 AM PDT by null and void (Lib-uh-rulz can't foresee even the clearest consequences to their actions...)
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To: Principle Over Politics
I was surprised (and yet not surprised) to see that I had already commented on this thread 5 years ago. My sound sensitivity is seriously going to drive me to the brink. San Francisco has these new (not THAT new anymore) LOUD buses. The misery of being ON these buses is even worse than having to listen to them on the street (that's a whole separate rant).

Do other cities have "talking" buses? Nonstop "PLEASE HOLD AH-ON!". Loud pinging (blastingly loud) stop requests. Street name announcements. "Security" updates. All at loud volume! And they never shut up. These buses are SHEER TORTURE. Life is misery, thanks to these buses. Unless the audiologists have been ON one of these buses, they have no idea how constant sound bombardment can affect the quality of one's life.

85 posted on 10/14/2007 12:15:29 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp
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To: Senator Pardek
About once a week, I still get a high pitched tone ... in either one of my ears that lasts about 5 seconds - fade in/fade out.

I've had the exact same thing, since childhood.

86 posted on 10/14/2007 12:15:42 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp
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To: The Raven; All

Tinnitis is horrible.

I used to have it really bad after a sinus infection, and it lasted for months.

Still, many have had it MUCH worse than me.

NOW, IF THEY COULD CURE ***FLOATERS*** IN THE EYES, I would be thrilled.

If anybody has found something that gets rid of floaters, let me know.


87 posted on 10/14/2007 12:24:05 PM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Dick Cheney should have gone hunting with Hillary." -- Yakov Smirnoff)
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To: EggsAckley

My tinnitis went away afer after a few years, but I still got floaters. I hate them!!!!!!


88 posted on 10/14/2007 12:30:05 PM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Dick Cheney should have gone hunting with Hillary." -- Yakov Smirnoff)
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To: The Raven

Thank You! I contracted Tinnitus four years ago due to a bad reaction to a prescription drug. I went back to the doctor and he basically blew me off by telling me it was impossible for this to happen. The drug was Vioxx. It almost drove me insane for a month but I learned to live with it. It’s still extremely annoying.


89 posted on 10/14/2007 12:32:05 PM PDT by dljordan
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To: The Raven

Ringing here since 1992.....man, it sucks bump.


90 posted on 10/14/2007 12:32:55 PM PDT by Dinah Lord (fighting the Islamofascist Jihad - one keystroke at a time...)
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To: The Raven

I sure hope this works! I have had this condition for about 5 years, courtesy of a 155mm Charge 5 White Bag at Fort Sill, OK back in 1967. I try to ignore it, but I would rather not have to.


91 posted on 10/14/2007 12:37:36 PM PDT by Redleg Duke ("All gave some, and some gave all!")
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To: my_pointy_head_is_sharp

I went to see Elizabeth yesterday and the darn sound was so loud that the theater canon booms shook my body. Theaters really need to turn the volume down a bit.

I feel for you about the buses!


92 posted on 10/14/2007 12:42:27 PM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Dick Cheney should have gone hunting with Hillary." -- Yakov Smirnoff)
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To: Billy_bob_bob

It stinks.


93 posted on 10/14/2007 12:44:38 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch (Tempus Fidget - The time between the final hymn and recessional.)
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To: my_pointy_head_is_sharp

er....cannon


94 posted on 10/14/2007 12:51:35 PM PDT by rwfromkansas ("Dick Cheney should have gone hunting with Hillary." -- Yakov Smirnoff)
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To: my_pointy_head_is_sharp

I got it in March 1982 due to an infection and I just woke up with it one morning. It is really bad. At this very moment as I type this it is extremely loud. As usual it is like a tea kettle is going off inches from my head as it has been every single second since the first week of March 1982. Unbelievable. I had a very rough time the first couple years trying to deal with it. I felt it must account for some suicides. I am glad people on this thread are not making fun of it.


95 posted on 10/14/2007 12:56:08 PM PDT by A knight without armor
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To: A knight without armor

bttt


96 posted on 10/14/2007 1:11:42 PM PDT by Guenevere (Duncan Hunter...President '08)
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To: Eva

There is a lot more ambient background noise in modern civilization that really masks this “ringing noise.”

Everytime I go camping or hiking overnight for a few days it is very noticeable to me, because typically wilderness areas are one of the few places where at times it absolutely positively *quiet*. Usually a day or two it backs off quite a bit.

On the eye “floaters” that a few people have mentioned, I don’t really notice mine (they are present at birth inside the globe of the eye, btw) that seems to be another wilderness thing - in desert areas they seem to come out of the woodwork! Maybe it’s a dehydration related thing, or driving long distances thing, since I don’t live in the desert. Hm.


97 posted on 10/14/2007 1:28:07 PM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: rwfromkansas

They can zap them with lasers now...


98 posted on 10/14/2007 1:29:52 PM PDT by JDoutrider
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To: Billy_bob_bob
Paging Mr. Pete Townshend. Mr. Townshend to the white courtesy phone please.

And Mr. Beck, and Mr. Nugent, and Mr. Van Halen, and Mr. Page....

99 posted on 10/14/2007 1:32:38 PM PDT by Cymbaline (I repeat myself when under stress I repeat myself when under stress I repeat myself when under stres)
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To: rwfromkansas

Thank you, and I feel for YOU. I’ve experienced the same thing at movie theaters myself, which is why, on the rare day when I do go, I bring earplugs! Best invention ever.


100 posted on 10/14/2007 2:03:34 PM PDT by my_pointy_head_is_sharp
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