You know that droning sound a refrigerator makes? That, or something similar, is what the 50 million Americans with tinnitus must endure.

According to the American Tinnitus Association, 12 million of those Americans seek medical help for the condition; for two million, it’s severe enough to cause family problems, job problems, sleep problems, or even depression as a result.

Often caused by exposure to loud noise, tinnitus is becoming more common, especially among veterans. Users of portable music players are also at risk, but so are those who undergo certain chemotherapies or experience stress, head and neck trauma, or even sinus infections.

Musical Treatment, Promising Results

To treat tinnitus, hearing specialists often turn to specialized hearing aids to make the condition more manageable. But Duke audiologist Rebecca Price says there is a new technique that may help some patients with tinnitus: the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment Program.

“While tinnitus may begin as the result of damage to the hearing mechanism,” says Price, “it is our brain’s response that causes an increased perception of internal sound. This new program addresses not only the damage to the person’s hearing, but also the brain’s role in the disorder.”

In the first phase of this six- to nine-month program, soothing music is embedded with sound that is customized to a particular patient’s hearing loss and to the sound that’s bothering the patient.

The patient uses an MP3 player to passively listen to this music for at least two hours per day for about two months, during which time his or her brain learns to ignore the sound created by the tinnitus.

Why music? “Because music spans a broad range of sound frequencies, it allows us to control how the patient experiences the tinnitus and helps the brain learn to interpret the sound differently,” says Price.

“The therapeutic benefit of music is also key. Relaxing music stimulates the brain in a positive way, and patients find music much more pleasant than white noise.”

During the next four to six months, the music is altered and specific sound is removed from the music, allowing the patient to be re-exposed to the original sound of the tinnitus.

“The second phase of treatment is where active rewiring of the brain takes place and the brain is trained to attach a more neutral response to the tinnitus,” says Price. “The hope is that the patient will come to ignore the sound -- or at least find it much less bothersome.”

At Duke, 30 patients have undergone treatment to date; while there is no cure for tinnitus, patients who have undergone neuromonics treatment have noted a reduction in tinnitus awareness and disturbance and an improved quality of life.

“Neuromonics is not a treatment program for everybody with tinnitus,” says Price, “but the results so far are promising.”

To learn more about neuromonics treatment for tinnitus, call 888-ASK-DUKE (888-275-3853).