Sound Therapy for Tinnitus: Effective Relief and Management
Tinnitus, an extremely common hearing problem, affects about 15 percent of all adults. Individuals who experience tinnitus will consistently hear hissing, ringing, buzzing, or other unpleasant sounds, even when there are no external sources of sound present.
That recurring sound that you hear but nobody else does? It's not all in your head. You may be one of the estimated 50 million-plus people who suffer from tinnitus. The mysterious condition causes a sound in the head with no external source. The sound may seem to come from one ear or both, from inside the head, or from a distance. It may be constant or intermittent, steady or pulsating.
For two decades, sound therapy and other tinnitus treatment options (such as TRT) have been introduced to help individuals living with tinnitus hear better and experience lasting relief. In this article, we will discuss the most important things you need to know about sound therapy.
Understanding Sound Therapy
There is no known cure for tinnitus, but it can become less noticeable over time. Still, there are ways to ease symptoms and help tune out the noise and minimize its impact. One often-suggested strategy is sound therapy.
According to the American Tinnitus Association (ATA), “Sound therapy means the use of external noise in order to alter a patient’s perception of, or reaction to, tinnitus.” The ATA notes that sound therapy is not a “cure” for tinnitus-tinnitus is a symptom, not a specific disease (like how a fever is a symptom, not a disease)-but they “may significantly lower the perceived burden and intensity of tinnitus.”
Sound therapy means external noises are brought in to help mask the troubling sounds of tinnitus. Sound therapy uses a process known as habituation to retrain the way the brain interprets tinnitus.
“You can hear a sound that sounds just like your tinnitus-like crickets-but when you go camping in the wilderness and hear the crickets, it has a different meaning,” Christina Lobarinas, Au.D., tinnitus coordinator for the UT Southwestern Tinnitus and Hyperacusis Program, explained. Sound therapy helps a person "forget" about the sound. “It’s very similar to when you put on your glasses and your nose [nerve endings] start sending signals to the brain that there’s something on your nose,” Dr. Lobarinas said.
Consider taking our tinnitus impact survey today to determine the severity of your tinnitus.
How Sound Therapy Works
Sound therapy works in several different ways. Depending on the devices or techniques being used, therapy can minimize the sounds of tinnitus, distract the individual living with tinnitus, make the sounds associated with tinnitus easier to ignore or control the “hyperactivity” causing the tinnitus to be present in the first place.
Individuals who receive sound therapy in conjunction with TRT (counseling and education), report strong levels of relief, suggesting that sound therapy is one of the most effective tinnitus treatments currently available.
Does Sound Therapy Treat Tinnitus?
In most cases, sound therapy combined with Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) can effectively treat tinnitus. Sound therapy is most effective when directed by an audiologist with specific training in and experience with tinnitus. Not all audiologists have been trained to treat tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia, and that professional will have the biggest impact on a patient’s success.
Before your audiologist suggests a specific tinnitus treatment, they will first want to identify what is causing you to experience tinnitus in the first place. Tinnitus has many possible underlying causes including exposure to loud noises, age-related hearing loss, various diseases, and several others.
If there is a medical condition contributing to the tinnitus and we can fix it, the tinnitus will go away," Dr. Lobarinas said.
While the results of sound therapy cannot be guaranteed, these evidence-based, FDA-approved treatment options have provided lasting relief to people all around the world.
Types of Sound Therapy
Sound therapy is a somewhat broad term. Essentially, any program that relies on sound in order to help improve an individual’s hearing experience (or decrease the effects of tinnitus) can be loosely categorized as sound therapy.
However, most sound therapy treatment options can fall into one of four general categories: masking, distraction, habituation, and neuromodulation.
- Masking: This exposes a person to background noise, like white noise, nature sounds, or ambient sounds, to mask tinnitus noise or distract attention away from it. Masking describes treatment options that use devices (known as sound maskers) that play noises loud enough to cover up-or “mask”-your tinnitus. Usually, the noises being created by these devices are categorized as “white noise.” These are not as effective in providing long-term benefits. Listening to sound machines or music through headphones or other devices can offer temporary breaks from the perception of tinnitus. Household items like electric fans, radios, and TVs also can help.
- Distraction: Distraction describes treatments that are designed to direct the patient’s attention away from their active tinnitus and towards some other noise. Usually, these are pleasant noises, such as fractal tones or nature sounds. For an even easier version, you can also try selecting a relaxing, neutral sound-like ocean waves crashing, rain falling, or instrumental music-and playing it as background noise throughout the day. “After a time, the tinnitus becomes associated with this sound,” she said.
- Habituation: Also known as tinnitus retraining therapy, this process trains your brain to become more accustomed to tinnitus. Habituation describes practices that seek to train the brain to eventually ignore tinnitus and block out these noises altogether. Here, you listen to noise similar to your tinnitus sound for long periods. Eventually your brain ignores the tone, along with the tinnitus sound. It's similar to how you eventually don't think about how glasses feel on your nose.
- Neuromodulation: Neuromodulation describes sound therapy that seeks to “rewire” the components of the brain that are causing the tinnitus to begin with. Neuromodulation treatments are limited to subjective tinnitus (the most common form of tinnitus).
While each of these treatment options will have a similar underlying goal, recognizing the differences between them will still be important. Depending on your specific tinnitus experience-the causes, intensity, duration, sound type, etc.-your audiologist may recommend a mix of treatment options that are specific to your needs.
Other Treatment Options for Tinnitus
In addition to the options mentioned above, there are a few other treatment options that your audiologist might recommend.
- Ear Cleaning: If your tinnitus is caused by excessive earwax production, a simple ear cleaning could be your best option.
- Hearing Aids: Many people with tinnitus also have some degree of hearing loss. If your tinnitus is connected to permanent hearing loss - whether conductive, sensorineural, or any combination thereof - hearing aids may be recommended in conjunction with sound therapy. How hearing aids help: Hearing aids amplify the noises in your environment, giving your brain more sound to process. Many hearing aids offer forms of sound therapy.
- Counseling and Relaxation: Counseling (especially if you have tinnitus-linked depression), relaxation exercises may also be appropriate.
- Medication: Tinnitus can be a side effect of many medications, especially when taken at higher doses, like aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and certain antidepressants.
Because tinnitus is experienced so differently by each individual, it will be crucial to speak with a specifically trained and experienced audiologist to obtain a qualified recommendation.
Best Sound Therapy Treatment Options
Hearing centers such as Sound Relief offer many different sound therapy treatments. These treatments are designed to specifically address the symptoms of tinnitus.
Oticon Tinnitus SoundSupport, for example, is a program that uses personalized sound simulation as part of the sound therapy process for tinnitus treatment.
Widex Zen Tinnitus Treatment uses random, yet predictable musical notes in order to create a relaxing, stimulating environment where the effects of tinnitus can be properly managed. With the Widex Zen Program, audiologists will have the ability to adjust the tempo and pitch of the musical notes according to a patient’s hearing profile and preferences.
The ReSound LiNX Quattro Tinnitus Relief App is also an excellent option for individuals who want to receive sound therapy using a customizable app to create unique soundscapes that are soothing. ReSound Relief is one of the most useful tinnitus app in the market for relieving and managing tinnitus.
The next step Dr. Lobarinas recommends is downloading a free tinnitus app. “The key is to not set volume levels so high that it drowns out the tinnitus sound. You really don’t want to mask it. Consistency and frequency are two other keys for success.
The ReSound Tinnitus Relief app is currently unavailable on the Google Play Store.
Additional Factors Affecting Tinnitus
There are many possible causes of tinnitus. Long-term exposure to loud noises is often blamed. But other sources include middle ear problems like an infection, a tumor or cyst pinching nerves in the ear, or something as simple as earwax buildup. Even old-fashioned aging can lead to tinnitus, which is common in people older than age 55.
"Neurons (nerve cells) in areas of the brain that process sound make up for this loss of input by increasing their sensitivity," says Daniel Polley, director of the Lauer Tinnitus Research Center at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear. "The sensitivity knobs are turned up so high that neurons begin to respond to the activity of other nearby neurons. This creates the perception of a sound that does not exist in the physical environment.
At times, everyone experiences the perception of a phantom sound. If it only lasts for a few seconds or minutes, it's nothing to worry about. However, if it pulsates in sync with your heart rate, it's definitely something to get checked out by a physician, says Polley.
Other factors that can make tinnitus more noticeable include:
- Musculoskeletal factors: Jaw clenching, tooth grinding, prior injury, or muscle tension in the neck.
- Underlying health conditions
- Negative thinking
If you think you would benefit from tinnitus sound therapy, make an appointment with your primary physician or ENT. Once they have ruled out any contributing medical conditions, consult an audiologist who specializes in tinnitus retraining therapy near you.
No tinnitus treatment works immediately - it takes time and commitment from you to get control over your tinnitus. You’ll need to build the skills and strategies suggested to you and incorporate them into your life. And be committed for the long haul. “Markers to shoot for are a reduced emotional response to the tinnitus or change in pitch or volume,” Dr. Lobarinas advised. “Celebrate small victories.