Instead of creating distractions to help patients live better with the symptom, nNew sound therapy led to about a 10% reduction in tinnitus.
A new sound therapy promises to bring relief to the millions of people living with ringing in the ears (also known as tinnitus or tinnitus), the sensation of hearing sound in the absence of external sound.
A clinical trial conducted by the University of Newcastle in the United Kingdom recorded an average reduction of around 10% in the intensity of tinnitus, with effects that persisted for approximately three weeks after the end of treatment.
The study involved 77 participants with tinnitus, whether in the form of ringing, hissing, knocking or squeaking, but of course, without any external sound source. The causes of the condition may be associated with hearing loss, certain medications, or mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
According to neurologist and researcher Will Sedley, current therapeutic options are mainly focused on helping people live better with the symptom, and not on reducing the sound of tinnitus itself. The new approach attempts precisely to change this, using sounds modified to interfere with brain activity patterns that generate the perceived noise. This is what many patients already do using independent and unverified mobile applications, often without the intended success.
In the trial, a group of participants heard slightly modified synthetic musical notes, while the control group heard placebo sounds, adjusted to different frequencies, says . All volunteers listened to the respective sounds online, for one hour a day, for six weeks, followed by a three-week break. Afterwards, the groups changed the type of sound, without knowing which was the active or placebo stimulus.
According to the researcher, it was only in the phases in which the participants heard the active sounds that there was a “significant reduction” in the intensity of tinnitus. On average, the therapy led to a slowdown of around 10%, an effect that persisted for several weeks after the end of exposure.
The researchers believe that, with further development, this type of therapy could be integrated into smartphone applications or incorporated into daily listening to music, radio or podcasts, allowing hours of “treatment” to be accumulated in a natural and discreet way.
