Sound therapy works by getting the brain to refocus on and become accustomed to a "neutral" sound that we introduce through the on-line sound therapy.Through this technique the brain is trained to ignore the tinnitus, this is sometimes described as taking advantage of "natural plasticity" or "rewiring" of the brain.
The auditory pathways need to be stimulated (exercised using sound) by the patient introducing new sounds (sound therapy) through the use of an MP3 player & headphones, their computer / tablet or by actively listening to the natural sounds surrounding them. This compensates for the under stimulated areas in the cochlea and diverts attention away from the tinnitus.
We have given here a link to an Example of a sound file used for partial masking of tinnitus
The approach and the type of sounds included within this content website are based on over 15 years of research and successful treatment of tinnitus with thousands of patients at the University of Auckland Hearing & Tinnitus Clinic. The most effective sounds will differ from person to person, so we offer a large range of treatment sounds. There are no hard and fast rules on which sounds work best, but our sound therapy approach is based on using a combination of four techniques that cover:
You can choose to download the sounds from the library and play them during consultation sessions with your patients. To do this you will need to be a member, please use this link to join.
Alternatively, your patients can download the sounds directly from the website themselves. This is the more common approach as the patients will need to use the sounds for many hours.
We recommend you encourage patients to take advantage of the free 12 week tinnitus transformation program. Where they will receive a weekly email update with case studies, the latest tinnitus research and treatment approaches plus very importantly a weekly action step for them to take control of their tinnitus. The action steps include use of relaxation techniques, partial masking sounds and the brain training. To ensure the content is tailored to suit their symptoms they should complete the online tinnitus quiz via this link.