Question
What are the advantages of the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment?
Answer
One of the main advantages of Neuromonics' treatment is rapid relief and a sense of control it gives patients. We have all had those tinnitus patients that come in to the office talking quickly, on the edge of their chairs, and anxious about life in general. In these cases, I love to demonstrate the Neuromonics Oasis* device. When you put the Oasis on the patient, you see relief happen. Many patients will sit back in their chairs, close their eyes and stop talking. You can tell they are getting relief. Sometimes you almost have to pry it out of their hands before they leave the office in order to get the treatment customized for their hearing profile.
The next advantage is improved relaxation and ability to sleep. This is extremely important. Sleep is very important to our sense of well-being. To give a person the ability to get more sleep is definitely going to help improve quality of life. Neuromonics is aimed at reducing awareness of tinnitus, reducing disturbance of tinnitus, and eliminating the emotional stress response. This then changes the way the brain categorizes the tinnitus so that patients are no longer filtering it to their focus of attention.
The Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment also provides improved tolerance to loud sounds. We have a protocol for it, and have shown a long-term benefit. This is a six-to-eight-month treatment, sometimes longer if there are concurrent issues with hyperacusis or psychological issues that need to be addressed. But after patients finish treatment, they go to a maintenance phase where they will not have to continue using the Oasis every day. We definitely know stress is a trigger for tinnitus and it can creep back up again, but patients can use the device as a tool as needed from that point.
* Neuromonics manufactures and distributes the Oasis, the only FDA-cleared, patented and clinically proven medical device with documented long-term relief of tinnitus. The Oasis device is customized to each patient’s individual audiological profile and addresses, thorough the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment, the neurological processes of tinnitus by promoting habituation, or desensitization to the patients’ tinnitus perception, through spectrally modified music that is customized for each patient. The compact Oasis device is simple to use, functioning much like familiar consumer music players, and fits easily into patients’ lifestyles.
This Ask the Expert was taken from the Neuromonics course, The Neurophysiological Model of Tinnitus: A Practical Perspective For more information, please visit www.neuromonics.com or the Neuromonics Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
