Dear all,

I found this forum through google as a recent T sufferer, and I thought I'd post here for other googlers/lurkers. Many of you will be familiar with what I have to say already, but because my experience has been so positive, I thought I'd put it here. I also know that people who feel better often don't come back to forums, so I thought I'd break that trend

I have always heard an 'eeeee' in my ears when going to sleep - I thought that was normal. (It isn't.) In early Feb I flew home to Australia, and realised I could hear the sound at about 1 out of 10 most of the time. Then I flew back to the UK, and I could hear it at 2-3 out of 10 *all* the time. Not good.

I went to the Doctor, and she told me there was nothing that could be done. I rejected that (and rightly, as it turns out!) I went on the internet, found out that ginko balboa performs no better than placebo, that double-blind tests have shown caffeine has no effect on T, other useful things.

I also found out about Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) and related Neurophysiologically-Based Management (NBM). The peer-reviewed journals seem to back it, the best info I found was here (British Tinnitus Association): http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/index.php?q=node/71 (external link, opens new browser window)

For the benefit of newbies like me, here is the *basic* idea behind NBT.

Tinnitus is the perception of sounds that aren't there. That perception starts with a signal in the ear. The signal is from damage, most usually in the cochlea. The damage cannot be fixed.

But there are two elements to perception. Part one is receiving the signal, and part two is interpreting it. Part one happens in the ear, but part two happens in the brain.

Part one - the 'hardware' - is unfixable. Part two - the 'software' - can be tweaked. It can be tweaked to the point where the hardware problem doesn't matter. The goal is to get to the point where the signal is still received, but it is not interpreted (or at least, not as much!)

Here's a question: How often do you hear the fake sound your ears make as a real sound from a real source?

Never, right?

Right.

Playing a real sound that matches the fake sound in your ears is pretty much what TRT does. Using a machine, you work out what the exact frequency & volume of your tinnitus, and listen to it as a real sound. It's basically saying to your brain, 'OK. THIS is a real sound. That stuff you've been perceiving? That is NOT a real sound. This: Real. That: Not real. Learn the difference. And once you've learned the difference, stop feeding me that not-real stuff, I don't need it.'

And that's basically how it works, not too complex at all.

So anyhow. (I'm coming up to the Punchline here, bear with me.) The machines that do this are expensive, because they have to be specially built and Lord knows that anyone with T will pay the money for a shot at silence. The machines have to be able to do highly specific things: They need to generate sound in Hertz, and that sound has to be finely adjustable in frequency and volume. That's pretty specialised.

Gues what else has the ability to generate sound in hertz and is finely adjustable in frequency and volume?

An iphone.

That's right, an iphone can do that. All you need is the software.

And if you've got this far, here is the punchline: I got my tinnitus down from 2-3 out of 10 constantly to the sound of a gas tap that was left on sometimes, I did it in three days, and I did it with an iphone app. The app is called 'itinnitus pro' and it costs 59 pence from the itunes store.

For me, it worked. I can't recommend this strongly enough. And if it doesn't work for you, please see your ENT for proper TRT. The theory is solid, the research is positive. Give it a go.

thanks, i will look into this.

Do you have to buy an I Phone? Is it different from other phones? How do you put the app 'itinnitus pro' on it, and can't it be put on an ordinary cell phone. Am very ignorant about phones. Thanks.

With this specific app (and all apps bought from the Apple app store) you will need an iPhone or an iPod touch or the upcoming iPad. Other phone makes have their own app stores I believe - like BlackBerry and Nokia.

Another great iPhone app is Ambiance. You can download and play hundreds of various sounds to help you sleep at night. You can also mix in your own music and set up a timer so that the sound will fade to silence. Very impressive for 59p!

If I have to dig something positive out of this, it would be that I got away from my social fobia because I just don't care about anything now.

Hi Phillipa, you don't necessarily need in iphone but you do need a smart phone - or a friends' smart phone!

All the different types of phones have their own stores, the iphone store is connected to apple's itunes software. I'm not sure how many stores have the itinnitus pro app in them, I just know that the iphone store does

The website of the people who make the app is here: http://www.innerearsolutions.com/Home.html, (external link, opens new browser window) I'm sure they can answer your questions if you ask them.

Coelantrho,
Thanks for the info!