Tinnitus Treatment Solutions for Your Patients
Friday, January 21, 2011
The American Tinnitus Association estimates that more than 50 million patients in the United States suffer from tinnitus, which affects as many as 250 million patients worldwide.
“Unfortunately, many patients are told to learn to live with their tinnitus because the physician may not be aware that anything can be done,” says Patty Kalmbach, Au.D. “However, many options are available, and no patient should have to live with the symptoms of tinnitus if they are disturbing his or her quality of life.”
Although there is no cure for tinnitus, treatments proven to significantly mask the perception of noise and reduce the disturbance it creates are now available.
As a physician, you quickly discover that tinnitus patients can be divided into two categories — those whose symptoms are barely noticeable and those whose symptoms are severe. For as many as 12 million Americans, tinnitus can be devastating, as it affects all aspects of one’s life. It often causes significant anxiety and emotional distress to the extent that a patient may consider suicide as his or her best option. For these patients, having individualized treatment plans designed to provide symptom relief greatly improves their quality of life.
At the Colorado Tinnitus and Hearing Center in Denver, CO, a comprehensive approach to tinnitus treatment is taken. Because the treatment of tinnitus is not a one-size-fits-all approach, supportive services, including counseling, are available, as well as the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment and tinnitus retraining therapy.
Tinnitus retraining therapy was developed in the late 1980s and has been available in the clinical setting since the beginning of the 1990s. Using this method, patients benefit from a two-fold therapy that includes counseling and the introduction of other sound stimuli to minimize the recognition and perception of the symptomatic sounds associated with tinnitus. This method has also shown value in treating patients suffering from hyperacusis. For patients who have hearing loss and tinnitus, a combined digital hearing aid and sound generator is beneficial.
Based on the neurophysiological model of tinnitus developed by Dr. Pawel Jastreboff, the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment provides a viable option for patients by using the Oasis device to introduce a pleasant acoustic stimulus that is customized to the patient’s hearing and tinnitus profile. The Oasis is an FDA-approved and clinically tested medical device that has been shown to help patients sleep better, relax more and experience decreased frustration and anxiety caused by tinnitus. In clinical trials, the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment is 90% effective in reducing the bothersome effects of tinnitus.
“Using the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment protocol over a six-to-nine-month period, the patient is systemically desensitized to the devastating effects that tinnitus can produce,” says Lisa Evans-Smith, Au.D.
An Area Leader in Tinnitus Treatment
At the Colorado Tinnitus & Hearing Center, patients benefit from seeing two clinical Doctors of Audiology who specialize in the treatment of tinnitus — Dr. Evans-Smith and
Dr. Kalmbach. These physicians have successfully treated tinnitus patients throughout the United States as well as internationally. They were the first practitioners in Colorado to begin offering Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment and have been utilizing this technique for the last five years.
To refer your patients for a tinnitus assessment and evaluation at the Colorado Tinnitus & Hearing Center, please call (303) 534-0163. More information is available at www.helpforringing.com.
MD News January/February 2011, Denver
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