Imagine hearing a ringing in your ears all the time. The noise can be so loud it can be debilitating. It’s called tinnitus and more than 50 million Americans are living with it right now.
No one knows why it happens but a new drug-free, FDA-approved device is helping to silence the ringing sounds.
Bert Light has been at the controls for more than 32 years, but he was almost grounded when his ears started to ring.
“All of a sudden my hearing or the tinnitus went from a Level 4 to a Level 12 out of 10,” Light said.
Worse yet — nothing could stop it.
“It’s a really difficult beast to treat because there’s no one size fits all with this,” Light said.
Peachtree Hearing Audiologist Melissa Wykoff said nobody knows why it happens.
“Tinnitus can be inescapable. You can’t shut it off,” Wykoff said.
Traditionally treated with cognitive behavioral therapy, sound therapy and retraining therapy, now tinnitus is being treated with a new device.
The Lenire device is the first and only FDA-approved device to use sound and sensory stimulation to teach the brain to ignore the sounds.
“It’s stimulating two different pathways. So, what’s happening is there’s feeling on your tongue and then there’s sound in the ears,” Wykoff said. “We’re stimulating your auditory cortex.”
Patients use the device at home for 30 minutes, twice a day for 12 weeks.
“It’s not pills you’re taking, it’s not shots,” Light said, and it worked for him. “Right now, I have my hearing aids in and my tinnitus is zero. I hear nothing.”
If left untreated, tinnitus can be challenging. In fact, 18% of people with tinnitus say they suffer from depression and 21% had suicidal thoughts.
In the latest study, 70% of patients said they found relief with the Lenire device.