Tinnitus Assessment and Management: A Survey of Practicing Audiologists in the United States and Canada.

Background: Tinnitus is a prevalent auditory disorder that can become severely debilitating. Despite decades of investigation, there remains no conclusive cure for tinnitus. Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are available for assessing and managing tinnitus.

Tinnitus Activities Treatment with Total and Partial Masking.

Background: There are many counseling and sound therapy approaches to treat tinnitus. Counseling approaches range from providing information using directive or collaborative approaches. Sound therapies include strategies that use background sounds to totally or partially mask tinnitus to reduce the prominence of or decrease the loudness or annoyance of the tinnitus.

Reliability of the Minimum Masking Level as Outcome Variable in Tinnitus Clinical Research.

Purpose The minimum masking level (MML) is the minimum intensity of a stimulus required to just totally mask the tinnitus. Treatments aimed at reducing the tinnitus itself should attempt to measure the magnitude of the tinnitus. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the MML.

A review of auditory gain, low-level noise and sound therapy for tinnitus and hyperacusis.

This article reviews: (1) the evidence related to enhanced central gain as a potential mechanism for the generation of tinnitus and hyperacusis, (2) the neuroplastic changes induced by prolonged, low-level sound stimulation and (3) the clinical effectiveness of various sound therapies and amplification for the treatment of tinnitus and hyperacusis. General literature review. Peer-reviewed articles related to auditory neural gain, prolonged low-level noise exposure and effectiveness of sound therapy.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation Paired with Tones for the Treatment of Tinnitus: A Prospective Randomized Double-blind Controlled Pilot Study in Humans.

The aim of the pilot study was to evaluate the effect of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) paired with sounds in chronic tinnitus patients. All participants were implanted and randomized to a paired VNS (n = 16) or control (n = 14) group. After 6 weeks of home therapy, all participants received paired VNS.

Amplitude modulated S-tones can be superior to noise for tinnitus reduction.

Purpose: Recent evidence has suggested that amplitude modulated tones might have some advantages over broadband noise.

Method: Fifty-six subjects listened to S-Tones at a carrier frequency matched at the tinnitus pitch (amplitude modulation rate of 40 Hz) and to broadband noise. Subjects rated their tinnitus loudness before, during, and after a 120-s duration masker.