Stress is a significant factor influencing the clinical course of tinnitus. The auditory system is particularly sensitive to the effects of various stress factors (chemical, oxidative, emotional, etc.). Different stages of reaction (alarm, resistance, exhaustion) lead to different characteristics of tinnitus and to different therapeutic approaches. Individual characteristics of stress reaction may explain different aspects of tinnitus in various patients with different responses to treatment, despite similar audiological and etiological factors. A model based on individual reactions to stress factors (stress-reaction tinnitus model, or SRTM) could explain tinnitus as an alarm signal. In each patient, stressors have to be identified during the alarm phase to prevent an evolution toward the resistance and exhaustion phases. In the exhaustion phase, chronic tinnitus is due to the organization of a paradoxical auditory memory and a pathologically shifted attention to tinnitus. The aim of our study is to describe a therapeutic proposal based on the SRTM by taking an educational approach to management of chronic tinnitus. The educational aspect is emphasized; thus, we named our approach tinnitus school. Selection of appropriate patients and follow-up is based on psychometrics of tinnitus and stress questionnaires, including a tinnitus reaction questionnaire, a tinnitus cognitive questionnaire, and a 20-item perceived stress questionnaire. Tinnitus school is a three-phase program: counseling, training, and home training. Training is based on a tinnitus-fitted physiotherapeutic protocol.
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Ear Hear
January 2025
Audiology and Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Objectives: The objective of this project was to quantify the relative efficacy of a four-frequency pure-tone average in the better ear (PTA4), the Hearing subscale of the Tinnitus and Hearing Survey (THS-H), and a combination of the two in predicting speech-in-noise performance, hearing aid recommendation, and hearing aid use among United States service members (SMs).
Design: A two-analysis retrospective study was performed. The first analysis examined the degree to which better-ear PTA4 alone, THS-H alone, and better-ear PTA4 in conjunction with THS-H predicted performance on a speech-in-noise test, the modified rhyme test.
J Neurol Surg B Skull Base
February 2025
Department of Neurosurgery, UC San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, California, United States.
Many patients with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) suffer from sensorineural hearing loss, and associated cochlear nerve compromise in NF2 patients makes auditory brainstem implant (ABI) an attractive treatment option. The long-term outcomes and benefits of the device are still being explored. A retrospective review was conducted for 11 ABI recipients at a single-institution tertiary center between November 2017 and August 2022.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Audiol
January 2025
Department of Audiology, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Objective: Tinnitus and its pathophysiological mechanisms need more investigation because tinnitus may change the typical processing of sounds in the auditory system. Poor temporal resolution, which is not assessed with conventional subjective tinnitus evaluations, has been reported in some tinnitus sufferers.
Design: This study used a gap-in-noise paradigm to assess temporal resolution in tinnitus sufferers using both behavioural and electrophysiologic methods.
Cien Saude Colet
January 2025
Departamento de Química, Universidade do Oeste Paulista. São Paulo SP Brasil.
The scope of this study was to assess the ototoxic effects and general health of farmers exposed to pesticides in the Pontal do Paranapanema region, SP, Brazil. Participants of both sexes aged 18-40, 40-60 and >60 years were allocated into two groups: Non-Exposed Group (NEG) and Occupationally Exposed Group (OEG). A questionnaire of exposure and health, meatoscopy, pure tone audiometry, logoaudiometry and immittanciometry were assessed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCureus
January 2025
Internal Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, USA.
Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) is a non-atherosclerotic, non-inflammatory vascular disease of medium-sized arteries that causes abnormal cellular growth in arterial walls and most commonly affects young to middle-aged women (20-50 years of age). While FMD often involves the renal arteries, it can affect any arterial bed. FMD has a characteristic angiographic appearance of a "string of beads.
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