Sound therapy for tinnitus

Abstract

Many patients suffering from tinnitus report that the severity of their tinnitus changes depending on the acoustic environment. Tinnitus is more intrusive and bothersome in silent environments and less severe in sound-enriched environments, suggesting that therapeutic strategies using sound (sound therapy) may be effective for the relief of tinnitus. Sound therapy together with directive counseling has been developed as tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), based on the neurophysiological model of tinnitus. Sound therapy for tinnitus is still under investigation in respect of its specific protocol and effectiveness, however, it has been reported to be effective in about 80% of the patients. In this manuscript, we review sound therapy for tinnitus as a component of TRT.