Examination of tinnitus sound therapy using wearable speakers

Abstract

　　For patients presenting with tinnitus without hearing loss, a sound generator (SG) is commonly used and the patients are encouraged to listen to natural environmental sounds. However, there are sometimes wearability and cost issues associated with the use of SG, and in cases encouraged to listen to natural environmental sounds, sounds can often not be produced at night due to problems in the patient's living environment. We investigated whether it would be possible to resolve these problems by having the patients wear a wearable speaker around their neck to listen to natural environmental sounds.

　　We provided wearable speakers to five patients who presented with tinnitus without subjective hearing loss and instructed them to wear the speakers for a period of three months before conducting further evaluations. In four of the five cases, the subjects wore the wearable speaker effectively during times when tinnitus was present. All the participants indicated that it was superior to using stationary acoustic devices, generally yielding positive results. However, improvements in the scores on the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) were observed only in two cases, and there was no clear trend towards improvement in the scores on the anxiety and depression-related questionnaire. This suggests that psychological interventions such as educational counseling, may be necessary to encourage patients to adapt to tinnitus.