tinnitus

Tinnitus that lasts for months can become chronic.

In this case, processes arise that lead to the “centralization” of tinnitus, i.e., tinnitus “settles” in the brain structures associated with the auditory pathway. In Germany, chronic tinnitus affects about 4 million people, mostly adults.

In children, tinnitus is usually rare.

Often patients lose time by switching from one doctor to another (alternative medicine specialist to miracle worker) and, in the absence of results, end up going to the nearest therapist. The psychological burden of patients can be very different, we assume that a small percentage of patients experience a strong psychological burden in everyday life.

Treatment

Today's approach to therapy is associated primarily with psychotherapeutic methods (here we mean the therapeutic effect on behavior, therapy with the help of retraining, treatment in tinnitus clinics). In the presence of hearing impairments, the optimal fitting of a hearing aid often plays a decisive role. Medicines are used only in special cases.

The Department of Otolaryngology at the EuromedClinic participates in a study on the effects of multiple transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) by the University of Regensburg, supported by the German Research Society. Stimulations have been carried out in our center since autumn 2007. This study is very important to prove the impact. The studies carried out so far demonstrate the reliability of the treatment processes carried out, and there are certainly early successes. It is only through a comparative study comparing effective stimulation with false stimulation (placebo) that it can be argued whether it will be reasonable to take over conventional health insurance and these costs of stimulation treatment in the future.

It is currently not possible to take over the costs from ordinary insurance, because the magnetic stimulation method has not yet received the necessary approval in Germany as a treatment for tinnitus. As part of the so-called healing attempt, private health insurance can take over the costs of treatment in this way in some reasonably promising cases.

Therapy provided as part of a study involving patients with private health insurance is provided FREE OF CHARGE. After checking the criteria for participation in the study (age, hearing ability, comorbidities, etc.), as well as providing all the necessary information and a written application, 2x5 therapy sessions are conducted for two consecutive weeks (net treatment time is approximately 30 minutes per session). Follow-up is then carried out for three months. All occurring changes in tinnitus and hearing ability are accurately tracked and documented. (If you are interested in this study, you can contact us by phone or send a request for information by e-mail).

Thanks to the accumulated experience and the conclusions drawn from the research work of the past years, the focus of research today is the auditory area of the cerebral cortex. On the left side of the brain, in the so-called temporal region (in the skull above the left ear), there is a region that is particularly active in 80% tinnitus patients. This gave impetus to a new treatment approach developed in 2001 at the University of Regensburg: the use of multiple transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). This is a process in which current pulses are passed through a copper coil, a time-varying magnetic field is excited, due to which a small electric field is excited in the brain tissues (electromagnetic induction), a current is generated in the nerve tissues, which affects them. The coil is placed over the skull so that a current pulse is applied to the part of the brain where tinnitus is expected to occur. This is painless and contactless. It is assumed that the repetition of such exposure to a magnetic field (hence the name "multiple stimulation") for a short period of time (within several weeks) will cause neurobiological restructuring of the nervous tissue. In this case, inhibitory nerve impulses arise, due to which the tinnitus seems to be “erased”.

To date, this method has not yet been called absolutely effective, but most patients with a severe form of the disease felt some relief after applying this method.

These results were sensational, especially as the therapy proved to be effective in patients who had been suffering from tinnitus for many years.