In Brief:
Results from a clinical trial using two variations to the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment program are reported. In the first variation, intermittent tinnitus perception was facilitated during treatment through the use of a stimulus in which intensity peaks allowed the patients’ tinnitus perception to be completely covered up, while in the intensity troughs tinnitus was briefly discernable. In the second variation, subjects experienced little tinnitus perception while listening to the treatment for the first two months, then experienced intermittent perception. Thirty-five subjects with a predominantly moderate to severe level of tinnitus-related distress prior to treatment were randomly allocated into one of two treatment groups, corresponding to these two stage-based variations of the Neuromonics Tinnitus Treatment. At two, four, six and twelve months after commencing treatment, both groups displayed clinically and statistically significant improvements in tinnitus distress, awareness, and minimum masking levels as well as loudness discomfort levels. Improvements increased with time over the first 6 mo of therapy. A relationship between reported treatment usage (hours per day) and clinical outcomes was observed, suggesting that a 'dosage effect’ may apply with the stimulus provided.
