1. Introduction
The auditory perception of sounds without an external source is known as tinnitus (Meyerhoff and Cooper, 1991). Tinnitus can occur at any age, though it is most common in individuals over the age of sixty (Axelsson and Ringdahl, 1989; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 1999). The sounds perceived with tinnitus are usually described as a ringing, although they can also manifest as buzzing, whistling or pulsating. There are two classifications of tinnitus; objective and subjective. Objective tinnitus can be heard by a clinician on examination whereas, the more commonly seen, subjective tinnitus is only heard by the individuals (Schleuning II, 1991; Lockwood et al., 2002).
The effect tinnitus has on an individual’s …show more content…
Objective
The objective of this literature review is to discuss evidence of treatments for distressing tinnitus in patients without a hearing loss. This review will focus on the use of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) against tinnitus maskers, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Therapy and self-directed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The following studies were selected as they consisted of an intervention looking at study samples which fit the criteria of this review: participants who have both normal hearing and suffer from tinnitus.
TRT is a specific type of tinnitus therapy which combines directive counselling and sound therapy. It aims to gradually habituate the individual to their tinnitus by retraining the brain’s reaction and perception of tinnitus (Jastreboff and Jastreboff, …show more content…
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Jastreboff (1993) proposed a treatment following his publication of the Neurophysiological Model (Jastreboff, 1990) which was later titled Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). TRT is a specific method which aims to habituate reactions to tinnitus which then would habituate the perception of tinnitus (Jastreboff and Hazell, 2004). This intervention strictly follows the principles of the neurophysiological model of tinnitus with the process explained in his book (Jastreboff and Hazell, 2004). TRT looks at two main components: directive counselling and sound therapy.
A study carried out by Henry et al. (2006) looked at the efficacy of TRT by comparing it against Tinnitus Maskers (TMs) in a normal hearing sample suffering from tinnitus. TMs are devices, worn similarly to hearing aids, which generate noise in order to cover up the tinnitus sound. TMs and TRT both utilise wearable devices that can be noise generators or hearings aids as sound therapy (Henry et al., 2002). For TMs, it involves the use of masking. This is done by utilising wearable devices known as “maskers” (Vernon, 1998). These maskers present noise to the ear and provide relief from the annoyance of tinnitus by covering up the sound. (Vernon, 1987). In TRT, the devices are not referred to as maskers but sound generators. This is because they do not aim to either partially or completely cover up, or “mask”, the tinnitus sound. Instead, in TRT, the sound generators provide a low-level
The auditory perception of sounds without an external source is known as tinnitus (Meyerhoff and Cooper, 1991). Tinnitus can occur at any age, though it is most common in individuals over the age of sixty (Axelsson and Ringdahl, 1989; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 1999). The sounds perceived with tinnitus are usually described as a ringing, although they can also manifest as buzzing, whistling or pulsating. There are two classifications of tinnitus; objective and subjective. Objective tinnitus can be heard by a clinician on examination whereas, the more commonly seen, subjective tinnitus is only heard by the individuals (Schleuning II, 1991; Lockwood et al., 2002).
The effect tinnitus has on an individual’s …show more content…
Objective
The objective of this literature review is to discuss evidence of treatments for distressing tinnitus in patients without a hearing loss. This review will focus on the use of Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT) against tinnitus maskers, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Therapy and self-directed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The following studies were selected as they consisted of an intervention looking at study samples which fit the criteria of this review: participants who have both normal hearing and suffer from tinnitus.
TRT is a specific type of tinnitus therapy which combines directive counselling and sound therapy. It aims to gradually habituate the individual to their tinnitus by retraining the brain’s reaction and perception of tinnitus (Jastreboff and Jastreboff, …show more content…
Tinnitus Retraining Therapy
Jastreboff (1993) proposed a treatment following his publication of the Neurophysiological Model (Jastreboff, 1990) which was later titled Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). TRT is a specific method which aims to habituate reactions to tinnitus which then would habituate the perception of tinnitus (Jastreboff and Hazell, 2004). This intervention strictly follows the principles of the neurophysiological model of tinnitus with the process explained in his book (Jastreboff and Hazell, 2004). TRT looks at two main components: directive counselling and sound therapy.
A study carried out by Henry et al. (2006) looked at the efficacy of TRT by comparing it against Tinnitus Maskers (TMs) in a normal hearing sample suffering from tinnitus. TMs are devices, worn similarly to hearing aids, which generate noise in order to cover up the tinnitus sound. TMs and TRT both utilise wearable devices that can be noise generators or hearings aids as sound therapy (Henry et al., 2002). For TMs, it involves the use of masking. This is done by utilising wearable devices known as “maskers” (Vernon, 1998). These maskers present noise to the ear and provide relief from the annoyance of tinnitus by covering up the sound. (Vernon, 1987). In TRT, the devices are not referred to as maskers but sound generators. This is because they do not aim to either partially or completely cover up, or “mask”, the tinnitus sound. Instead, in TRT, the sound generators provide a low-level